Operated Compact Equipment
Mini Excavator and Bobcat Services in Cambridge, Ontario
Fennex Cambridge Excavation Pros provides operated mini excavator and Bobcat skid steer services for small jobs across Cambridge and Waterloo Region. You get a compact machine and an experienced operator, booked by the hour or priced as a fixed job.
Our compact equipment calls come from three kinds of customers. Homeowners need a trench, a few footings or a yard levelled, landscapers need soil and stone moved faster than wheelbarrows allow, and contractors need an extra machine for a day without the hassle of renting one.
After more than 40 years of excavation work, we know that the operator matters more than the machine. A skilled operator digs to grade the first time, avoids the gas line the locate marked, and leaves your lawn looking like a machine was barely there.
Our Mini Excavator and Bobcat Services
Our mini excavator and skid steer services put a compact machine and a trained operator on your site for any small digging, grading or material handling job. Think of it as an excavator for hire with the experience included, so you pay for results rather than learning curves.
Every booking includes the machine, the operator, fuel and the float to and from your site, unless your quote says otherwise. Locates, ground protection and haul-away of soil or debris can be added so the whole job is handled in one visit.
Operated Equipment Hire
Operated equipment hire means you book the machine and operator by the hour, and you direct the work. It suits landscapers, builders and handy homeowners who know what they want done but do not own a machine.
Our operators read grade stakes, laser levels and drawings, so they can work to a landscape plan or a builder's elevations without constant supervision.
Small Excavation Jobs
Small excavation jobs are where a mini excavator earns its keep: trenches for water lines, electrical conduit and drainage, footings for sheds and additions, and dig-outs for patios or window wells. A 1.5 to 3 tonne class machine can usually dig 2 to 3 m (6.5 to 10 ft) deep, which covers almost every residential trench.
For bigger drainage work, our French drain and drainage excavation service adds pipe, clear stone and filter fabric to the dig.
Grading, Spreading and Material Moves
A skid steer moves in an hour what takes a crew with wheelbarrows a full day. We spread topsoil for new lawns, place Granular A under patios and sheds, move armour stone, and spread mulch or river rock across beds.
When the job needs precise slopes rather than just spreading, our grading and levelling service sets the final grade away from the house to drain properly.
Mini Excavator vs Skid Steer: Which Machine Fits Your Job?
Choose a mini excavator when the job is mostly digging, and a skid steer when it is mostly pushing, carrying and grading. Many backyard projects need both, one to dig and one to move the spoil, and running the two together usually shortens the job enough to save money.
When a Mini Excavator Is Best
A mini excavator is best for trenching, footings, stump removal, and digging next to foundations or fences. It works from one spot, swings 360 degrees and digs well below its own tracks, so it disturbs very little ground for the amount of soil it removes.
Zero tail swing models are ideal for tight side yards, because the back of the machine stays inside the track width as it turns.
When a Bobcat Skid Steer Is Best
A Bobcat skid steer, or a compact track loader on rubber tracks, is best for moving and levelling material across a yard. It carries a bucket of topsoil or gravel, back-drags a smooth grade, and loads trucks quickly.
Bobcat is a brand name, but most people use it for any skid steer, and we use whichever compact loader fits your access and ground conditions.
Attachments That Expand What We Can Do
Hydraulic attachments turn one compact machine into several tools. Asking for the right attachment up front is often the difference between a half-day job and a two-day job.
Augers
An auger drills clean round holes for deck footings, fence posts and sonotubes, typically 200 to 600 mm (8 to 24 in) across and 1.2 m (4 ft) or deeper to clear frost. Our post and pole hole digging service uses auger-equipped machines to set out dozens of holes in a day.
Hydraulic Breakers
A hydraulic breaker, sometimes called a hoe-ram, breaks concrete slabs, old footings, steps and shallow rock. Paired with a skid steer to load the pieces, it handles small jobs from our concrete breaking and removal service without bringing in a large excavator.
Grading and Tilt Buckets
A wide, smooth-lipped grading bucket leaves a clean finished surface, and a tilt bucket angles side to side to cut swales and slopes in one pass. These are the tools we use for final grade before sod, seed or patio base.
Grapples and Brush Cutters
Grapples grab brush, logs, stumps and demolition debris that a bucket cannot hold. Brush cutters and mulching heads chew down saplings and overgrowth, and larger lots are handled through our land clearing service.
