[BLOG] What to Consider When Hiring an Excavator

By far the most recognisable heavy construction equipment on any worksite due to their size and significance, excavators are used for a wide range of earthworks, including grading soil, digging trenches, and removing dirt and rocks. Whether it’s building a house or constructing a large-scale commercial project, earthmoving equipment perform the essential task of excavating soil and rock in order to make room for new structures and to install foundations. Excavators tend to be used for a variety of other jobs throughout the construction process as well, from transporting and carrying materials to demolition. 

Preston Hire offers a range of excavators for hire, available in various sizes and suitable for diverse applications. There are a few things to consider when renting earthmoving equipment from Preston Hire:  

1.  Do you require on-site familiarisation? 

Preston Hire can help familiarise your team with your hired earthmoving equipment. From educating your staff on the general running of the machine, to highlighting safety features and teaching them how to put on and take off attachments, our delivery team are more than happy to provide instruction on how to operate our machines safely and correctly.  

2. Do you need a certain level of expertise to hire an excavator? 

Our earthmoving specialist, Jason Green, outlines the requirements for hiring and operating excavators: 

“You don’t need to supply Preston Hire with proof of competency to hire an excavator, however, there are requirements for operating earthmoving machinery, dependent on the type of site and the state you are hiring it in. Under the current Australian Work Health and Safety Regulations, it is not a requirement for operators to hold a licence for equipment that falls into the earthmoving machine classes. But to operate an excavator you must be able to demonstrate you’ve been verified competent. Although our team can show you how to operate our machines, we cannot verify competency. This is typically achieved through earning an excavator ticket upon successful completion of a course offered by a registered training organisation (RTO). To book a training course, or to find out about the excavator operation requirements for your state, we recommend you contact your local RTO [visit: training.gov.au].”

3. Can the excavators be used at all types of terrain and jobsites? 

Preston Hire excavators can be used at all types of jobsites. Operating or moving our equipment over water, however, requires additional insurance cover. There is also an added fee to use our equipment at toxic sites, or those with asbestos. This additional charge is to cover the cost of special cleaning of the equipment after use to ensure safety.  

 4. Do you need to be insured to hire equipment? 

To hire equipment through Preston Hire you must be insured. If your own insurance covers hired equipment, you need to provide evidence of this in your policy. Preston Hire also offers SuperProtect™ as an additional charged service to our customers. This is an agreement that a customer’s liability for loss or damage to the equipment can be limited in some circumstances only to the SuperProtect™ fees and an amount called the damage waiver excess.  

5. Does Preston Hire offer on-site delivery for the excavators? 

At Preston Hire, we can deliver your hired equipment directly to your jobsite, or you can pick it up from us at a time convenient for you. In either case, our team will have your excavator ready to go when you need it.  

Preston Hire is proud to service both metropolitan and rural Australia. No jobsite is too remote for our SuperCivil range of products.

Looking to hire from our SuperCivil range?  

Our range of earthmoving equipment have been selected for their safety, efficiency, and performance. Combined with our friendly, expert service you can COUNT ON US to provide you with earthmoving equipment that will allow you to complete jobs on time and on budget.