Which vehicle for groundworks

[Marshall92]

Hi everyone my first post on here, I carry out various groundworks jobs driveways, tarmacing, footings, site clearing etc and looking to scale things up. My clients are mainly domestic but i also do alot of commercial work. I have a 8 ton volvo excavator which I pay good money for someone to move for me but I would like to start moving it myself and offering muckaway services. My question is would you get a hookloader or grab lorry with trailer set up? Are there any more options? I have class 1 so it is an option. Any help would be great, thanks

 

[Smiffy]

Hi everyone my first post on here, I carry out various groundworks jobs driveways, tarmacing, footings, site clearing etc and looking to scale things up. My clients are mainly domestic but i also do alot of commercial work. I have a 8 ton volvo excavator which I pay good money for someone to move for me but I would like to start moving it myself and offering muckaway services. My question is would you get a hookloader or grab lorry with trailer set up? Are there any more options? I have class 1 so it is an option. Any help would be great, thanks

Grab lorry and trailer.
Advantages
Can pick up and deliver palletized goods without machine on site.
Can pickup muck away without machine on site.
Can lift machinery over walls and fences.
Can collect left over materials muck away and machines in one go
Disadvantages
Very long with trailer and difficult to maneuver in residential streets.
On some jobs when you can't reach with the grab it's difficult then you need a bigger machine to load with than a hookloader.

You can get a 2 way tailgate and some ramps for occasional use with smaller machines. Or just crane them in.

A traditional hiab fitted with a clamshell will pick up more than an epsilon if dealing with packs of blocks or the like but an epsilon is so much faster if only used on muck away. Plus double pushout on the hiabs is uncommon whereas epsilon ore all double push out. Also epsilon have internal pipes wich is better if you move brash off clearance sites as it wrecks the external pipework on the traditional hiabs

Hookloader
Advantages and disadvantages
Can move machines in a very compact set up.
Low loading height of skip for small machines or skiploaders
If you collect your own tarmac you can get better bodies for the tarmac keeping it hotter longer than a normal body
Also different bodies if you want to take woodchip or logs off site.

Disadvantages
Always need something on site to load and unload.
Multiple trips for muck away and machines movement.

 

[JD450A]

Traccy trailer and run bent..... I've seen the light

In all honesty unless your getting charged £200 a move or more and shifting the digger more than once a week just keep paying someone else.....

The cost of running a hookloader above 18t is vast with taxation, and likewise with a truck and drag. What a few people are in for a shock with too is the impeding return of the HGV levy which will likely in it's rebranded launch seek to punish with extreme prejudice anyone running a older wagon.

Just my opinions.

 

[Marshall92]

Smiffy thanks for the reply and great comparison, I have been to have a look at a few hookloaders ideally I would get an 8x4 but like I said with a lot of my work being for domestic clients parking and general maneuvering would be a nightmare. Grab wagons are a lot more money to buy but may be the way forward. I company near me have an 18 ton hookloader and seem to get by

 

[Marshall92]

Traccy trailer and run bent..... I've seen the light

In all honesty unless your getting charged £200 a move or more and shifting the digger more than once a week just keep paying someone else.....

The cost of running a hookloader above 18t is vast with taxation, and likewise with a truck and drag. What a few people are in for a shock with too is the impeding return of the HGV levy which will likely in it's rebranded launch seek to punish with extreme prejudice anyone running a older wagon.

Just my opinions.

Yes I move the digger roughly 4 times a week.
Yes I charge £240 a load to take spoil and rubble away but currently that goes in the pocket of another company I have used for years. That money needs to be going into my pocket, I can tip inert for £2.70 a ton over 15 tonnes.

 

[JD450A]

I can tip inert for £2.70 a ton over 15 tonnes.

Permitted site or farm?

 

[Marshall92]

Permitted site or farm?

Permitted site

 

[Marshall92]

No clay though

 

[Smiffy]

Smiffy thanks for the reply and great comparison, I have been to have a look at a few hookloaders ideally I would get an 8x4 but like I said with a lot of my work being for domestic clients parking and general maneuvering would be a nightmare. Grab wagons are a lot more money to buy but may be the way forward. I company near me have an 18 ton hookloader and seem to get by

18t hookloader is on the limit in this country for moving an 8t. @Furniss is in France and has a 4 wheel grab lorry but can run 1t heavier but for various reasons has gone for a 6t machine from his 8t.

If you are already looking at that size then a 26t actually has a tighter turning circle than an 18t especially if it has a steering rear axle.

8 wheelers are a pig most the time.
The company I work for have alsorts of lorries. The 4 wheel grab lorry and 15t hookloader get used more than anything else.

 

[Furniss]

Happy I went 4 wheeler - short wheelbase - goes everywhere the 7.5t did tbh
I moved the 8t for a few months on mine and the wagon didn't really drive my decision to go 6t (although its much better matched) if 8t was what suited our work I would of happilly carried on with the setup.
I know a guy moves his 8t kub on a 6 wheeler non steering axle and he says it really chews ground up getting in and out if it's tight.
As you know we are 19t here on a 4 wheeler, I have 10t payload with mine so you would get around 9t.

 

[Marshall92]

Happy I went 4 wheeler - short wheelbase - goes everywhere the 7.5t did tbh
I moved the 8t for a few months on mine and the wagon didn't really drive my decision to go 6t (although its much better matched) if 8t was what suited our work I would of happilly carried on with the setup.
I know a guy moves his 8t kub on a 6 wheeler non steering axle and he says it really chews ground up getting in and out if it's tight.
As you know we are 19t here on a 4 wheeler, I have 10t payload with mine so you would get around 9t.

Looks a good set up there, do you use the bed for carting the machine only or do you move materials with it as well? 4 wheelers to be honest I hadn't considered one due to the payload but I will certainly give it some thought now.

 

[Furniss]

That body does the lot - I don't have a plant body, don't really need one and it's more messing about and i can put a trailer on the truck to take dumper etc but a trailer is a pita most of the time, working local I'd rather make another trip.
8t is a fair lump on it as you can see, it's much happier with the 6t but if axle weights etc work then why not if you need an 8tonner.
Tbh I learnt everything I know about trucks from the lads on here so I'm no expert, but this setup works very well for me.

 

[Giles]

Will you have someone else driving the machine? Otherwise machine just sits while you go off to tip the muck.

How come your moving an 8 ton 4 times a week on domestic work? Would a 2.6 ton towable be a better addition?

 

[hiluxman]

Will you have someone else driving the machine? Otherwise machine just sits while you go off to tip the muck.

How come your moving an 8 ton 4 times a week on domestic work? Would a 2.6 ton towable be a better addition?

That was half the reason the 432 went. It was a great bit of kit (also slightly sentimental) but just too bulky for my jobs now and also it was a case of it needed me sat in the seat driving it, but whilst I'm there I couldn't fully control rest of things I've got on the go.

 

[Furniss]

Will you have someone else driving the machine? Otherwise machine just sits while you go off to tip the muck.

How come your moving an 8 ton 4 times a week on domestic work? Would a 2.6 ton towable be a better addition?

I get aggregates brought in still for that reason . ...doesn't make sense to ronk about yourself when you could be digging, muck away for us is more complicated unless we have room to stockpile it then you never quite know when you want the truck.
I did wonder about the 8t and domestic work.... 6t is much handier and easier to shift.