Buy your own excavator for house construction?

Hello,

I plan to start the shell construction of my house this year,
I want to build a house with a ground floor, first floor, and second floor with knee wall,
without a basement,

and I am currently collecting quotes.

Now to my question, I am considering buying a 4.5-ton excavator.
The reason is, I want to do quite a bit of the house construction myself,
and I think an excavator is a great tool.

We also have a second house where we want to level the ground again,
and landscape everything nicely,
I think the excavator would be great for that as well.

Can I excavate my construction pit myself with a 4.5-ton tracked excavator (I don’t have a basement, so it’s not that deep)?

I have a very interesting offer, about 5,000 euros for an excavator,
would it be worthwhile to get something like that?

Looking forward to any answer,
best regards
Herbert

I would study architecture alongside buying an excavator so that I can plan the house myself!! Now, just kidding!! A groundworker does that much faster and ultimately cheaper than you, who first has to learn how to operate an excavator! What if something happens! An accident or something, your own child quickly gets run over on the construction site or who knows what. AND THEN!! Do you also build your own company premises when you want to buy a new car!!

Why do home builders handle house building so casually with the motto... Oh, I'll just build a house on the side. And when buying a car, every penny is counted and counted. Yet the car costs max. 25,000 EUR and the house easily 250,000 EUR. Just a small difference and you only build a house 14 times in your life and buy a car only once.

I just say HOLY MOLY... Keep your hands off such experiments. Call a groundworker and bam, the trench is dug and you can earn money elsewhere instead of experimenting there for 3 days.

Regards Ingo

A digger is really something special. I bought a 1.5-tonner. It is ideal for landscaping the outdoor areas. However, I must preface that a) I can handle it reasonably well and b) I also have the means to transport, maintain, and repair the machine. All fundamental things that should be taken into consideration.
However, I consider a 4.5-tonner to be excessive, and anything related to the house and its structure I would definitely leave to professionals.

Hi!

Really a strange idea. When the topsoil was supposed to be spread in the garden, I slipped the excavator driver next door 20 euros. For that, I would have at best gotten a shovel.

So, besides the usual DIY tools, maybe a concrete mixer is worth it; everything else is dangerous, probably ready for scrap and/or way too expensive.

You can save most if you compare prices and services.

Best regards,
Tomtom.