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Building an extension for my mother-in-law

I love my mother-in-law but I never planned on living with her permanently. I have been enjoying her living with us now that we have kids but I feel like we all need some extra space so I am getting a granny flat built at the back of our block. This should allow us to have some extra space to make sure everyone has the privacy that they need whilst we can still be a family. This block has some tip on the process of building a granny flat including how to choose a contractor and how to get the council approval for the build.

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Building an extension for my mother-in-law

3 Reasons to Hire a Wheeled Excavator

by Chloe Cooper

If you need to hire an excavator for your construction project, then you might not be sure yet whether to choose a model that runs on tracks or one that comes with wheels. While track excavators have their advantages, a wheeled machine may be a better bet.

Why hire an excavator with wheels?

1. Get More Driving Flexibility

If you hire a tracked excavator, then the machine may have limits in terms of where it can go and how it can get there. For example, if you have a split site and need to move the machine across public roads, then you might need to pack it on to a trailer and transport it to its next work site.

Even if you keep the machine on your site, you won't want to run tracks over completed work areas. For example, if an excavator with steel tracks drives over paving or a road, then it can cause some damage to the surface.

A wheeled excavator is much more flexible. You can drive it on a road like any other vehicle. Its rubber tyres won't damage any completed work it has to pass across.

2. Get Better Manoeuvrability

If you're working on a small construction site, then you might have problems getting a tracked excavator to work where you want it to. The same problem even applies on large sites if you have some areas that are less accessible than others.

Tracks have some manoeuvrability, but this may be limited. For example, it can be hard to move this kind of excavator into exactly the right position.

If you use a wheeled excavator, then your operator has more precise control over the position of the machine. Unlike tracks, which typically work as a unit, wheels offer more individual control and a better turning radius.

3. Get a Better Lifting Capacity

Wheeled excavators come with stabilisers. They need this extra support to compensate for the fact that the machine rests on wheels rather than solid strips of tracks.

As well as keeping an excavator in a safe and balanced position, stabilisers can also add to an excavator's lifting capacity. The extra stability they give typically allows you to lift more than you might be able to with a tracked machine.

To find out more about the benefits of hiring a wheeled excavator, ask the supplier you're using for your earthmoving equipment hire for advice.

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