Hi Everyone, I'm new to construction equipment, I've never operated one but would really like to learn. I've had a few people give me estimates around here on doing stuff that I need done and they charge around $2-$4K per day and it would take several days. I just don't have that kind of money, so I've decided to rent one. The rental company has very small mini excavators with a 16" bucket for $160/day, larger mini excavators with a 24" digging bucket or 36" grading bucket for $250/day. They also have skid steer loaders for $200/day. I'm more concerned with being able to operate one of these... I've been watching videos on it over the past week. Any suggestions/opinions would be great! Here are my two projects: My First: I'm having 200 yards of fill dirt delivered to create 5-7 raised garden mounds. Each mound is roughly 50' x 50' 4" deep. The dirt will be dumped where each mound will be, aprox 2-3 tandem truck loads per mound. So I simply need to flatten this pile out and create a gradual slope. Maybe 6" in the middle sloped down to around 1". I can quickly do the final grading touch ups with just a rake... I just need to figure out if an excavator or skid steer would be best and what could get the job done quicker/cheaper. How many hours would something like this take? My Second: I need to dig a drainage ditch roughly 10' wide sloped to 1.5' deep x 100' long. The dirt will be dumped right beside the ditch to build it up. Would a mini excavator be able to do this well and do this in 1 day (8 hours)? Again, it doesn't have to be a perfect job, I can do final touch ups after completed by hand. Thanks!
Probaly would be a good idea to get some practice before you start doing jobs
I'm not planning on doing any jobs for anyone else... I have these two projects I'm working on in my back yard plus a lot of others in the fall that will need equipment. Just trying to get a feel for what types of machines for what projects and around how long it would take. The amount of projects I have lined up that require digging or moving dirt would easily cost $10K from the quotes I received. Just trying to figure a cheaper way of doing it myself the way I want for a little less since I don't have the money to hire it out.
A mini excavator will be the tool needed for the drainage ditch, should take a day to complete with a new operator at the controls. A skidsteer will. Move the dirt for your mounds. Again a day or two to move the loads and spread the dirt. It's not rocket science to run these pieces of compact equipment . You will only learn by doing it and getting used to the machines...good luck and be safe...