Dig & Dump Co

Useful extras

admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:41:30 +0000

Everything for your Project

When you're starting a job it's easy to forget about the smaller items that you might need. These useful extras can help your project run to time, and keep everyone working safely.

Track mats.

These are flexible mats that fix together to create a roadway on soft or unstable ground. Perfect if it's been very wet lately (and sometimes this winter it's felt like it'll never stop raining). Creating your own temporary roads across your site will ensure the diggers and dumpers that you're using won't get bogged down, and you'll keep everything moving.

See Prices

Lighting

Even though we've reached the spring and the days are getting gradually longer site lighting can be useful. If you're on a tight schedule it can be very annoying to have to stop an incomplete task just because of a lack of light. Of course it's not safe to work in low visibility conditions, and you should always prioritise safety. If you hire efficient lighting you can get the job done with no worries about accidents.

See Prices

Extra Digger Attachments

You might be thinking about digging up concrete - if so you should consider hiring a breaker attachment for your excavator. It is possible to lift concrete without, but it's faster and safer with a breaker attachment. If you have a lot of concrete to lift, or it's particularly thick a breaker will be far more accurate and reliable, and ensure you don't cause damage to your hire digger.

See Prices

A bit of extra thought and planning at the start of the job will help it to be safe and run to time. If you're not sure what you'll need, or just need a bit of advice give us a call on 01184 492654 and we'll be happy to help you.

The post Useful extras appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.

All the right tools for the job

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 15:07:09 +0000

Hire Everything You Need

When you're planning a landscaping or small building job you may be concentrating on the right digger, dumper and skip to hire. Don't forget the smaller tools, these will be just as important when you come to do the job. Having all the right tools means that you can complete the job quickly and efficiently. It also ensures everyone is working in a safe way.

Our Hire Tools

Well maintained tools that are designed for the job are a lot less likely to cause injury than trying to use the wrong tool. For example you can use a crowbar and hammer to break concrete, but if you hire one of our breakers you will have completed the job in half the time, and have fewer aches and pains! Breaker attachments can be hired for hire excavators, or if you want a manual breaker we have a choice of electric, petrol hydraulic or a pneumatic heavy duty breaker. Whichever way you choose to do it concrete will need breaking into manageable pieces before clearing or excavations can happen.

If you have trees and shrubs to remove a chipper makes short work of removed wood, and the chippings can be used as mulch for new planting or simply making it easier to transport to the tip. Making the job simpler and easier.

Laying new paths or patios is much easier if you use a compactor. You can try to use manual compaction with a hand tamper, but this could only be used for a small area, and even then it's a real workout! Using a compactor will ensure the dug earth is completely compacted, so nothing will sink in time, and your paving is perfectly smooth.

If you've ever mixed concrete by hand you'll know how heavy it is! If you've got any concrete or mortar that will need mixing our mixers tip straight into a wheelbarrow saving you a lot of time and effort.

Planning

The best way to ensure you have all of the right tools for your project is to take the time to plan. Look at the tasks that need to be completed and make a list of everything you'll need, from larger machinery to smaller tools. That way you'll make life easier and safer for everyone! If you're not sure what you need or how to use any of our hire equipment we'll be happy to help you.

Call 01184 492654 for our best prices.

The post All the right tools for the job appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.

Confused About Insurance?

admin — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 12:06:22 +0000

A Quick Guide

Insurance can be a minefield - anyone that's skipped reading the small print and then had an issue will tell you it's worth taking the time to make sure you're properly covered. We require anyone hiring from us to have insurance as it's peace of mind for everyone to know your hire diggers and dumpers are covered when they're on your site. There are plenty of options when looking for plant hire insurance, here's a short explanation of the most common options available.

Protection for hired items

The lowest level of all insurance should cover the items you're hiring against any unexpected problems such as theft, accidental damage, fire and storm damage. You need to double check this covers all items such as any extra breaker attachments for your digger and any tools you have hired.

Liability

To the most basic cover you can normally add cover for liability associated with it's use. This would cover any damage to property or injuries to people caused whilst using the hired plant. It may also cover accidental damage to services such as underground pipes, or cables. This is a good idea, as if you accidently dig through services that you didn't know were there the costs could be huge! Not all policies cover this, so it's worth spending the time checking what's covered.

