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Mechanical diggers - how hard to use?

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After several weeks of dealing with builders, landscape gardeners, and other so-called professionals, I'm thinking that I'll have to take on my gardening project myself.
The job involves taking a few inches of clay off the top of my garden, and replacing with good topsoil and turf. What's the problem there you ask? Well the area involved means that just over 20 tons of material must be taken off, and an equal amount put back on. It's a sizeable task.
So to excavate the area, I'm thinking of hiring a mini digger. Do you think it's realistic for a total novice like me to operate this machine, and successfully dig out a layer of topsoil with it? The hiring of the machine is going to be a lot less than getting someone in to do the job.
After reading about @shalemail's impressive DIY projects, I'm inspired to have a go, but having never tried a digger, I don't know if it's a really skilled activity.
Any idea?
 
The problems won't be using the equipment. They're pretty straightforward to use and rentals are cheap. (at least around here).

The problems will be what you hit with it ... cars, windows, underground wires, pipes, low flying aircraft ... ;)
 
lunatic59 said:
The problems won't be using the equipment. They're pretty straightforward to use and rentals are cheap. (at least around here).

The problems will be what you hit with it ... cars, windows, underground wires, pipes, low flying aircraft ... ;)
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:) Yeah the most challenging part will be driving the thing around to my back garden without taking out all the neighbours' fences.

kate said:
Joking aside, first have your yard marked for underground gas, electrical, water, etc. :thumbsupdroid:
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Oh god that hadn't even occurred to me.
 
I would have thought the plant hire company, would know and can advise about surveying for underground pipes, cables, unexploded WW2 bombs, etc. Because they don't like their customers digging through 110kV cables or something.
 
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I've run equipment like that before and if you can do two different things with your hands at the same time, you can run the machine. Biggest difference is CAT controls verses John Deere controls. I was always more comfortable with Deere controls.

Getting past physically controlling the machine is making the machine work for you. I can accomplish what I need to do, but I don't control the machine.

My brother, an idiot based on "scholarly" standards, is a magician with a machine. I mean he can tweak to controls to pop a stump or make a perfectly level grade or shoot a line and create one inch of pitch per ten foot of trench without anything but visual. He's an expert.

I'd be confident that you could run the machine so long as you are aware of what you don't know and as Kate suggested, make sure you know what is underground where you are excavating.
 
rootabaga said:
I'm not sure about your total area or how hard the clay is, but modern self-powered roto-tillers can chew up several inches of material, then you could more easily shovel it into wheelbarrows, etc. to get rid of it. Slower going and harder work, sure, but lots safer and easier to operate.
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That was my initial plan. The clay is very heavy. In winter it's a total bog. In summer it's baked hard and cracks up. Very difficult for a small roto-tiller to handle that. Not impossible, but very slow and laborious work.
 
Unforgiven said:
I've run equipment like that before and if you can do two different things with your hands at the same time, you can run the machine. Biggest difference is CAT controls verses John Deere controls. I was always more comfortable with Deere controls.

Getting past physically controlling the machine is making the machine work for you. I can accomplish what I need to do, but I don't control the machine.

My brother, an idiot based on "scholarly" standards, is a magician with a machine. I mean he can tweak to controls to pop a stump or make a perfectly level grade or shoot a line and create one inch of pitch per ten foot of trench without anything but visual. He's an expert.

I'd be confident that you could run the machine so long as you are aware of what you don't know and as Kate suggested, make sure you know what is underground where you are excavating.
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Your brother is exactly the kind of person I'm looking for. It's probably cheaper for me to fly him over here and pay him to do the job. And that's probably a more realistic option after getting nowhere with local building and landscape contractors.
It's not deep excavation, just the top layer to a depth of a few inches. After all, what comes off must be replaced, and 3 inches of good top soil equates to over 20 tons.
 
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