Operating a mini digger with no previous experience..straightforward or?

need to dig out a fairly large area which is possible by hand but will take quite a while and a lot of effort. Just wondered if anyone had hired a mini digger and what their experience was in general ?
your advice would be much appreciated.
thanks
Bill

If its just a basic excavation then pretty simple. Just make sure there is no underground services that you can damage.

Not that difficult to opperate if you’re just doing straightforward stuff slowly.

More difficult to opperate well though.

I used to work for a company that hired them out and most people got to grips with them easy enough.

Just make sure there is no underground services that you can damage.

This ^^

Easy, I got carried away though and dug trenches too deep which meant needing to by more hardcore…

And the thing with mini diggers is when you track remember to lift the blade up first.

Resist the urge to see how far you can tip it over 😆 😯

It’s quite a long way 😉

They are fairly easy to learn to the stage where you can dig out an area. The multi movements take a bit of time to get the scoop and arms going at the same time take longer to master well tho.

More than anything else, they are bloody good fun

Not a soul would hire me one a couple of years ago. Either wanted some kind of proof of competency or be an existing account holder.

Worked out cheaper getting a “man in the know” to hire it and do the digging in the end. Annoyingly the hire company then left it on my drive for a further three days till they got round to picking it up.

Hopefully you will have more luck than I did.

Make sure you are in a wide open space with no chance of hitting anything and take time to practice. Keep the revs low when digging, and spend a good while get the coordination of the two joysticks. Make sure nobody is watching you whilst your practicing. Make sure you have a good banksman looking out for underground services when you come to actually dig, it can be difficult to see whats right in front of you!

Get a dumper to go with it – great fun!

Can you film it and post any amusing mishaps on here?

What’s the worst that can happen?

pah, even a three year old can do it 😉

Actually a lot of fun. Im still not very good at them despite having done about 20 hours over the last 18 months, but I havent crashed or rolled one or dug up the water supply.

This thread is a perfect example of why I like STW. Instant digger advice from a database of strangers 😆

One day I hope to have enough man points to advise on such things. One day.

It is fun to have a go and it doesn’t take long to gain a reasonable level of skill. However, these days I weigh up the cost of hire against the cost of getting the work done by someone who comes with their own digger. If it’s a days work for him that is usually my best option as he will get everything done so much faster than me.

Everyone should have a go at least once 🙂

^ very, very true.

One trained man turned this

into this

in one day.
For me, it would have taken a week 🙂
(but I did do the pollarding)

I used to hire them out to Joe Public and can’t think of any hilarious stories or disasters, so they can’t be too difficult to master. Anyway, what could possibly go wrong?

A friend of mine borrowed one to dig a trench near his house, the bucket caught a rock and the machine jerked round, hit the corner of his house andhe ended up having to get the corner repaired, and underpinned. Luckily his insurance paid for it.
His Mrs was still livid tho

One day I hope to have enough man points to advise on such things. One day.

I really think you need to revise your understanding of stw advice. You’re already qualified – it says so on the email when you first sign up.

Make sure you wear the seatbelt and pay attention to the safety information that will probably be on stickers on the roll cage. That way, if the worst happens you will be as well positioned as you can be.

And have fun!

What size you looking at getting? Little tonne ones are viscious beasts when on full revs and will have you out the seat in a heart beat if your not careful. Three tonners are ideal if you’ve got the room, plenty of grunt and can turn out a good bit of work in the day, plus there a little kinder on anyone who’s over five foot five!!

Wringhtyson, can you pop back to my structural engineer thread for a mo please?