If you already have business insurance it may contain liability insurance, but you must check this covers you to use hired in machinery.

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

Temporary Plant Hire Insurance

This is a policy that will cover you for a specified time frame. Perfect if you're only using a mini digger for a small job. You have to specify an end date when arranging the insurance, so if your job takes longer than expected you would have to arrange more cover.

Hired Plant Insurance

This is the right policy if you're not simply looking for a brief hire, but regularly hire plant. It covers you for a year and will cover all plant you hire during that time, so it doesn't matter if the job overruns. When taking out hired plant insurance it's important to check the amount of cover it'll give you. You need to consider the amount and type of plant you're likely to need, and find out how much the replacement cost would be to make sure your policy would cover it. Sometimes this insurance can be added onto your current business policy, you would need to speak to your current insurer to ask if they offer this.

Hire From Us Today!

We make hiring plant from us as simple and straightforward as we can, checking you have insurance before the start of your hire saves everyone from having issues in the future.

Call 01184 492654 for our best prices.

The post Confused About Insurance? appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.

Do I Need a Dumper?

admin — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 14:59:42 +0000

Do I Need a Dumper?

If you're hiring a digger for your building or landscaping project you might be wondering if you need both a digger and a dumper. Why can't you just use a digger and drop the earth you've dug up straight into the skip or spoil pile?

The answer is they are very different machines, and are specifically designed to do different jobs. A dumper is faster and more efficient than a digger for moving loose materials over a distance.

Diggers

Diggers or Excavators are primarily designed for digging, excavating, and loading materials. Its strength lies in its ability to extract material from below ground, create trenches, and precisely load a collection vehicle. An excavator moves by rotating its cabin and using its boom and arm assembly, but generally has a slower travel speed than a dumper.

Dumpers

Dumpers are solely designed for transporting and dumping large volumes of loose materials like soil, gravel, sand, or debris. Dumpers have large-capacity, hydraulically-operated beds and are built for speed and efficiency in hauling over various terrains within a site.

In a typical construction project, the machines work in tandem: the excavator digs and loads materials onto the dumper, and the dumper then quickly transports and unloads those materials at the desired location. Using a digger alone for moving material any significant distance would be a slow and inefficient process, as it involves repetitive small scoops and physically moving the entire machine back and forth. To keep your job on track hire both a digger and dumper to quickly excavate and move earth, rubble and any other debris.

Are you ready to hire all of your plant? Call 0118 449 2654 today!

The post Do I Need a Dumper? appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.

Why Hire a Mini Digger?

Rebekah Hathaway — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 13:28:05 +0000

Do I need to hire a digger?

If you have a small scale landscaping or building project you may be asking if you need to hire a digger. Digging by hand is possible, but it's easy to underestimate how hard it is, and how much longer your job will take without the right equipment. Hiring a mini digger is a great, low cost and easy solution.

Mini diggers are incredibly versatile machines, they can be used to dig foundations, move earth to create landscaping, move debris to clear land and demolish small structures. As they are small and manouverable they are the perfect choice for garden and residential projects, where access might be tricky and space is at a premium.

The speed differnce between digging with a mini digger compared with digging by hand is huge! A job that would take a week could be achieved in less than a day with a hire digger. On average a small excavator moves 10 - 20 cubic meters of earth per hour (this can vary depending on the soil type, and environmental conditions). By contrast a person can move approximately 0.15 - 0.76 cubic meters of earth per hour.

This shows how efficient a mini digger is, and how it can move your project forward effectively.

Things to consider:

Choose the right sized digger for your project. You need to make sure the digger you choose will have room to move in your site, and will able to gain access.

If you have a larger project you might need more power and digging capacity. Another thing to consider is the reach you need the digger to have - if you're digging deep foundations you will need to have a longer reach.

Ground conditions are something else to consider. If the ground is very rocky, or covered in concrete you will need a breaker attachment and a more powerful digger to remove the spoil.

It's good to get just the right sized digger - not only will this be cost effective, it will have the least environmental impact . Obviously if you just go for the largest digger this will cost more, as well as using more fuel and as it's heavier have more impact on the ground. Depending where you're working this environmental imact is worth considering.

We're experts in hire diggers and dumpers - so if you're not sure please ask!

