Hiring and Maintaining Heavy Construction Equipment

If you've just finished building a new home, then you're probably eager to get the garden looking amazing too. After the construction process, most gardens look like the building site they effectively are and will need some fairly extensive landscaping to get it into a functional and attractive condition.

After the expense of building a home, you may be reluctant to add the expense of a professional landscaper to your expenditures. Doing the landscaping yourself is cost-effective but it may feel a little daunting, particularly if you have a large area to work with.

Hiring a mini-excavator from a company that supplies heavy construction equipment is a great way to make short work of many larger scale landscaping jobs. Moving soil, leveling out areas for lawn and building garden beds are all jobs that can be done in a few short hours with a mini-excavator that would take many days of backbreaking work to achieve by hand.

If you've never hired a mini-excavator before, then here are the two most commonly asked questions about what to expect.

1. Do you need a licence or training to operate a mini-excavator?

Unlike larger pieces of heavy construction equipment, mini-excavators don't require a special licence to operate. They're also incredibly easy to operate and you don't need any previous experience to use one successfully in your garden.

Generally, the company that you hire your mini-excavator from will give you a quick lesson in how to use it on the day you hire it. If you've booked the hire of any specialised attachments, such as a compaction wheels or grabbers for moving large rocks and tree branches, then the hire company will also show you how to attach and remove them safely and securely.

2. How do you get the mini-excavator to my home?

Mini-excavators are easily transportable. They come on a small, custom built trailer that can be attached to the tow bar of your vehicle. They're relatively light and can be successfully towed by a four-wheel-drive vehicle or even a mid to large sized sedan.

If your car doesn't have a tow bar or you have a compact vehicle, then you can generally have your mini-excavator delivered to your home. There may be a small delivery and pick up charge for this service.

A mini-excavator will make short work of large tasks. Contact a local heavy construction equipment hire business to find out more about mini-excavator hires.