Excavator sizes only mean something once you name the job. A fence line, a drain run, a house footing, a pond and a demolition each have a class that does them efficiently and two classes that waste money. Hire rates run from about $200 a day at one ton to past $1,000 for a 20 ton machine.
Fence posts, small holes and garden work
A 1 to 2 ton machine with an auger is the honest answer. It fits through a gate, leaves the lawn largely intact, and one person can run it after a familiarisation. Anything bigger arrives on a lowboy, needs room to turn and digs the same holes no faster once you count the damage to the access.
Drainage runs, service trenches and soakaways
Three tons is the sweet spot: a bucket wide enough to make progress, ten feet of dig depth and a blade to backfill with. If the trench goes deeper than five feet the conversation changes, because the sides need battering or shoring before anyone steps in, and that decision belongs before the hire.
Footings, basements and bulk dig
Five to eight tons handles a house footing and a small basement. Above that, a 13 to 20 ton machine shifts bulk in volumes that make arranging truck haulage worthwhile. At that size the machine is not the whole cost: transport, an operator and something to load into come with it.
Demolition and breaking
For a breaker, hydraulic flow and carrier weight matter far more than dig depth. A small machine swinging a large hammer overheats and shakes itself apart. Ask the yard to match breaker to carrier rather than choosing them separately, and confirm the auxiliary circuit is plumbed before the machine is loaded.
Questions people ask about different size excavators
What size excavator digs a pond?
A 13 to 20 ton machine for anything beyond a garden feature, because reach and bucket capacity decide the day count. Smaller machines will do it, but the days add up fast and the total often passes what the larger hire would have cost.
Are excavator classes measured in tons?
Yes, by operating weight. A 3 ton machine weighs roughly three metric tons ready to work. The number is a proxy for reach, dig depth, bucket size and how firm the ground underneath has to be.
Can a bigger excavator work in a small space?
Sometimes, if it is a zero or reduced tail swing model, but wider tracks and a longer boom still need room. Measure the narrowest point on the access route and the working footprint, then give the yard both figures.
Is one big machine cheaper than two small ones?
Often yes on bulk work, because a single operator and one transport charge cover more ground. On scattered small jobs across a site, two small machines finish sooner. Price both ways, transport each way included.