I can rent a mini excavator for about 200 for 8 hour day. I got to finish some grading where my shop is going, dig a 8x10 hole, raise a few spots and dig out a few stumps and dig a few hole for trees. I have never use a mini excavator before.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
how much work can a mini excavator do
- Thread starter jsice78
- Start date
Playwme
Well-known member
I find it's cheaper to get a guy with his own machine who knows how to use it. You don't need to go pick it up or drop it off and he can probably do the job better than you in less than half the time. the machine hasn't been used and abused by a bunch of unskilled operators who don't care about it either.
In saying that though, the guys I use give me a cracker rate cause I send a lot of work their way and find them lots of cheap cars and parts. They really know how to use their machines too which really makes a difference on the price when you're getting charged by the hour.
In saying that though, the guys I use give me a cracker rate cause I send a lot of work their way and find them lots of cheap cars and parts. They really know how to use their machines too which really makes a difference on the price when you're getting charged by the hour.
southalabama
Well-known member
That's a good price. $200/8 hrs. I got to borrow a bobcat for a weekend with unlimited use. It had forks, bucket and auger. My wife said I grinned the whole time driving it. Enjoy the mini excavator.
I'm not sure how well you can grade with it. Some have a small blade but not sure you can do much grading with it.
Digging holes, footings, trenches, etc. you'll be fine. As far as the stumps, depends on how big they are I suppose.
I'm not sure how well you can grade with it. Some have a small blade but not sure you can do much grading with it.
Digging holes, footings, trenches, etc. you'll be fine. As far as the stumps, depends on how big they are I suppose.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
Mini's are very versable machines that can do.a lot. The big thing is to size the machine to the job. Something like a bobcat 331 is nice all around size. Anything smaller are best for tight area where anything larger will not fit. Depending. What you mean by grading, a mini may not be the idea piece of equipment for that, but will work.
GYPSY400
Well-known member
I'd say rent it for 2 days and have fun
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
JakeKohl
Well-known member
They're great for digging holes / trenches but don't plan on it doing much with a stump other than exposing the roots.
LEVE
Well-known member
The one I rented could do a lot of work in the rental time, provided I could run it. I found I was all thumbs, and every one of them was needed as well as a well defined understanding of up, down, right, left and a few other demands. I spent half the time trying to get comfortable with the controls and the other half cussing that I didn't know a whit about what I was doing.
Somehow, with heaven's help, I got the job done. I really have no idea how.
Somehow, with heaven's help, I got the job done. I really have no idea how.
jake00
Well-known member
I rented one to dig a 40ft x5ft trench for a new water line.
A freind of mine is a operator at a local municipality.
While I "could " have done the job alone, this guy got surgical with the unit. And got my trench cut in a couple hrs.
He also did a much better cleanup than expected.
A freind of mine is a operator at a local municipality.
While I "could " have done the job alone, this guy got surgical with the unit. And got my trench cut in a couple hrs.
He also did a much better cleanup than expected.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
They're great for digging holes / trenches but don't plan on it doing much with a stump other than exposing the roots.
Depends on the size of the stump vs the size of machine. 3 to 3.5 metric tons is a very common useful size. I have pulled pretty good size pine stumps in under ten minutes with a E35. Now a big oak stump 4' across, yes I would be ******* against the wind.
purplezr2
Well-known member
Just My 2 cents
If you have never run one before you will be slow to start, it will take a few hours to get you mind to control your hands/feet to make the right moves. That said they can do quite a bit. Around here, you can rent on Sat and as long as you return by Sunday night you only pay for one day. Kind of a sweet deal.
If you have never run one before you will be slow to start, it will take a few hours to get you mind to control your hands/feet to make the right moves. That said they can do quite a bit. Around here, you can rent on Sat and as long as you return by Sunday night you only pay for one day. Kind of a sweet deal.
wnstwolf
Well-known member
all depends on the size of the machine and the soil type you re going after. As long as you do not encounter all sorts of large rocks and stumps a mini machine can get a lot done in 8 hours. I had an 8 ton unit on site for most of our new house build and it handled some very tough digging in shale. We almost got through the entire foundation dig but share was just too tough and we were pushing the machine way over its limits.
Not sure if your getting something less than 3 ton but if so you will be limited in its pull out and you may need to dig wider holes to get stuff out of the ground. Hope it has the blade on the front to help you backfill
Have fun you will not want to get off the thing once you get the knack of it..
Not sure if your getting something less than 3 ton but if so you will be limited in its pull out and you may need to dig wider holes to get stuff out of the ground. Hope it has the blade on the front to help you backfill
Have fun you will not want to get off the thing once you get the knack of it..
buffaloguy89
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2012
- Messages
- 55
200 for 8 hours seems like a lot. I worked at a rental store for 3 years and you could rent a mini and trailer for 180 for 24 hours. Make sure it has a blade if youre doing some grading. And plan on it taking at least an hour before you get comfortable with the controls.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Tim Kennedy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2011
- Messages
- 368
Big difference between running a piece of equipment & operating one -- get someone who does it for a living & be done with it. At least around here [W. PA] excavating is the cheapest part of construction. Although I do agree they are a hoot to play with!
stafford
Well-known member
You could probably do it, rent it and see how it goes, if it's too rough you can always hire someone to come and straighten it out for ya, plus you'll have fun to boot.
