Best way to move a mini digger about

[mickg]

found it the changes were on 19th January 2013
https://www.gov.uk/old-driving-licence-categories

Drivers who tow trailers

If you want to tow a trailer weighing more than 750 kilograms when the combined weight of the towing vehicle and trailer is more than 3,500 kilograms you will have to pass a further test in category B+E.

You will then be able to tow trailers up to 3,500 kilograms. To pull a heavier trailer you must pass a C1E test.

If you got your driving entitlement before 19 January 2013 you will retain it. There are no further changes to rules on towing trailers.

If you passed your test for category B or B automatic before 1 January 1997 your licence will already show entitlement to C1, C1E (8.25 tonnes), D1 and D1E (not for hire or reward).

https://www.gov.uk/governm....F30.pdf

[GB_Groundworks]

Yeah so if you passed before 97 you are only allowed 750kg trailer basically a single drum roller I guess or compressor?

[mickg]

yeah gotya

[lutonlagerlout]

what has changed for you mick that you want to transport plant? or aggregates?
we get on fine just ordering John+machines in when needed
he has his big lorry that he can carry a 3 tonne takeuchi and 1 tonne dumper on
suits us
if it aint broke dont fix it !!!

LLL

[mickg]

mine was broken Tony, all this is not by choice believe me

the merchants I use are not as efficient as they used to be and I end up having to phone round to see who can deliver or to pick up the material myself, one merchant went from having 22 wagons with a mixture of tippers and crane offloading to just 3 crane offloading wagons and other merchants cut back on having 2 wagons to only one wagon

with the digger I ended up having to wait for it to come in off a hire before I could hire it which is why I bought my own last year or I would have to pay additional cost for a cross hire machine plus the fact the prices they were charging kept going up and up

[lutonlagerlout]

ahhh
we are a bit luckier than you in that respect as we have a plethora of BMs in luton
for me it costs around £400 a day for 3t takeuchi 1 tonne dumper and a driver all in per day which at first sight seems high

but when you start adding all the incidental costs of trailers, yards,insurance,pikeys it makes sense

I went and looked at a patio and drive friday
the drive is 25 long by 2.4 wide so a machine can do that
but the gap between the house and garage is only 600mm barely enough for a barrow
so hand dig again
cheers LLL

[Carberry]

ahhh
we are a bit luckier than you in that respect as we have a plethora of BMs in luton
for me it costs around £400 a day for 3t takeuchi 1 tonne dumper and a driver all in per day which at first sight seems high

but when you start adding all the incidental costs of trailers, yards,insurance,pikeys it makes sense

I went and looked at a patio and drive friday
the drive is 25 long by 2.4 wide so a machine can do that
but the gap between the house and garage is only 600mm barely enough for a barrow
so hand dig again
cheers LLL

Thought about buying a mini digger but not worth it for me, I'm in similar boat as you Tony. £150 a day for digger and driver and he buys his red diesel from me so not worth me buying one. I'm happy shovelling on smaller jobs anyway :laugh:

[Nigel Walker]

I don't own a digger and probably never will.
I hire the right size of digger for each individual job. Some jobs need a 3/4 ton digger, some a 3 tonner, some a 5 tonner etc etc.
I have good relationship with local plant hire company. Prices range from £40 per day to £60 per day (depend on size of machine) self drive with £25 each way delivery ( all plus vat). I can also hire with operator if needed - but I have myself and 1 other who are more than capable of operating any size of digger
The vast majority of our jobs are dug off in one day. 8am digger and wagon arrives. By 4pm- 40 ton of waste removed and tipped, 25 ton of type 1 delivered, levelled and compacted in layers - digger collected. Customer returns from work and no mess.
I have an Ifor Williams trailer if I need to pick up smaller diggers or dumper
Don't see the point in owning a digger and paying for insurance, maintenance, repairs etc.
If one of our hire diggers breaks down - quick phone call and a fitter or hydraulic pipe guy is there asap or new digger is brought out
The only way I would contemplate owning a digger would be if I was going to use it every day. But for 1 or 2 days per week maximum there is no benefit in owning

[msh paving]

once you own a mini-excavator will you use it all the time for jobs that you otherwise would hand dig,i have a my own digger on the job from day 1 digging out, placing sub-base, placing sand and scoping it of the lorry or trailer,placing the concrete for edging form the back of lorry .loading barrows to move sand .type 1 etc etc, the list goes on, MSH

[tarmal & Co]

Yeah I agree with msh once you own your digger you will use it for everything, and will pay for itself very quickly. Looks a lot better for the customer to have your own plant on the job for longer. Just make sure it is well immobilised.

