Hiring man with digger

DJ98 · 17-05-2020 2:47pm #1

What sort of money do people charge to hire out a digger and driver, looking to tidy up ditches here on the farms, ones that have fallen down over years and now want to build them back up. Do lads charge by the hour or day mostly?

_Brian · 17-05-2020 2:52pm

First thing you need to ask around and get a good man recommended by farmers after having the same work done.

Seriously, a good mam will do nearly twice the work to a higher standard and even if €10/hr more will save you a pile of money, time and do a better job.

Can’t say much on cost, BIL has his own machines and does our work. He’s top man.

carrollsno1 · 17-05-2020 3:01pm

Know a farmer who used to time when the dumpers werent running etc and compare that against what the contractor billed him for. Told me theres a fair difference as id imagine he was charging for the 8hr day even though the dumper was going 4hrs etc.
Ask around about contractors and get a good honest one, the contractor in the story was only a b*llox anyway and quizzed up a lad before why he didnt get him to do such and such a job for him the response was "if i got you in id have to ring the gaurds to get ye out of it yed be there so long"

tabby aspreme · 17-05-2020 3:23pm

_Brian wrote: »

First thing you need to ask around and get a good man recommended by farmers after having the same work done.

Seriously, a good mam will do nearly twice the work to a higher standard and even if €10/hr more will save you a pile of money, time and do a better job.

Can’t say much on cost, BIL has his own machines and does our work. He’s top man.

You can't be sayin that now, it's sexist.

Jb1989 · 17-05-2020 3:32pm

tabby aspreme wrote: »

You can't be sayin that now, it's sexist.

Agreed, best digger driver around here is a woman.

Who2 · 17-05-2020 3:45pm

Around 35-45 plus vat for most lads on a 12 ton machine. Big enough for the majority of jobs around a farm. Lads with a 6 ton will charge nearly the same but they won’t get through the work as efficiently.

DJ98 · 17-05-2020 3:47pm

Who2 wrote: »

Around 35-45 plus vat for most lads on a 12 ton machine. Big enough for the majority of jobs around a farm. Lads with a 6 ton will charge nearly the same but they won’t get through the work as efficiently.

What would the vat cost?

Who2 · 17-05-2020 3:48pm

DJ98 wrote: »

What would the vat cost?

13.5%

_Brian · 17-05-2020 3:49pm

Who2 wrote: »

Around 35-45 plus vat for most lads on a 12 ton machine. Big enough for the majority of jobs around a farm. Lads with a 6 ton will charge nearly the same but they won’t get through the work as efficiently.

Unless you had your own a 6ton is too small to be hiring in.

17-05-2020 8:44pm

DJ98 wrote: »

What would the vat cost?

VAT is reclaimable on reclamation anyway and I’d be putting though the work you describe as reclamation.

farawaygrass · 17-05-2020 10:03pm

I’m full time looking at diggers on done deal. Plenty of work around the farm and house. Time would be the big issue though. And the novelty night soon wear off with one too!

fastrac94 · 17-05-2020 10:10pm

farawaygrass wrote: »

I’m full time looking at diggers on done deal. Plenty of work around the farm and house. Time would be the big issue though. And the novelty night soon a wear off with one too!

The trick is to get the machine with a driver that knows what he's doin.good lad on a machine will do in week what another lad could take 2 weeks to do an d it still might not be done right,1 or 2 lads around here that are very good and are never short of work.ya don't have to tell them what to do,they know by looking at it and what's the best way to go about it..

farawaygrass · 17-05-2020 10:26pm

fastrac94 wrote: »

The trick is to get the machine with a driver that knows what he's doin.good lad on a machine will do in week what another lad could take 2 weeks to do an d it still might not be done right,1 or 2 lads around here that are very good and are never short of work.ya don't have to tell them what to do,they know by looking at it and what's the best way to go about it..

Agreed. A neighbour built his house during the good times and was a digger driver in his younger days. There was a local plant hire set up that was getting bigger and bigger all the time (Celtic tiger), and he asked them to do the groundwork’s Of the house. Digger and driver arrived on a Monday morning and before tea time the neighbour knew the driver hadn’t a clue. He found out he only started not long before. Neighbour was pissed off with all the time wasted in the end, and actually did some driving himself on the digger where the worker was struggling

Tileman · 17-05-2020 11:00pm

Agree 100%. A good driver is always busy and just knows what to do by looking at it. Keeps the place tidy . My usual lad was too busy this spring and had to get another lad. He broke a pipes, hit gates and tried to drag out the job.
But you wouldn’t do what a good lad does. They make it seem easy like an extension of their hands.

patsy_mccabe · 17-05-2020 11:10pm

Makes me laugh the amount of times I've heard people around here say "Shur anyone could drive a digger". Saw a local guy doing work recently laying pipes. Even as he was tracking back, he had the bucket in the ditch scraping back.

davidk1394 · 18-05-2020 8:56am

As previous posters said make. Make sure you get a good person on the digger. There might only be €10/15 an hour in the difference but could save you a lot of work and money down the line. A 13 tone digger is €45 per hour + VAT around here.

