I'm planning a job that will get done over many weeks/months and am considering buying a small (say 3/4 ton) digger nth hand to sell on when I've finished with it. I think this would work out cheaper than hiring. I want a tracked machine not a powerfab type. I don't want a complete wreck but I'll consider something that needs a little TLC. I'm near Southampton so something in the southern half of UK would be preferred.
It might be worth asking a few hire shops what they do with them when they get to the end of their ecomomic life. If they sell them for a knock-down price you might get one with some life left in it for very little.
I had assumed that Hire shop ones would get a very hard life and they might still ask quite high prices plus the dreaded VAT of course. I'll have to enquire.
Ebay certainly has a few but they too seem to make good money and some are trade with the VAT issue again.
I had a similar problem a year or so ago, and no single tool was ideal. A mini digger may dig, but its a total bit of junk for moving what it digs more than a few feet. A dumper moves stuff, but is not good on its own, loading to 6 foot high is a killer. A JCB is a good tool, and you can pick up these for a couple of grand, if you are prepared to do the TLC, but they are big, and not easy on a small site. Most cars will tow a 750KG digger, so if you can get a cheep rate from a local hire place that may be the best option. Where I am, mini diggers are quite popular, so hire is cheep. A 3 tonne machine will do a HUGE ammout of work in a weekend.
For buying one, you need to keep your eyes open, the farmers markets sometimes have "implement" sales, there are a couple of auction places you can find via google, and a few small dealers exist. BUT its like buying a second hand car - buyer beware. Bargins are hard to find, being ripped off is easy.
In the end I went for a bobcat, its small and easy to manover, it loads at ground level, it lifts stuff up the scaffold 8 feet of so, it will push soil arround. I hire in an excavator, and a 5 tonne dumper for the big jobs, and so far thats only 3 extra weekends work.
I am rebuilding a barn in a location with neerest lorry access is 1/3 a mile away.
One final thing, fixing them when they are broke is a nightmare. You need a specalist plant repair type person, and they all have plenty of work.
The job(s) include digging holes to bury rubble, landscaping/ small root extraction/levelling and trenching for light opubuilding footings. The plot is small 30 x 40 feet so a small digger is essential. I can't do much by hand due to a dodgy back.
If you can get one, I found the 1.5T diggers to be far more useful than the 750kg ones. The smaller ones have an advantage if you need to get it inside a house because they go through standard door widths, but the amount fo work they can do compared to the 1.5T one (about 1m wide) is tiny.
I got a 3 tonne machine in my sitting room, 11m x 4m, and dug out the footings for the new internal walls. From what you say I reckno that you will find a bit of planning you can do all your digging in 3-4 weekend goes at it. A brand new hire machine will be much easier to use than an old banger of a machine that breaks down - unless of cource you are looking for an expensive machine.
With a bad back, dumpers / bobcats are a no no, the bouncing you get will wack your back up and down something terrible. A mini digger drives so slowly that the problem almost goes away ........
I bought a 1.5 ton Kubota second hand from a local dealer and consider it to have been an excellent buy. I halved the cost with my neighbour (perhaps sharing the cost is an option for you?) and am confident that we would get most of the cost back if we sold it today (5 years on). We're not planning to sell it so that is irrelevant but it has undoubtedly paid for itself - probably not quite in the cost savings over hiring but in the time and convenience. If I have a job to do, no matter how small, I just fire up the digger and do it - no hand digging for me these days!.
It sounds like you don't have quite such a long term need for it as we do so you need to seriously think if planning your jobs and hiring is a better bet. Also consider that it might get in the way on a small plot and that you will have to insure it (or risk having it stolen uninsured) and that you will have the hassle of buying and selling and risk buying a lemon and capital will be tied up in it. A small machine may not be physically capable of doing what you require.
Also consider getting a machine and driver. They could probably do all your work in a day. If you drive it yourself, you will have to learn how to use the machine and then take time getting skilled at it - perhaps time better spent doing something else.
If you do go for it - do your research - there are a lot of completely knackered machines out there. Also be careful you don't buy a stolen machine.
All good points to ponder. Having watch a few prices go high on Ebay in the last few days, I'm begining to question my original plan to buy. I'm also told my employer has a corporate discount deal with a national tool hire chain which features 40 to 60% discount off listed rates and free delivery to site. Seems worth looking into!
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.