DIY earthworks
Can you do your own digger work? Should you?
It depends, says contractor Cody Hooper. An inexperienced operator can get into what Cody calls a “power of trouble”, especially if slopes or slippery ground is involved.
It took three and a half hours to extricate this stricken digger (pictured at right) after it got stuck while a farmer was trying to restore a culvert. His bulldozer also got stuck in the first rescue attempt.
Fortunately, the farmer was unhurt. Cody was working on a neighbouring property and came to the rescue with his machine.
Doing your own earthmoving can be an option in the right circumstances. Timaru block owner Phil Driver did a week-long, hands-on course to learn the basics of managing an excavator. He then used small diggers to landscape and put in a driveway on his 5000m² block. Phil loved it so much he says his jaw ached at the end of the day from grinning so much.
“Doing (it yourself) means you can change your ideas as you go along. That’s proved really valuable, as things so often look different once you’ve moved the dirt around a bit.”
Phil later hired a 5-tonne digger and excavated the foundations for his new house, under the supervision of a licensed building practitioner.
Most hire companies have excavators available, and the smallest can be transported by trailer. Diggers from five tonnes will generally involve a cartage fee to get on site.
If you want swales, you can dig them by hand, which is cheaper.
As with mechanised earthmoving, do it when soil moisture is at the right level, and when you can get quickly establish cover plants over the bare earth.