Three times what the 1t dumper carries, on four big flotation tyres. On a dig of any size it is the difference between the digger working and the digger waiting.
The sum that decides it is simple. If the machine filling it is a 3 tonne digger, or the tip is far enough away that each run takes real time, a bigger skip means fewer runs and a shorter hire. If the site is tight and the volume is small, the 1t is the easier machine to live with.
Getting it to the job
It is a big machine and it needs somewhere to turn as well as somewhere to tip. Ring the yard with your access before you book it, because getting it in is only useful if it can work once it is there.
Think about the tipping point before it arrives. Three tonnes of wet clay going over the edge of a skip wants firm, level ground under the wheels, not the crumbling lip of the hole you just dug.
The numbers
3t Dumper specification
Hire typeDry hire
Getting it thereCollect or delivered
Getting it to the job
Carried in by hand, so access is not the question it is with the plant.
It still has to get to site: collect it from the yard in Etruria, or we will run it out with the rest of your hire.
The rest of the sheet
Ring the yard if a figure matters to your job and we will check it against the machine before you travel.
What comes with it
Serviced and tested between every hire
Fuelled and ready to work when you take it
Delivery to site, or collect it from the Etruria yard
Off hire from the day you ring, not the day it comes back
What you will need
Somebody who has driven one. It is a big machine on a small site
Nearly two metres of clear width, and room to turn
Boots, gloves, ear protection and a seat belt that gets used
Dry hireCollect or deliveredServiced between hiresSame day when we have it
What people hire it for
The jobs it actually gets used on
Six of the jobs the 3t dumper goes out on most. Keep scrolling and they stack.
01/ 06
Working with the 3t digger
The natural pair. A 3t digger fills a 1t dumper faster than it can empty; this one keeps up.
02/ 06
Big muck away
Footings, basements and site strips where the volume has gone past what a small dumper sensibly moves in a day.
03/ 06
Long runs to the tip
Where the skip or the wagon is a distance from the dig and every extra run costs real time.
04/ 06
Bringing stone in
Three tonnes of type 1 a trip, from the front of the site to wherever the base is going.
05/ 06
Farm and estate work
Tracks, yards and gateways, on ground where four wheel drive and big tyres earn their keep.
06/ 06
Demolition clear up
Broken concrete and brick, which fills a small skip quickly and is heavy with it.
How it works
Hiring the 3t dumper start to finish
01
Ring, message or send the details
Tell us the job and the dates. We will say whether it is in, when it is back if it is out, and whether it is the right machine for what you are doing.
02
Collect it, or we run it out
Pick it up from the yard on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, or we will deliver it to site. If you ring early enough and it is free, it can often go out the same day.
03
Ring when you are done
We off hire it from the day you ring rather than the day it happens to come back, and collect it from site if we delivered it.
Before you book
What you need to know
3t Dumper, in the yard on Brick Kiln Lane, Etruria.
01
Slopes are where dumpers go over
Up and down a slope rather than across it, load downhill of you, and never tip on a cross fall. That is most dumper accidents, and it is more unforgiving at three tonnes than at one.
02
Three tonnes is a level skip
Heaped and wet, it is more than the machine is rated for and it handles like it. Wet clay in particular is heavier than the volume suggests.
03
One seat, one person
Nobody rides on the skip, the chassis or the step. Use the belt, and keep the roll bar up.
04
Check where you are tipping
Firm and level, and far enough back from the edge that the ground under the front wheels is not what you have just been digging out.
05
Room to turn, not just room to get in
People measure the gateway and forget the yard. Getting it on site is only useful if it can work once it is there.
06
Say if you have not driven one
It is a bigger machine than most people expect from the photo. Tell us when you ring and we will be straight about whether it is the right hire.
From the Google profile
Used Elite for the first time after using other companies before, wow what a breath of fresh air, prompt replies to messages, Cameron dropped the micro digger off and what a credit to the company he is…
Neil Gerrard · Micro digger
Fantastic experience with Elite Plant Hire! I hired a mini digger and a tracked dumper, and both were top-quality, modern, and reliable machines…
The yard is on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, a couple of minutes off the A500, so most of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme is a short run either way. Collect it yourself if you have something that can carry or tow it, or we will deliver it to site and collect it when you are finished.
Volume and distance decide it. If a 3t digger is loading, or the tip is any distance from the dig, the bigger skip means fewer runs and a shorter hire. On a tight site with a small dig, the 1t is easier to live with.
It is wider than the 1t, which needs 1.4m. Tell us about the access when you ring, including where it has to tip, because getting it in is only half the question.
Not to hire it from us, but you do want to know what you are doing. Most dumper accidents are slopes, overloading and passengers. If you have not driven one, say so when you book.
Ring and ask, because it decides how much room you need to work in. A swivel skip tips to the side as well as straight ahead, so you can empty into a skip or a trench alongside without turning the machine round.
Get it booked
Tell us the job. We will tell you the machine.
Ring the yard and you get a straight answer on whether the 3t dumper is available, when it is back if it is out on hire, and whether it is the right thing for what you are doing. If it is not, we will say so.
