hi all:
well I have enough experiance with this to give advice I think: I have TLB and have been in the process of building a place for the last year and a half:
for septic systems you will need to get the permits and the perc tests down first, then see what you have to DIG for them. the septic tank maybe able to be placed using the hoe but it will take lots of work, more so than you may think, like someone said you have to dig, and then move the dirt, then dig more and move the dirt. (as the septic tank movers have to have a clean area to back over the hole. also it needs to be the correct depth for you're forst and soil conditions) the septic feild usually hast to be dug between 24" and 36" wide by as much as 6' deep again local codes will tell you what has to be dug to. then the dirt (about 90% of it) will have to be removed and you back fill with the correct gravel NOT the orriginal dirt!!!
as for footings again, frost and ground soil conditions dictate how deep and how wide they need to be, and if you are intending a basement forget attempting to dig it with a compact hoe.! hire it out.
mine was great for installing the electrical water and misc lines to and fro. I can dig to about 4 feet very quickly (6hrs run time for about 150 feet) to the 4' mark, but get below the 4' mark and the dig time nearly doubles as you can only move a couple feet at a time the arc swing then becomes a problem. mine will dig a 6' hole but the last foot of it will take 3 times as long due to it. I haven't tried to use it for a few things yet such as rock removal, but it will work great for that, I've used it for creek maintenance and it worked well then for digging gravel out of the creek in less than ideal conditions. the biggest problem is that they don't have much SWING left/right, maybe 140 degrees or so? so getting the dirt/rocks ect out of the way is the biggest problem.
I know several guiys who excavate for a living, usually on small jobs it takes them more time to move the equipment there than the job takes, (this week i talked to one about digging a service pit in my pole barn, price to dig was less than 200 bucks but the delivery fee was as much if it was a trip specific job.) if he was in the neiborhood only fee would be cost of the digging. 150 ~ 200 bucks. using his 40 foot hoe with a 5' bucket driving into the barn with bucket extended straight out dropping and dragging it backwards to the 5' depth I wanted... total digging time is estimated at about 1 hr! somethign I can dig with my hoe but would take days litterly... is it worth the 150 my days worth of tractor work or is it better for him to do it and be able to then not have to worry about the amount of work wear & tear factor?
I will be using my hoe for tree transplanting in a year or less so that was my # 1 reason for getting it and the barn build project was #2. along then there were lots more reasons, and while I have yet to even think about recouping the $ it cost it is nice to have... I'm thinking rental of a compact track style hoe may be best way for the barn service pit as they can go inside and dig right where i want swing around 180 degrees dump into my dump trailer and then I can dump it when it is full and return to the digging after the dirt has been removed from the site... I have to look into the COST per day for one though I think it will be cheaper to have it done.
Mark M
