rent a mini excavator or hire it out?

[Kenneth in Texas]

i need to dig a hole 6 feet deep x 5 feet wide x 8 feet long.

Got a guy with a large BH that will do it for $200

or

i can rent a bobcat mini excavator for 8 hours for $200 and diy.

BUT

i havent operated a mini excavator before, but do own a tractor with fel and have 500 hours experience with that.

Im leaning towards the diy because i have some additional digging on other projects on the land like stump digging, BUT as i say i havent operated an excavator before so i will have a learning curved, how much of a learning curve i dont know. Can someone advise me if the mini will be a pia to learn and do as i describe above?

 

[sodamo]

I don't have, nor have I ever operated an excavator, so my thoughts may be out of line.
But I do have a 7 ft backhoe on my tractor, have dug several hoes of various sizes, trenches, including one last week. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-owning-operating/245828-kb-2375-trench.html

So based on my experience if it was me and I didn't have my own hoe and your $200 choices, I might be leaning to hiring it done.
You may be different of course, but I count learning my backhoe as one of life's humbling experiences. How neat a hole do you need?

8 hours with a small machine isn't 8 hours of digging if you have to move spoils. A hole might require more thought than a trench, might be a different thought process for you, piece of cake to your friend.

Do you know what your soil is like, sandy, clay, loam, rocky, wet, etc?

If your 8 hrs is a Sat and Sun, might be better.

Believe me, I love my backhoe, but there have been a couple of times, I knew getting my neighbor, George with his extendable and experience was money better spent. When I did my swimming pool we actually worked as a team. He later told me he was surprised at my machines capabilities.

maybe your friend will let you have a turn at the controls, teach you a bit?

If you decide to do yourself please come back and post with pics.

 

[TripleR]

We rent because my son is good on one. If it was up to me to do, I would hire it done when taking into account the money and time involved in transporting.

If we needed one very often, or for a lot of projects, I would buy a good used one as you can almost always sell it for close to what you paid.

 

[Thomas]

I go w/$200.
Some renter have extra fees etc.

 

[rswyan]

Im leaning towards the diy because i have some additional digging on other projects on the land like stump digging, BUT as i say i havent operated an excavator before so i will have a learning curved, how much of a learning curve i dont know. Can someone advise me if the mini will be a pia to learn and do as i describe above?

How's your eye/hand co-ordination ?

Fine motor skills ?

How are you at "multi-tasking" ?

Can you drive forward, raise your FEL and curl the bucket at the same time ?

Now think about curling, crowding (drawing the dipper arm towards you) and raising the boom all at the same time ....

Or rotating, lowering the boom, extending (the dipper arm) and uncurling the bucket at the same time ....

Same deal more or less ....

I never run a Bobcat mini-ex .... only Kubota ..... so I can't compare them ....

The controls on Kubota's are electronic (not mechanical) .... and are fairly sensitive (which is a good thing in my opinion) .... depending how far you push the sticks, the components (bucket, dipper, boom) will operate either faster or slow ....

Potentially, the machine will be very fast .... compared to an accessory backhoe on a CUT ....

Assuming no obstructions - large rocks, the stray gas pipeline (remember: call before you dig), etc - and reasonable soil conditions, I could probably dig that hole in less than hour with a 10' mini-ex ....

It took me probably hour or less to become very comfortable with the controls on the first mini-ex I rented (Kubota KX91-3) .... but then I already had quite a few hours operating the backhoe on my tractor ....

I'd say that using (and learning) a mini-ex for the first time by doing close work next to a building probably isn't an ideal situation, but if you are careful and take your time you could do it successfully ....

Also saw your other thread about digging said hole with your FEL - yup, it can be done ...... I've done it - in wet clay (the trench in the pictures was dug to the point that my head was below grade while sitting on the tractor in the trench):

New Driveway And Polebarn

Personally, I'd say go for it :thumbsup:

But then I'm the somewhat adventurous sort ....