[lutonlagerlout]

we are doing a little job at our digger mans house this week

he has rafts of paperwork from VOSA
he has a 13 tonne mercedes HGV to move a 3 t takeuchi and buckets +1 tonne dumper around

he had a 7 t and a trailer before but reckons trailers are such a puller for the old bill they are not worth the aggro

all depends on the type of work you are doing
if its pure groundworks like MSH and Giles it makes a lot of sense

for builders or landscapers where access can often be limited the costs can soon outweigh the gains

for most of us getting a machine in twice a month on hire is more economical
LLL

[Nigel Walker]

Diggers are not just 'One size fits all'.
Quote- "If you own a digger you will use it everyday" - My point is that if you own a 1.8 ton digger then you will use it for every job you do, even if a 1.8 tonner is not suitable for that job. You use it because you have paid for it and you own it.
I never use a 1.8 tonner on a driveway dig. Always a 3 or 5 ton one.
If I did use a 1.8 t , then the dig off would take an extra day, therefore it costs me money.
If I owned a 3 ton machine, which would be used on every job, then the costs increase - costs more to buy, need larger vehicle and trailer to tow (or a 7.5ton wagon), the need for secure storage etc.

I don't see the point in owning a digger because it makes you look better in front of clients _ what a load of tosh !
The client does not care whether the digger is yours or not.

As for using a digger to place concrete for kerbs and placing sand - my god what a faff - quicker and easier using shovel and barrow. This country is breeding a bunch of wimps who would trail a digger to a job to move a couple of ton of sand, rather than use a shovel !

[GB_Groundworks]

weve got 2x1.5 ton, 3 ton, , 7 ton, 13 ton, 16 ton, and a 6 ton wheeled 3cx and a 5 ton soon

3 ton and 1.5 tonners do the most work but the big girls make light work of anything

if youve got lots of jobs on handy to have plenty of machines, although being ground workers/construction rather than paving makes sense for us to have lots of machines.

we place kerbing mix off the 7.5 tonner with the digger so much quicker than by hand, if you are doing a big old run say 100m we'll get it dropped every 20 metres then lay it out with the machines, and lift all the kerbs with the machine,

its old fashioned thinking to be breaking backs just because you think you're tough, reduce repetitive tasks and reduce long term harm to you and your lads

if we can avoid it now we try to do any breaker work with an excavator reduce vibration and back problems.



Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1391792747

[Tony McC]

There's something in what Nigel says. How often do you see diggers or cranes or dumpers emblazoned 'Laing O'Rourke' or 'McAlpine'? Many larger contractor are quite happy for plant to be brought in under someone else's name.

We did have our own plant for many years, mostly wheeled 180 excavators and loading shovels, especially when working on commercial schemes, but for the patio and driveway side of things, my then accountant advised that it was more cost-efficient to hire-in the right machine for the job because we could claim 100% of hire costs but only 25% per year for capital costs (buying a machine). So, I usually hired-in.

Then, I noticed that, if a machine broke down or got a puncture, I wasn't paying for the downtime, and, in the case of significant breakdowns, the hirer would provide a replacement machine, often within hours whereas with my own digger, it would have been a case of dragging the ailing machine back to our yard and letting me owld feller and Diesel Dennis spanner away at it while the site was at a virtual standstill.

I'm less familiar with the economics of it all nowadays, but given the pricking about involved in just shifting your kit, not to mention the heavy costs of running a transport yard and safety testing, it would take some effort to convince me to have me own digger fleet again.

[GB_Groundworks]

if you can get in then get out on a job then yes hire

but if you are on a job for longer term the hire rates kill you

before we had our 1 ton high tip dumpers we hired one in, after 7 weeks on site it had cost almost £1000

where as we bought them for 5k each,

i had some concrete shutters on hire for large pit job, due to weather and xmas shut down they ended up costing me £4600 i could have bought all i need and then had them for future use at no extra cost