Plant Hire with an Operator
the machine, the driver and the output
Tracked post knockers, fencing machines, excavators and tractor flails supplied with an experienced operator right across the North West. You get the machine and the man who knows how to use it, priced on a day rate or against the job.
Machine plus operator is not really hire. It is a job.
When you take a machine on dry hire you are taking on the risk: getting a competent driver on it, the insurance, the method statement, the downtime if something goes wrong and the argument about condition when it goes back. Most of our clients do not actually want any of that. They want a length of fence line driven, a bank cleared or three miles of hedge cut, and they want somebody else to own the problem.
So that is how we price it. You tell us the output you need. We turn up with the right machine, an operator who is ticketed and insured to run it, the risk assessment and method statement, and we work to your programme. If you are a main contractor and you want us working under your site instruction, that is completely normal for us and it is how a lot of our highways and infrastructure work already runs.
We own our tracked post knocker and our tracked excavators, so on those we can also do straight dry hire if that is genuinely what suits you. For everything else, from tree shears and wood chippers to tractors, flails and mulchers, we work with a network of people we have used for years. If we do not have the machine on our own yard we will still get it to your site with somebody competent on it, rather than send you away.
- Tracked post knocker, with or without operator
- Tracked fencing machine and operator
- Tracked excavators, 1.5t to 8t, with operator
- Tractor and flail hedge cutter with operator
- Tree shears, wood chippers and mulchers
- Augers, breakers and specialist attachments
- CPCS and NPORS ticketed operators
- RAMS, insurance and site paperwork as standard
One day rate, no loose ends
An operator who knows the machine
Our operators run this kit every week, not once a season. That is the difference between a fence line that runs straight and one that wanders, and it is usually the difference between one day on site and two.
Tickets, insurance and RAMS
CPCS and NPORS as appropriate, full public liability cover, and a risk assessment and method statement issued before we arrive. If you need us on your induction and permit system, that is fine.
Kit that gets to the work
Tracked machines are our default for a reason. Embankments, soft ground, river banks and waterlogged sites are exactly where wheeled plant stops and the job stalls.
Day rate or priced job
Short pieces of work are usually a day rate. Anything with a defined output — a length of fencing, an area of clearance, a run of hedge — we will price against the job so you know the number up front.
Machine, operator and output
Each machine has its own page with what it does, what it suits and how it is priced.
Tracked Post Knocker
Our own tracked post knocker, with an operator or on dry hire. Drives straight posts fast on ground a tractor cannot reach.
Explore Tracked Post Knocker Hire
Tracked Fencing Machine
Tracked fencing machine and operator for long runs of stock, deer, security and ecological fencing.
Explore Tracked Fencing Machine Hire
Tractor & Flail Hedge Cutter
Tractor, flail and operator for hedges, verges, ditch banks and amenity grass on a day rate or by the job.
Explore Tractor Hedge Cutting
Tracked Excavators
Tracked excavators with a ticketed operator for clearance, grading, grubbing out and muck shifting.
Explore Digger Hire with OperatorCovering Lancashire & the wider North West
We supply plant and operators right across the North West. Choose your area, or see everywhere we cover.
Plant Hire with Operator — frequently asked questions
What is the difference between hire and a machine with an operator?
On dry hire you take the machine and supply your own driver, insurance and competence. With an operator you are effectively buying an output instead: we bring the machine, a ticketed driver, the insurance and the paperwork, and we deliver the work. For most commercial clients the second option is cheaper once you account for downtime, competence and risk, and it is far less admin.
Do you offer dry hire at all?
On our own kit, yes. The tracked post knocker and our tracked excavators can go out on dry hire where the site and the operator competence stack up. Everything else we supply with an operator. If you specifically need dry hire on a machine we do not own, tell us what it is and we will point you at somebody sensible rather than waste your time.
What tickets do your operators hold?
CPCS and NPORS as appropriate to the machine, plus CSCS, and NPTC or City & Guilds certification for chainsaw and arb work. We are CHAS accredited, Constructionline Gold, Achilles UVDB Silver Plus, ISO 9001 certified and registered under National Highways Sector Scheme 18. Copies of tickets and insurance go over before we start.
Can you work under our instruction as a subcontractor?
Yes, and a lot of our work runs exactly that way. If you are a main contractor or a fencing contractor and you want a machine and operator on your site working to your programme, your permits and your site rules, that is normal for us. We will go through your induction and work to your method statements.
What if you do not own the machine we need?
We work with a lot of people who do. If the job needs a tree shear, a bigger chipper, a mulcher or a tractor and trailer we do not have on the yard that week, we will source it and put a competent operator on it. From your side it is still one contact, one quote and one invoice.
How much does it cost?
It depends on the machine, the operator, how long the work takes and where the site is, so we do not publish a rate card that would be wrong for most jobs. Tell us what you need doing and where, and we will give you a day rate or a price for the job. Call 01772 343285 or request a free site survey.
Which areas do you cover?
Right across the North West of England — Blackpool and the Fylde, Preston, Lancaster, Blackburn and wider Lancashire, plus Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire. For larger contracts and framework work we travel further. Call 01772 343285 and tell us where the site is.
One contractor for the whole site
Most clients use us for more than one service. Because it's the same crew and one point of contact, the work joins up.
Commercial Fencing
Commercial, security and agricultural fencing installed to spec, including highways schemes under NHSS 18.
Explore Commercial Fencing
Land Clearance
Full site clearance — vegetation, stumps, spoil and debris removed and the ground levelled, ready for the next phase of work.
Explore Land Clearance
Vegetation Management
Strimming, hedge cutting, flail mowing and verge clearance on a planned programme — boundaries and access kept clear year round.
Explore Vegetation ManagementNeed a machine and someone to run it?
Tell us the job and the site, and we will come back with a day rate or a price — no obligation.
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