 

[Kyle241]

That's an easy sized hole to dig. Wouldn't take long with mini-Ex as they are simple to use. The question is where are you planning to put the soil? That is the hard part as my question is, is the guy with the large BH going to move it somewhere for you along with digging? If yes, then he wins. If not, then I would rent, dig the hole in an hour or two and use the mini-Ex for other chores.

As for using a mini-Ex, like I stated above simple. You may not be as quick as a pro when it comes to using it but the Kubota's are simple. My dealer provided one free to me for a weekend and I cleared a 1/4 acre of trees, pulled stumps and piled the lumber all into neat piles. I say 5 minutes of explanation, a half hour 'playing' and you're off.

 

[LD1]

IF it were me, I'd check to be sure the $200 was indeed $200.

A lot of rental places hide fees. Like if you call them they say...yep, $200 for a day. But then when you decide to get it, find out that they charge $75 each way for delivery, and then you have to top off the fuel when done...another $50-$75. So that $200 rental could be closer to $400.

But if it is $200 with everything included, I would say get the rental and have a day of fun.

I would also question why your "backhoe" guy is charging $200. I know hes got to make money too, but is this a neighbor??? OR does he have to load up and trailer to you? A hole that sized would only take me ~10 minutes on my full-sized machine. if you was a neighbor (or someone within a mile) that I could just drive over to in a few minutes, $200 would be obsurd.

 

[boggen]

big backhoe vs mini ex. mini ex has maneuverability in small places. but if you have the room. and need the dirt from hole dug moved, plus some stumps dug. i would go for the big backhoe. quick easy and painless.

i have been hit multi times, from nearby neighbors wanting some backhoe work done. i ask, for X, and end up getting double or triple. what i ask for. *shrugs*

backhoe / mini X is not that hard to figure out. just go slow! do not hammer the throttle down and try to go like mad!

if you are wanting nice flat bottom from the hole, or nice flat bottom trench, a backhoe operator or someone use to doing it a few times, should be able to make things nice and smooth bottom. without much hassle. with a lot less time than a newbie. it takes a little bit of time, in using the levers to get everything to articulate just right to keep things nice and flat on the bottom. without taking out more dirt than wanted.

ask the guy for $200, to see what a couple other odd jobs would take to get done. ya never know.

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

thanks for the replies, At this point im leaning towards renting the miniEx due to the fact i enjoy trying and doing things even if i havent ever done it before.

The $200 rental is it, well i have to refill what gas i use but thats it, $200 plus fuel. I get 8 hours on the meter over a 24 hour period. I will pick it up and take it back with my truck and trailer.

The $200 backhoe job guy has to drive an hour to get to me and an hour to get back home, so hes figuring about a 4 hour job @$50 ph. If i just had the hole needing dug i probably would just go with him and be done with it but now i have several oaks (5) that died over the drought last year that have been cut but the stumps remain and i figured i could dig them out with the mini in addition to digging the hole.

I feel pretty confident that i could learn the mini fairly quick before i tackled what i need to do, hopefully in an hour playing around with it i can get the general feel of it and then take things slow digging what i need dug. Its not real close to a structure so no real danger of tearing up a house or the mini

Yeah at first i seriously considered digging the hole with my tractor and i probably could do that but just seems like it would take a good while vs just getting after it with the mini. Ive dug lots of water and electric lines with nothing but my fel and got pretty good at that but digging a pit that i need for a rainwater collection tank would probably take quite awhile with my tractor.

Im a week or so away from tackling this project so i will get some pics while i do it.

 

[rswyan]

if you are wanting nice flat bottom from the hole, or nice flat bottom trench, a backhoe operator or someone use to doing it a few times, should be able to make things nice and smooth bottom. without much hassle. with a lot less time than a newbie. it takes a little bit of time, in using the levers to get everything to articulate just right to keep things nice and flat on the bottom. without taking out more dirt than wanted.

Partially curl the bucket (so the teeth aren't engaging) and use the weight of the machine on the "floor" .... while crowding the dipperstick in and raising the boom .... you can make the bottom smooth as baby's butt .... :thumbsup: