Website
with towable digger, excavator and backhoe information. Features Fleming Micron,
Powerfab, Mantis, Benford, Roughneck, Gopher, Smalley, Tow-hoe, Standard
Muscleman, homemade and other small diggers. Links to current manufacturers such
as Groupe-FCM, Hubei, Dig It and suppliers of plans for the Ground Hawg
Homebuilt Backhoe and CDP Excavator. Includes various other plant, construction
and mechanical projects, Plant Photo Gallery and
useful links for Spares and Repairs. Extra information and pictures to add to
the site always appreciated. The website now includes a new section dedicated to
preserving information about
Johnson Machinery Limited.
Most people are motivated to buy a digger because they are fed up with hand digging. There is no doubt that this is work best avoided! When towable diggers first appeared in the late 1970's there were few small diggers about. There were plenty of larger JCB's, Fords, Whitlock's and other tractor based diggers, but they could not get into gardens or small areas. Also builders would have to hire one in with a driver and this might mean waiting. There were a few smaller machines about such as the Smalley 5 and Thwaites Dumper Digger but these were not common. So at the time when the likes of Powerfab got going a towable digger was a great step forward. A small machine which virtually anyone could operate and which helped small builders. Always remember that compared to a pick and a shovel a towable digger (or any digger for that matter) is brilliant. Nowadays, there are thousands of tracked mini-diggers in use. These are fully fledged machines and can do everything a towable excavator can do and more.
For the infrequent or home user a towable digger can still be a good option. The following sets out the advantages and disadvantages of towable diggers as opposed to the modern tracked machine.
Towable Digger e.g Powerfab, Fleming, Gopher, Mantis, Roughneck
Advantages
Disadvantages
Modern mini-digger with tracks and 360 degree slew
Advantages
Disadvatages