Todd.Brock
Well-known member
200 for 8 hours seems like a lot. I worked at a rental store for 3 years and you could rent a mini and trailer for 180 for 24 hours. Make sure it has a blade if youre doing some grading. And plan on it taking at least an hour before you get comfortable with the controls.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
When I rented a bobcat a few years ago , it was for a 24 hour period , but only 8 hours of run time. Those things eat diesel too , if you are running it hard!
mayday0017
Well-known member
I hear rumors of people doing the 8 hour run time **** but never had it done to me. Pretty sure if they tried to pull that **** on me I would disconnect the meter and retun it with the same time on the clock as when I got it just to make a point.... Total BS to do that....
Rented a lift once that they put an aftermarket sensor on so if it got more then 3degrees off level it wouldn't let you lift it was 4wheel drive and ment for use in the dirt. 5 min with a screwdriver disabled that **** real quick. Just made sure to put it back how I found it when I was done.... I understand they were covering their **** so people wouldn't flip it but it was so sensative you couldn't even use the damn thing!
Rented a lift once that they put an aftermarket sensor on so if it got more then 3degrees off level it wouldn't let you lift it was 4wheel drive and ment for use in the dirt. 5 min with a screwdriver disabled that **** real quick. Just made sure to put it back how I found it when I was done.... I understand they were covering their **** so people wouldn't flip it but it was so sensative you couldn't even use the damn thing!
The $200 is for the guy to drop off and pickup the machine. The mini is only two three years old. The stumps I got to dig out are very small under 10'' theres just a lot of them. The grading work I might hold off and have the guy that started it finish it. I going to call around and see what some of the other places charge.
Jim B
Well-known member
My neighbor and I rented two minis last summer. I don't know the size designations but the first one was the smallest model with retractable tracks so it can fit through a man gate. The second one was a bit larger. I had no experience before hand. I did all the operating. We used it to dig a big hole to expose his sewer line and do some 12"x 60' trenches in his yard and some trenching for drains in my yard. I catch on to things like this pretty well and it took me about 5 hours to get the hang of it and after 10 hours I was learning a few tricks of the trade. I'm no operator by any means but I can get a lot of work done with one in a day without making a mess. Your plan seems a little ambitious for a first time in 8 hour although your price seems good to me as we paid $300/8 hours. In any case they are a hoot to play with.
volleyball
Well-known member
What do you consider mini? And what size bucket? Does it have a fair size push blade? What type of soil?
I think the rental units are better maintained than owner operated ones. Not all but many. If something is wrong, they come out and fix it or exchange it. I got a free extra day on a lift because they didn't charge the battery.
If you don't leave the machine idling, you probably won't go over 8 hour usage. Unless you have several helpers.
A backhoe may be a better tool for your project if you have a lot of soil to move for your grading. The 25hp ones are a good choice for many.
My place is 24 hours with 8 hr usage and pro rated time over 8 hrs per day.
I think the rental units are better maintained than owner operated ones. Not all but many. If something is wrong, they come out and fix it or exchange it. I got a free extra day on a lift because they didn't charge the battery.
If you don't leave the machine idling, you probably won't go over 8 hour usage. Unless you have several helpers.
A backhoe may be a better tool for your project if you have a lot of soil to move for your grading. The 25hp ones are a good choice for many.
My place is 24 hours with 8 hr usage and pro rated time over 8 hrs per day.
G_P
Well-known member
You can get quite a lot of work done in 8 hrs if you know how to operate the machine. Some people can learn how to use one decently in less than an hour and some people will need nearly a full day to get the hang of it.
volleyball
Well-known member
It is easy to use. Sand isn't heavy so you could get by with a smaller machine than say clay. I remember the 5 ton rocking as I ran the arm extended full of clay
sands35
Well-known member
I rented one last fall. It took about an hour or so to learn how to do coordinated movements to the point that I could dig a flat bottomed trench.The soil is sandy. Im betting I can learn the machine fast. The guy at the rental place will show me how to use it before I rent it. The grading work I would do only if I have time left.
A lot of fun. Probably would have cost the same to pay somebody else, but hey - I got to drive a digger.
A fun channel to watch and might be able to learn some tips.
http://www.youtube.com/user/69manhoer/videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/69manhoer/videos
bobcatdan
Well-known member
What do you consider mini? And what size bucket? Does it have a fair size push blade? What type of soil?
I think the rental units are better maintained than owner operated ones. Not all but many. If something is wrong, they come out and fix it or exchange it. I got a free extra day on a lift because they didn't charge the battery.
If you don't leave the machine idling, you probably won't go over 8 hour usage. Unless you have several helpers.
A backhoe may be a better tool for your project if you have a lot of soil to move for your grading. The 25hp ones are a good choice for many.
My place is 24 hours with 8 hr usage and pro rated time over 8 hrs per day.
