Anyone Know Anything About Diggers?

[Simon Mac]

Basically I'm looking to solve a long term issue I've got with having bulky deliveries at home.

 

The house is 50m from the road up a steep "2 strip" concrete driveway, that means if I need bulk deliveries (say tonne bags), the delivery drivers can only leave them at the bottom. Sometimes if pushed they'll drive the Moffett (if available) up, but one or two trips churns the ground something terrible between the two pieces of concrete.

 

I've tried all sorts over the years, pickup trucks, and trailers, etc. which works OK for the odd thing, but I'm still left with the problem of unloading at the top. Not a problem for say one bag of hardcore, but get more and you can't leave them at the roadside whilst you hand shovel the contents out ready for the next load.

 

I'm planning doing some major house renovations over the next year, and this has brought the issue into sharp focus.

 

Sooooo...

 

I'm thinking about something like this:

 

It's a fair chunk of spend, so seeking any advice I can get!

 

I won't be buying new, and never bought anything like this, so things to look out for  / check.  (Or indeed alternative solutions! Bearing in mind a few criteria. It has to be less than 8ft wide, ideally under 7ft tall. Lift a tonne, and be off road capable.)

 

[chris_h]

Google a jcb bobcat. Right size and lifting weight for what your after. Often used on farms and small building sites for what you want.

 

Not much to go wrong on old second hand ones. Only thing that goes wrong are hydrolic lines spliting. If buying makes sure the hoses look ok, then bring the bucket up and down 10 times, then have a look at the hoses and under the machine for no signs of fluid leak.

[Reg]

I'm not sure a small bobcat is big enough to lift a bulk bag of ballast. Especially up a slope.
Another thing to consider if buying secondhand, farm vehicles are hardly ever serviced.

[jody391]

Could you not use some kind of trailor plus something to pull it or a pick up truck and just have the parts placed on the bed then simply drive up again?

 

If you need to unload at the top maybe a pickup and a trailor so you can un load one whilst the other is ready to be filled by the next delivery?

[Lunner]

Have a look at hiring one, we have one on hire for 80% of the time on site, and they are never bought....if it was worth buying the old paddies who own 10+ excavators would buy one.  If it is a long term hire then you should get a nice cheap rate.

 

Bobcat will be no good for the mud off road, depending on what you will need you can get different sizes that will lift different loads, usually sold on the length of the boom.

 

Ours at the moment is from CW plant hire.

 

Would it be a cheaper option to look at improving your site access so the delivery vehicle can drop the gear exactly where you need it?

 

The other options is that a lot of farmers etc have them, and i'm sure they would pop round and move a few ton bags every so often for a drink

[Lunner]

I think we pay something in the region of £200/wk to hire one, but don't quote me on that

[Zyp]

Surely a couple of immigrants would be cheaper?

 

[richbk]

have you considered moving house  and building form scratch, sounds like you have going to be doing lots, so why not go the whole hog. ?

 

seriously, as mentioned is it feasible to spend 10k on improving access / levels rather than throughing £££ at trying to manage the transport on current site /

 

richbk

[Simon Mac]

RichBK, the thought of moving has crossed my mind, but bar access issues the location is nigh on perfect.

 

Just over an acre, views out over Trent valley one side, countryside on the others, quiet, decent schools, and still 10 minutes from Nottingham City Centre.  

 

Certainly one option that has crossed my mind is complete demolish and new build. (and it's close £££ wise). I bought the location not the house really.

 

As for improving access, the biggest stumbling block is my neighbour's house, which we share part of the drive with, and his house is the thing restricting the width...So it's a bit of a dead end  (Well until I buy his house )

[Lunner]

Have you got any photos of your access?

 

Another thought that has occurred to me is depending on what building work you are doing, you might be better off with a 5 or 8T excavator, you can sling the bulk bags and track them up the drive, and put a good op on it and you'll even carry a pallet between the bucket and blade