ARTICLES: Equipment Hire
Hiring Equipment for the Big Jobs
The do it yourselfer often needs heavy equipment that he would never need to own, but needs for a job in or around the house. The gardener may need a tiller to prepare beds or a back hoe to dig out a ditch. And have we not all wanted or needed a bobcat to move soil around or a fork lift to move heavy rocks into place for wall or pond building. If we need a ditch or pond dug, rent a back hoe and do it in a short time with little or no backbreaking work. A bobcat can move rocks easily, so we can finish our ponds without the exhausting work involved in rock moving. After all, we invented machines to make our lives easier. We might as well use them. Hiring a small machine for home use is easy enough. There is usually a rental store in every town that, for a
small deposit and hiring charge will rent you what you need. The normally carry everything from turf removers to chain saws. You show them your identification, sign out the equipment, use it and return it. The hours or days you use it determine the charge. Renting a larger piece of equipment, one that requires someone to know how to drive it, is a bit more complicated. Most of us do not know how to drive heavy machinery, even bobcats or fork lifts, so we must hire a
driver along with the machine. Normally the driver and machine charge by the hour to come to your house and do the work you need done. You can find him in the newspaper classified ads, from a friend's referral or possibly the local hardware supply store. If you hire a machine operator, be sure he has the proper insurance. His insurance company will either tell you over the phone or you can have a copy faxed to you. Do not trust the proof he carries with him as he may have paid just enough to get the piece of paper and then stopped paying on the policy. Always call the agent to verify insurance. Generally speaking, the money you pay for the operator and his
machine is well worth it and will save you countless hours of work. The driver may also have ideas about how you can attain your objectives more easily. And deep down in our hearts, do we not all remember being youngster playing with toys trucks, front end loaders or cranes and wishing they were real and we were driving.
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