Excavator Hire – Canberra

The cost of hiring an excavator in Canberra fluctuates based on the dimensions and type of machinery, how long you need it for, as well as the supplier’s pricing scheme.

Normally, a mini excavator will cost around $100 to $200 each hour on wet hire; while standard excavation-grade machines can range between $150 to $300 per hour; with large ones being priced up to a whopping rate of $500/hour to $2,000/hour.

To calculate dry hire rates, remove about $60 an hour from all of those prices.

Rates in Canberra can fluctuate with demand in the local area, so if you’re having trouble finding a competitive rate locally , ask iseekplant to help you post the job a little further afield.

See our excavator cost guide to find out more.

Excavators can be used across the residential, commercial, and civil construction sectors in Canberra. They are used for trenching, earthmoving, and site levelling and clearing. Depending on the size of your job, a mini excavator may be a better fit for tight access sites.

Learn more about the best excavator brands in Australia here.

To operate an excavator that is a smaller size, you may not need a licence to operate it in Canberra. However, the operation of larger excavators on mine sites, for example, will require the operator to be fully licensed.

Find out more about excavator ticket and licencing here.

Wet hire includes machinery and an operator, whilst dry hire provides the machinery only. If you hire a machine on dry hire, you will need to operate the machine yourself.

To hire excavators on a wet hire basis means that the supplier will mobilise the machine, pay for fuel and provide a skilled operator. To hire an excavator on a dry hire basis, you just get the machine, and you may or may not have to coordinate the mobilisation yourself. In each instance, there are additional fees and charges that will be applied over and above the hourly rate charge, so check the fine print of the hire contract.

The cost of hiring an excavator depends on wet or dry hire and the size of the excavator. Submit a quote to your ideal excavator supplier to get an accurate cost, but generally speaking a larger excavator and wet hire are more expensive than a smaller excavator and dry hire. Wet hire ranges from $115 to $270 per hour, and dry hire ranges from $40 to $180 per hour.