Getting Into Tight Backyards
Most backyards in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo can take a compact machine if the narrowest gap is about 1 m (39 in) or wider. The smallest mini excavators fold their tracks in to fit gaps closer to 0.8 m (32 in), while most skid steers need around 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 ft).
Measure the tightest point between the street and the work area, including gate posts, air conditioning units, gas meters, window wells and downspouts. Fence panels can often come off for a day, which opens up many more options.
Once inside, we lay ground protection mats or plywood on the travel route, choose rubber tracks over steel, and avoid sharp turns on turf. That is especially important in older neighbourhoods like Galt and Hespeler in Cambridge, where narrow lots and mature trees leave little room to manoeuvre.
How Booking Works
Booking a machine and operator takes three steps, and most jobs can be scheduled within a week or two once the locates are in.
- 01
Tell Us About the Job
Send a short description, a few photos of the work area and the access route, and the narrowest width the machine must pass. Tell us roughly what needs digging or moving, and where soil or material should go.
With that information, we can often recommend the right machine and give a time estimate on the first call.
- 02
Site Check and Locates
Any job that breaks ground needs underground utilities marked first, even a single fence post. Locate requests through Ontario One Call are free, and utilities generally have five business days to respond to a standard request.
Private lines such as wiring to a garage, irrigation or a gas line to a barbecue are not marked by public locates. We ask about them on the site check and dig carefully around anything uncertain.
- 03
Hourly or Fixed-Price Work
You choose how the work is priced. Hourly billing suits jobs where you are directing the work or the scope is open, while a fixed price suits a clearly defined job like a 30 m trench or eight deck footings.
Either way, you get the details in writing before the machine is booked.
Hourly Rates and Minimums
Operated compact equipment is billed by the hour, usually with a minimum booking and a float charge to move the machine to your site. Across Waterloo Region, a mini excavator or skid steer with an operator commonly runs somewhere around $110 to $180 per hour, depending on machine size and attachments.
Minimums of 3 to 4 hours are common because moving a machine on a trailer costs the same whether it works one hour or eight. Booking two small jobs on the same day, or combining a dig with spreading, is an easy way to get more value from the minimum.
Disposal of soil, concrete or brush is priced separately, since it depends on the volume and where it can legally go. These are general market ranges; your firm price comes after a quick site check or photo review.
Where We Provide Mini Excavator and Bobcat Services
We provide mini excavator and bobcat services from our Cambridge yard to homes, farms and businesses within about a 30-minute drive of Cambridge. Choose your community for local permit, soil and neighbourhood details.
Mini Excavator and Bobcat FAQs
Do you rent mini excavators without an operator?
Our service is built around operated equipment, so the machine comes with one of our experienced operators. That keeps the work safe around utilities and foundations, and it usually finishes faster than a first-time renter could.
If you only need a machine for a short time, an operated booking often costs about the same as a day rental once delivery and fuel are added.
How much does a Bobcat with an operator cost per hour?
A Bobcat skid steer with an operator typically costs around $110 to $180 per hour in Waterloo Region, plus a float charge and a minimum booking of a few hours. Attachments such as breakers or augers, and disposal of material, can add to the total.
We confirm the exact rate and minimum when you book.
Can a mini excavator fit through a backyard gate?
Usually, yes. A standard 0.9 to 1.2 m (3 to 4 ft) backyard gate fits many compact mini excavators, and the smallest units fit through gaps near 0.8 m (32 in).
Measure the narrowest point on the route and send us the number, and we will tell you which machine fits.
Will the equipment damage my lawn?
Rubber-tracked compact machines on ground protection mats leave very little lasting damage on most lawns. You might see some flattened grass or light marks that recover within a few weeks.
Wet clay is the exception, so we may reschedule lawn-heavy work after heavy rain to protect your yard.
Book a Machine and Operator
Have a trench, a set of footings or a yard full of topsoil waiting? Send us a few photos and the gate width, and we will match the right machine and operator to your job, whether you are in Cambridge or across town in Kitchener.
Planning something bigger, like a walkout or a new foundation? See everything we do on our residential excavation services page.
- Fennex Cambridge Excavation Pros
- 725 Briardean Rd, Cambridge, ON N3H 4R6
- +1 226-894-8631
- info@fennexexcavation.ca
- Mon to Sat 7:00am to 9:30pm
Sun 9:00am to 9:00pm