Plant Hire Adelaide
Dig It, Cart It, Move It. One Operator.
Excavators, a tipper and the tilt tray that delivers them, hired from one owner-operator in Modbury Heights. 1.8T excavator $200/day, 2.5T excavator $300/day, tipper trailer $100/day, transport from $175. Wet hire or dry hire.
The Three-Supplier Problem With Adelaide Plant Hire
Book an excavator from a large hire yard and you have solved one third of the job. A typical dig needs three separate suppliers.
The machine comes from the hire yard. The spoil needs a tipper or a skip from somebody else. And unless the machine fits on your own trailer, a float or tilt tray operator has to deliver it and pick it up.
Three bookings, three invoices, three time windows that all have to line up on the same day. When one slips, the other two still bill you.
The usual way
- 1 Hire yard for the excavator. Day rate, plus damage waiver, plus fuel.
- 2 Skip or tipper for the spoil. Booked separately, often a different day.
- 3 Float or tilt tray to deliver and collect the machine, at both ends.
Nobody owns the outcome. If the machine turns up and the site is too wet to dig, you are still paying all three.
Our way
- We own the excavators. 1.8T and 2.5T, ours, maintained by us.
- We own the tipper. The spoil leaves with the same booking.
- We own the tilt tray. No third-party float, no waiting on someone else's run sheet.
One person quotes it, delivers it and answers the phone when the ground turns out harder than expected. That person is Jack.
The Plant, and What It Costs
Published rates, not "call for pricing". We are two excavators and a truck, not a national fleet. That is the whole point: you get the same machines and the same operator every time.
1.8T Mini Excavator
$200
per day
- Digging depth approx. 2.3 to 2.5 m
- Reach approx. 3.8 to 4.0 m
- Fits through gates from about 1.0 m
- Rubber tracks, lawn friendly
- Buckets and attachments included
Best for: Tight access, backyards, trenching, pool prep, footings
2.5T Excavator
$300
per day
- Digging depth approx. 2.7 to 2.9 m
- Reach approx. 4.5 to 4.8 m
- Needs gate access from about 1.4 m
- Noticeably more force in clay and rock
- Buckets and attachments included
Best for: Heavy clay, rocky ground, larger site cuts, faster production
Tipper Trailer
$100
per day
- Spoil, rubble and material cartage
- Pairs with either excavator
- Hydraulic tip
- Site deliveries and clean-ups
Best for: Getting the dirt off site once you have dug it
Tilt Tray Transport
from $175
per move
- Isuzu FYJ 300-350 8x4, 30 t GVM
- Up to 14 t payload
- Integrated winch for non-runners
- Delivers our plant and yours
Best for: Getting machines to and from site without a float booking
Taking an excavator and the tipper together? Combo pricing applies, and both arrive on the same delivery.
PRICE MY JOBWet Hire or Dry Hire: Which One You Actually Need
This is the decision that changes your price the most, and most hire yards will not help you make it because dry hire is easier for them. The honest test is whether learning the machine costs you more than hiring the skill.
Dry Hire
You operate itWe deliver the machine, you run it, we collect it. You need the competence to operate safely and somewhere to put the spoil.
Choose it when
- You or your team can operate
- Multi-day jobs where a day rate beats an hourly rate
- You already have a labour crew on site
Watch out for
- No operator ticket means no dry hire on commercial sites
- Damage and downtime sit with you
- You arrange the spoil removal
Wet Hire
We operate itMachine plus operator. You describe the outcome, we bring the gear and do the work. Most residential jobs land here.
Choose it when
- One-off jobs where learning the machine costs more than hiring the skill
- Tight or awkward access
- Jobs where the spoil has to leave the same day
Watch out for
- Priced by the job or the hour, not a flat day rate
- Booked further ahead because it uses our time, not just our gear
Still not sure which one you need? Describe the job in two minutes on the phone and we will tell you which works out cheaper, even when that answer is dry hire.
ASK JACKWhat We Take On, and What We Do Not
Right size for us
- Residential digs: footings, trenches, service runs, drainage
- Pool excavation and shed pad preparation
- Site clean-ups where the spoil has to leave the same day
- Tight access backyards a 2.5T machine cannot reach
- Landscapers and builders needing a machine plus cartage
- Multi-day dry hire for capable operators
Call someone else for
- Bulk earthworks needing 13T or larger machines
- Civil projects with multiple machines running at once
- Concreting, paving or retaining wall construction. We dig and prepare, we do not build the wall.
- Stump grinding. An excavator pulls stumps, it does not grind them.
- House demolition and anything involving asbestos
Ring anyway if you are not sure. We would rather point you at the right operator than take a booking we cannot finish well.
Plant Hire Across Northern Adelaide and Beyond
We are based at Modbury Heights, which puts us closer to Northern Adelaide jobs than most Adelaide plant hire operators. Shorter travel means cheaper delivery and a realistic same-day answer.
Home turf
15 min
Regular runs
Delivery by distance
Delivery by distance
Metro rates
Covered daily
Minutes away
Frequently Asked Questions
Email jack@equiphireau.com if your question isn't answered below.
Get Your Plant Hire Quote
Tell us the job, the access and the soil. You will get a machine recommendation and a price, not a catalogue.