Ask a yard for an excavator backhoe and you could be handed any of three things: a backhoe loader, the tractor style machine with a loader at the front and a digging arm at the back; a tracked excavator, which is all arm and no loader; or a backhoe attachment that bolts onto a compact tractor or a skid steer. They cost different money and they arrive on different trucks.
The loader on the front is the whole difference
A backhoe loader digs at the back and carries, backfills and grades at the front, so one hire covers a trench dug, filled and tidied. A tracked excavator digs faster and turns in its own length, but nothing on it moves spoil across a site. Trench work with no loader means a second machine or a lot of walking.
The attachment version is a small job machine
A three point backhoe on a compact tractor, or a hydraulic hoe on a skid steer, digs shallow trenches, plants trees and lifts stumps. Reach and breakout are a long way below either full machine, and the tractor has to be sized for it. Where you already own the tractor, hiring only the attachment is far the cheapest way in.
Getting each one to site is not the same problem
A backhoe loader drives on rubber and can often travel a short local distance under its own power, which some yards will allow and others will not. A tracked excavator always rides on a trailer or a lowboy. That transport line, quoted out and back, is frequently what makes the cheaper machine the dearer hire.
What each one costs for a day
A backhoe loader commonly runs $300 to $450 a day and $900 to $1,500 a week. A three to five ton tracked excavator sits near $250 to $400 a day. A backhoe attachment hired alone is a low tens of dollars item at the counter, with the tractor to find separately.
Questions people ask about excavator backhoe
Which one should a homeowner ask for?
For a short trench, a stump or a small footing, a three ton tracked machine is easier to place and easier to trailer. A backhoe loader earns its keep when there is spoil to move, material to spread or a driveway to backfill afterwards.
Do I need a licence to operate a backhoe loader?
No consumer licence exists to buy at the counter. The employer is responsible for training a worker on the machine, and a yard renting to a homeowner will normally walk you through the controls and the shutdown before it leaves. Take that walkthrough seriously; the boom and the stabilisers hurt people.
Can I hire the backhoe attachment on its own?
Usually only if you bring a machine it fits. Three point attachments are matched to hitch category and tractor horsepower, and skid steer hoes need the right hydraulic flow and a mounting plate. Give the counter your machine model when you ask.