Kevhog1988 · 18-05-2020 10:41am

About 45 per hour for an 8 hr day around here. Agree about the experience etc also... you have machine drivers and screwdrivers. Id be fairly handy on them after the few years working in the UK. I wouldnt go down the self drive route unless youve a bit of experience on one.

lakill Farm · 18-05-2020 4:43pm

farawaygrass wrote: »

I’m full time looking at diggers on done deal. Plenty of work around the farm and house. Time would be the big issue though. And the novelty night soon wear off with one too!

a little digger work is as nice a weekend or evening job as goes on I find

Amazing the work you can get done tipping away but to be honest you need either a good tipper/dump trailer or a site dumper also

lakill Farm · 18-05-2020 4:43pm

davidk1394 wrote: »

As previous posters said make. Make sure you get a good person on the digger. There might only be €10/15 an hour in the difference but could save you a lot of work and money down the line. A 13 tone digger is €45 per hour + VAT around here.

I charge 30 plus vat for the 3t digger

_Brian · 18-05-2020 5:00pm

lakill Farm wrote: »

I charge 30 plus vat for the 3t digger

Thats the point..

Youd probably get a good man for the same or very little more

:p:p

Tileman · 18-05-2020 7:23pm

lakill Farm wrote: »

I charge 30 plus vat for the 3t digger

Thought you were an accountant. No offence but I wouldn’t want my digger work done by an accountant or my books done by a digger man. ðŸ˜‚

Still waters · 18-05-2020 7:41pm

lakill Farm wrote: »

I charge 30 plus vat for the 3t digger

Thats the price of a 3 ton, lads for 40 around here for a 13 ton, theres only 1 man I'd let inside the gate and he's 45 euro an hour plus vat, I'd say he works out a good bit cheaper by the end of the job, he's fast and he's good and he wants to be out the gate and onto the next job, theres a lad a half mile up the road for 40 but he could knock a day out levelling 2 barrows of gravel

Kevhog1988 · 18-05-2020 9:12pm

Tileman wrote: »

Thought you were an accountant. No offence but I wouldn’t want my digger work done by an accountant or my books done by a digger man. &#55357;&#56834;

im a quantity surveyor and id put money on that id be as goof if not better than the majority of lads sitting on a machine full time. 50% of getting any machine work right is knowing what you want to do or the best way around doing it.

_Brian · 18-05-2020 9:30pm

Tileman wrote: »

Thought you were an accountant. No offence but I wouldn’t want my digger work done by an accountant or my books done by a digger man. &#55357;&#56834;

It’s not unheard of for a fella to be good at more than one thing.

Mooooo · 18-05-2020 9:39pm

Any works around here it's 20 ton machines being used really, don't know of many running smaller machines bar an odd few one man operations. To get thru drainage and that the bigger machines make a massive difference, esp if big stones or rock appears

Aravo · 18-05-2020 9:52pm

Lad with a 13T does work here. He has a 6T dumper which he brings if needed. I see some lads have bought machines for their own farm work but most of the time they are parked up. I find that when the digger man is about you need to be about driving a tractor and trailer, holding strainers for driving etc. If he was busy I would wait for him and not go elsewhere.

Lime Tree Farm · 18-05-2020 10:03pm

Plant Hire used here is a 13 ton track machine, €50/hr + VAT

rs8 · 18-05-2020 10:24pm

The man that's less than €45 an hour isnt prob as efficient as the experience ones charging more for a 12 tonne machine! I have my own 5 tone and charge €35 an hour but have the way I see it is your not paying me extra for time I spend at your farm your paying me for the 10+ years experience it took to get there!! Also if the work u require isnt to exciting ( cleaning a few drains, pulling up a few bushes etc) the highly experienced man on a smaller digger will wipe the floor with the inexperienced!! Example a Hitachi ex60 v ex120

lakill Farm · 19-05-2020 11:16am

Tileman wrote: »

Thought you were an accountant. No offence but I wouldn’t want my digger work done by an accountant or my books done by a digger man. &#55357;&#56834;

I would do an odd digger job at the weekend or evenings. Mostly around tight areas where access is limited.

k mac · 25-05-2020 4:35pm

How many hours with a 13tonne machine would it take to clean 400 yards of drain that's fairly badly closed in, and dig 200 yards of a new drain in boggy ground that would be easy dug.? Trying to figure out what it would cost to try an improve a small bit of bog ground and more importantly would it be worth my while!!

Kevhog1988 · 26-05-2020 8:55am

k mac wrote: »

How many hours with a 13tonne machine would it take to clean 400 yards of drain that's fairly badly closed in, and dig 200 yards of a new drain in boggy ground that would be easy dug.? Trying to figure out what it would cost to try an improve a small bit of bog ground and more importantly would it be worth my while!!

Two days would do the lot id say?

Still waters · 26-05-2020 9:29am

k mac wrote: »

How many hours with a 13tonne machine would it take to clean 400 yards of drain that's fairly badly closed in, and dig 200 yards of a new drain in boggy ground that would be easy dug.? Trying to figure out what it would cost to try an improve a small bit of bog ground and more importantly would it be worth my while!!

Allow between 700-1000 and you should be covered

addaword · 26-05-2020 11:26am

Needed a digger on the farm last year, paid 40 plus vat per hour. Know the man fairly well though and used him years ago as well. I think he usually charges 45 plus vat per hour. Get a good experienced operator anyway.

JL555 · 14-06-2020 12:02pm

Looking for one myself in the Cork area, about 20 mins south of Cork City, need to level a large garden, if anyone has any recommendations please PM me. thanks.

SouthWesterly · 14-06-2020 12:58pm

Had a man earlier this year breaking out a hedge for me to make a gate. Cost me €80.

Hiring man with digger

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