Hiring a digger with or without an operator

Cheapest headline rate, and ideal if you or someone on site has real machine time and the confidence to work near services and boundaries.

You take on responsibility for safe operation and for damage to the machine, surfaces and anything buried. Check your own insurance covers hired-in plant before booking.

An experienced operator arrives with the machine and works to your instruction. Our operator add-on is charged per day on top of the machine rate.

For a one-day dig, an experienced operator frequently finishes in one day what an occasional user takes two to do — so the total cost lands lower.

You're working close to a building, boundary wall or known services.

The dig needs accurate levels — footings, drainage falls, or a reduced dig to a set depth.

Nobody on site has recent machine experience, or the schedule has no slack in it.

Get service plans or use a cable avoidance tool, and hand-dig trial holes where services are suspected.

Agree where spoil goes and where the machine parks overnight. Keep the site secure — the hirer is responsible for the machine while it's on site.