Equipment

Our Machines and What Fits Your Site

Access decides a lot on a job: how big a machine can get in, what it can reach, and how much it disturbs on the way there. Here’s what we run and how we work that out with you before anyone quotes a number.

Call (509) 421-1539 Request an estimate

The fleet

What we run

Compact excavator, enclosed cab

Kubota U55-5

Our main digging machine. Big enough to cut a building pad, dig a foundation or pull stumps all day, and small enough to get down a residential driveway and work beside a house without taking the yard with it.

Operating weight: About 12,500 lb
Width over tracks: 6 ft 5 in
Height, cab: 8 ft 4 in
Max dig depth: 11 ft 11 in
Reach at ground: 19 ft 7 in
Max dump height: 13 ft 1 in
Tracks: Rubber
Tail swing: Tight tail
Blade: Front dozer blade

Will it fit?It needs a clear opening of about 7 feet. A gate or side yard tighter than that, send us a photo and we’ll tell you before anything gets booked.

Foundation and footing digs
Cut and fill on building pads
Utility trenching and backfill
Stumps, brush and land clearing
Drainage, swales and culverts

Specs from Kubota’s published sheet for the U55-5 cab model.

Right machine, right ground

What decides the machine

The right machine is the one that can get to the work and still do it well. Too big and it won’t fit down the driveway or it tears up ground you wanted to keep. Too small and a two day job turns into a week.

Access first

Gate widths, overhead lines, turning room and the pitch of the approach decide more than anything else on the list. A photo of the way in usually answers it in seconds.

What has to move

A few yards of material and a full building pad are different jobs. Volume decides how long the machine is on site, and that decides how long you’re paying for.

What’s under the surface

Loose glacial material, hardpan and rock all behave differently. What we find changes the approach, and we’d rather find it on the site visit than on day two.

What you want left behind

Lawn you care about, a fence line, an irrigation run. Knowing what has to survive shapes how we travel across the property. More on that in site access and protection.

Site access and protection

Kubota U55-5 excavator clearing an overgrown roadside bank

Before we quote

Send us a photo of the way in

One photo of the gate or driveway entrance, plus one of the work area, and we can usually tell you what the job looks like before we drive out.

Request an estimate Text a photo

Scope

What the machine is there to do

Questions

Before the machine shows up

Will your excavator fit through my gate?

Our Kubota U55-5 is 6 feet 5 inches wide over the tracks, so plan on a clear opening of about 7 feet. If your gate or the gap between the house and the fence is tighter than that, send us a photo and we’ll tell you whether it works before anything gets booked.

Will the machine tear up my lawn or driveway?

It runs on rubber tracks, which are far easier on pavement and turf than steel. Soft or wet ground still takes marks, so we plan the route in with you, and ruts we make get repaired before we leave.

Should I rent a mini excavator or hire you?

Renting makes sense for a small, simple dig you’re comfortable running yourself. You also take on the delivery, the utility locate, the learning curve and anything that gets hit. Hiring us means the people running the machine do it every day and own the result.

What if my job needs a different machine?

We’ll tell you on the site visit, before any number is agreed. Matching the machine to the ground and the access is the first thing we work out.