Excavators are rated by metric ton. 8 is starting to get big, but is still a toy compaired to large ones. The most popular are 3.5 to 5 tons. A 3.5 is easily towable with a 3/4 ton and will normally run a 24" wide bucket depending on application. Usely a 15' or so dig depth. A 5 ton will handle a 36" bucket.
volleyball
Well-known member
I was asking the OP what he considered mini. That way we could tell him how much work it would do. A typical rental mini has bucket no more than 12"
Joe69
Well-known member
I rented a mini excavator a couple of years ago. I deal with the local Bobcat dealer, so the cut me a huge break. I rented it on a Saturday, returned it on Monday, and paid 1 day rental. It was less than $200. It was an awesome machine. I wish I could justify owning one.
They will do most anything a larger machine will do, just slower, and in a tighter areas. That's why I rented one. I could've borrowed a backhoe from work, but it wouldn't have fit where I needed it.
The digging depth will limit you, if you are digging extremely deep.
Joe
They will do most anything a larger machine will do, just slower, and in a tighter areas. That's why I rented one. I could've borrowed a backhoe from work, but it wouldn't have fit where I needed it.
The digging depth will limit you, if you are digging extremely deep.
Joe
Last edited:
RivennHewn
Well-known member
Why pay someone when you can have the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Consider it paying yourself to learn. Then you have one more skill to add to your list.
Mini's come in a variety of sizes. The smaller one won't help much on tree stumps, and don't grade very well. Find an old I-beam or something to use as a grade beam. It's tricky to figure out, but it does a much better job than the blade.
Consider it paying yourself to learn. Then you have one more skill to add to your list.
Mini's come in a variety of sizes. The smaller one won't help much on tree stumps, and don't grade very well. Find an old I-beam or something to use as a grade beam. It's tricky to figure out, but it does a much better job than the blade.
raddksn
Well-known member
And some never will!!!You can get quite a lot of work done in 8 hrs if you know how to operate the machine. Some people can learn how to use one decently in less than an hour and some people will need nearly a full day to get the hang of it.
Size of the machine will dictate what you can do. A 3.5 ton machine. (Cabbed models will actually weigh about 9500 lbs) can do quite a bit of work. I own a JD 35D. For reference what can be done with these machines last week I trenched and backfilled 900' of trench in 8 hour day with a 18" bucket 36" deep through moderately rocky ground. But I have a few hundred hours of seat time on this machine as well. Mine goes through right about 1 gallon of diesel an hour. I have run the 2.5 ton machine and I would be surprised if I could have done half what I do on a 3.5 ton machine and have also ran 5 ton machines and I would expect about a 30- 50% increase in work being done.
sbosecker
Well-known member
I can rent a mini excavator for about 200 for 8 hour day. I got to finish some grading where my shop is going, dig a 8x10 hole, raise a few spots and dig out a few stumps and dig a few hole for trees. I have never use a mini excavator before.
About 15 years ago I had several (a couple of dozen or more) good sized pine trees removed from my property by a pulp-wood guy for practically nothing. I had to deal with the stumps & limbs.
I went to a local rental place and inquired about a mini-excavator for the stump project. They assured me this late-20th century marvel would "pop the stumps right out".
I think the "popping the stump right out" worked on some of the smaller stumps but not so much on the larger ones. Once I finally figured out that I needed to do a brute force excavation around the larger stumps and then "pop" them things went better.
There's always a learning curve and I spent every bit of daylight available on the task. Since I work for free for myself, I'm sure I couldn't have gotten the stumps removed for 4 times what I paid for the rental of that min-excavator but it did take quite a bit longer than I had originally envisioned.
It is important to note that I'm dealing with Georgia clay. Perhaps your results would be different with different soil.
Good luck on your project!
Best regards,
Scott
Last edited:
48RON54
Well-known member
I hear rumors of people doing the 8 hour run time **** but never had it done to me. Pretty sure if they tried to pull that **** on me I would disconnect the meter and retun it with the same time on the clock as when I got it just to make a point.... Total BS to do that....
Rented a lift once that they put an aftermarket sensor on so if it got more then 3degrees off level it wouldn't let you lift it was 4wheel drive and ment for use in the dirt. 5 min with a screwdriver disabled that **** real quick. Just made sure to put it back how I found it when I was done.... I understand they were covering their **** so people wouldn't flip it but it was so sensative you couldn't even use the damn thing!
charging for excess hours is industry standard. At some point the equipment has to be sold to make way for newer eqpt, and higher hours equals lower resale value.
Size of the machine will dictate what you can do. A 3.5 ton machine. (Cabbed models will actually weigh about 9500 lbs) can do quite a bit of work. I own a JD 35D. For reference what can be done with these machines last week I trenched and backfilled 900' of trench in 8 hour day with a 18" bucket 36" deep through moderately rocky ground. But I have a few hundred hours of seat time on this machine as well. Mine goes through right about 1 gallon of diesel an hour. I have run the 2.5 ton machine and I would be surprised if I could have done half what I do on a 3.5 ton machine and have also ran 5 ton machines and I would expect about a 30- 50% increase in work being done.
You answered my question perfectly. Im going to rent one no matter what. If I get the work done great if not I learned something new. I just need to find a place where I can rent it for the whole weekend and not get charged for everyday.