Keeping a Mini Excavator for Hire Safe
So you’ve successfully booked a mini excavator for hire from Diggermate and got it from one of our strategically located pick-up points. Now you might ask: how do I get the mini excavator off the trailer without worrying about getting it scratched or worse, the machine accidentally falling off the trailer?
Fret not, we’re here to help. Before you agonise over the possibility of mishandling a mini excavator for hire and paying the damage caused as a result, take advantage of this tried-and-tested advice from our main man, Mick Watkins.
Mini Excavator Safety Handling Tips
If you’ve never used a Diggermate excavator before, this is the perfect opportunity for you to learn how to properly handle a mini excavator for hire.
But first, a word of caution…
- If you’re working on a gradient, make sure to keep the buckets on the high side and the blades to the low side. If you can’t do that, see to it that the bucket on the low side is really, really close to the ground so that if the machine tips, it just hits the bucket and you can stand yourself back up again.
- If you tip the machine, please do not try and start it again. Oil can get into the engine; it can blow the engine, and that gets really expensive.
Steps in Getting a Diggermate Mini Excavator Off The Trailer
Successfully getting off a mini excavator from the trailer to the ground can be done in these three easy steps. Now let’s get started.
Step 1: Releasing the excavator from the locking system
- To get the machine off the trailer to start with, you need to undo the straps at the front, drop the ramps, and undo the shackle at the back.
Step 2: Further Unlocking the Machine
- Turn the mini excavator on.
- Scrub the machine forward a little bit and have a mate take the hooks off the dozer blade.
Step 3: Taking the Machine Off the Trailer
- To take the machine off the trailer, use the dozer blade, the joystick, and the two controls for the tracks.
- At this point, the dozer blade goes back, the joystick comes up just a little bit just to raise the bucket off the trailer, and then all the way back.
NOTE: It’s important to get the dozer blade all the way up because there’s generally an auger underneath there and you don’t want to hit the auger with the dozer blade.
Now, you’re all set to use the mini excavator for your projects.
Time to practise on ground and master the controls. When reversing, a little reversing signal beeps and beeps and beeps. If you wanna turn it off, just flick the button located at your right side, parallel to the seat.
Additional Safety Reminder: If you’re going to take the machine off the trailer when the trailer is not connected to the car, first make sure the handbrake is completely on. The jockey wheel is wound all the way up so that the stoppers on the bottom of the ramp actually touch the ground when you’re coming off.
Ready to book our mini excavator for hire?
Booking with us is easy. You can check our Diggermate locations and call our representatives to learn more about our renting earth moving equipment. When you hire an excavator, it comes with a bucket ready to go so you get a 300-, a 450-, and 1100 bucket. You get the ripper as well. The machines will come fueled and ready to go. So we expect them to come back fueled and clean as much as you can.