Contact us to hire or ask a question - call 0118 449 2654 for our best prices.

The post Why Hire a Mini Digger? appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.

What do I need to consider when hiring plant?

Rebekah Hathaway — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:15:24 +0000

How do I know what I need to hire?

If you've got a landscaping or building job and you need to hire a mini digger or dumper you will need to do some planning before the hire. This will help you to get the right hire for the right amount of time, and also to complete the job efficiently.

Planning Phase

This is a crucial part of any project. You need to work out how much earth you need to move. How deep do you need to dig? Will there be services such as gas pipes, electrical cables or water pipes? A thorough survey of the site is required before you start to dig. You may survey the site and find you will need to change where you are going to dig to avoid any hidden services.

If you have a good idea of how deep you need to dig you can work out how many days you'll need to hire for. A mini digger can move between 10-20 cubic meters of soil per hour. This depends of how compacted the soil is, and how experienced the operator is.

What do you need to move?

Is there concrete that needs breaking? If there is you need to get a breaker as well as a digger and dumper. This will slow the job down, so it's wise to add extra time to the hire for breaking and moving concrete.

Is the earth very compacted or made of heavy clay? If it is this will also slow you down.

Where are you going to put excavated material?

If you're landscaping you may be able to put this somewhere else on the site, so you may not need a dumper. If you're building you are likely to be taking the earth off site, so will need a dumper to put it directly into a skip.

What's access like?

It's worth thinking about access to your site. You need to make sure whatever you hire has room to work safely. Always consider any height restrictions as well as being able to move and turn on site safely.

What's the weather going to be like?

The last question might be a bit of an unknown, but the weather can slow things down. If it's frozen the earth will be very hard to move. Heavy rain can also effect the speed of excavations. Taking a look at the forecast might help with your planning.

Once you've answered all of the questions and have a good plan it should be easy to work out what you need to hire and an approximate length of time you'll need it for. We know that even the best planned project can run over a deadline, so don't worry if you need to extend your hire it won't be a problem.

Thinking about hiring plant for your project? Get in touch for a free quote today

The post What do I need to consider when hiring plant? appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.

Do you need a licence to drive a mini digger?

Rebekah Hathaway — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:07:00 +0000

Who can drive a mini digger?

If you're hiring a mini excavator, or dumper for your building site or landscaping job you might be wondering who's allowed to drive it. Do you need a drivers licence? Is there any extra training needed? The answer to this is it depends where you'll be working with it.

If you're on private land (your domestic property for example) you don't need a driving licence or any extra documentation. Obviously we would recommend that you find out about how the digger controls work, and read our safety tips below to make sure everyone stays safe!

What if you need to drive the excavator on the road to get to another part of the site? Then you will need a drivers licence. If you're driving on a public road you have to have a valid driver's licence.

What if you are working with the mini digger in a public space such as the roadside? If you're working with any excavation equipment in a public space you will need the correct qualifications. This is called a 360 excavator operator qualification (as it covers you to work in a digger that has a rotating base). You would need the correct training and a Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) card. If you're working on a building site you'll also need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card. These qualifications are to ensure that everyone stays safe.

So you don't need extra qualifications, and you're all set to start your project. It pays to be safety aware, so why not take a moment to read our safety tips:

Safety Tips

Only drive on flat, firm ground, and make sure the digger is stable before starting to dig. You don't want it to topple over!
Don't ever swing the bucket over people, this includes anyone in another vehicle or portable toilet (that may contain someone!).
Be careful not to drive too close to the edge of a trench that you've dug. The soil will be weaker at the edge and if you're too close you may cause it to cave in.
Wear the right clothing. It sounds daft but you need to make sure that you are wearing the correct safety clothing. A reflective vest, durable work boots and hard hat are a good idea.
Use your seatbelt. If your plant is fitted with a seatbelt make sure you use it. Even though these machines move slowly a seat belt can still protect you from injury if it tips or is hit by anything else.

We love to see the great projects that have been completed safely with our mini excavators and dumpers. If you're thinking of hiring plant for your building or landscaping project get in touch today! We will deliver our excavators in great, clean condition, and will be happy to explain the controls to you to ensure you know how to use them.

The post Do you need a licence to drive a mini digger? appeared first on Dig & Dump Co.