20 ton excavator for hire
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20 ton excavator specs
The 20 ton excavator is the all-round tracked digger: big enough for sewer mains and loading tippers all day, small enough for one standard lowbed. We send a Cat 320 or similar with an operator; these are Caterpillar's published figures.
| Spec | Figure |
|---|---|
| Operating weight | 22,600 kg |
| Engine power (net) | 128.5 kW |
| Maximum digging depth | 6.72 m |
| Maximum reach at ground level | 9.86 m |
| Maximum loading height | 6.49 m |
| Bucket | 1.19 m³ |
| Bucket digging force | 141 kN |
| Stick digging force | 107 kN |
| Swing speed | 11.25 rpm |
| Fuel tank | 345 litres |
| Track gauge / shoe width | 2.38 m / 790 mm |
| Shipping length × height × width | 9.53 m × 2.96 m × 2.98 m |
The 6.49 m loading height clears any tipper body with room to spare. Machines asked for as 20 ton, 21 ton or 25 ton excavators all fall in this class and on the same rate.
20 ton excavator hire rates
| Rate | Price |
|---|---|
| Per hour with operator | R340–R690 |
| Per hour dry (operator included, you pay the diesel) | R340–R680 |
| Per day with operator | R3,500–R5,600 |
| Five working days with operator | R17,500–R28,000 |
| Lowbed inside a main centre, there and back | R6,000–R9,500 |
A four-day job outside a main centre adds up like this:
| Example quote (for illustration only) | Amount |
|---|---|
| 20–25 t excavator, 4 days at R3,500–R5,600 a day with operator | R14,000–R22,400 |
| Transport both ways to Hartbeespoort | R6,000–R9,500 |
| Example total, excl. VAT | R20,000–R31,900 |
Monthly rates, standing time and what else moves the price: excavator hire rates.
Get a 20 ton excavator priceHow much does a 20 ton excavator dig per day?
Excavator output is worked out with a standard formula: cycles per hour × bucket volume × bucket fill factor × a factor for swing angle and depth × job efficiency, where a 50-minute working hour is the usual allowance for delays.
Example only, on stated assumptions: a 1.19 m³ bucket filled to 90% in firm soil, a 20-second dig-swing-dump cycle (180 cycles an hour), and a 50-minute hour.
- 180 × 1.19 m³ × 0.9 × 50/60 = about 160 loose m³ an hour
- Over an 8-hour day: about 1,280 loose m³, if trucks are always waiting under the bucket
That top figure rarely happens, because the trucks set the pace. The bucket fills a 10 cube tipper in 8 to 9 passes, about three minutes. With four tippers on a 30-minute round trip, each truck does two loads an hour: 8 loads an hour, about 64 loads or 640 loose m³ a day. Double the round trip and output halves unless you add trucks.
| Job | Planning figure per day | What limits it |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk dig, loading tippers on an open site | About 640 loose m³ with four trucks on a 30-minute cycle | Number of tippers and the haul |
| Bulk dig, spoil cast to one side | Up to about 1,280 loose m³ | Ground and swing angle |
| Deep sewer trench, 2–3 m, shored | About 30 m | Shoring, pipe laying and backfill |
| Rock broken with a hydraulic breaker | A fraction of the above | Rock hardness; priced by the day |
Nobody may work in a trench unless its sides are shored, braced or sloped back, or a competent person has confirmed in writing that the ground is stable (Construction Regulations, regulation 13), which is why shored trenches go slower. Cost per metre by ground type: trenching rates.
Lowbed transport for a 20 ton excavator
A 20 t excavator doesn't drive on public roads. At 2.98 m wide on its tracks it is over the 2.6 m width limit in regulation 223 of the National Road Traffic Regulations, so it rides a lowbed as an abnormal load, 22.6 t and 9.53 m long. We arrange the truck and the paperwork and show it as one line.
- Inside a main centre: R6,000–R9,500 there and back.
- Out of town: R43–R52 a km each way from the nearest main centre. Hartbeespoort is about 39 km from Pretoria by road. Transport for an excavator there and back usually comes to R6,000–R9,500, shown as its own line on your quote.
On site the lowbed needs a firm, level spot to offload, room for a long truck to turn or reverse out, and no low cables or branches over the access. On a one-day job the lowbed can be half the bill, so where the work allows, book the excavator for several days or pick a TLB, which drives itself to site. More on transport: lowbed hire.
20 ton vs 30 ton vs mini excavator
| Mini, 3.5 t (Bobcat E35z or similar) | 20 t (Cat 320 or similar) | 30 t (Cat 330 or similar) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating weight | 3,383 kg | 22,600 kg | 31,400 kg |
| Digs to | 3.12 m | 6.72 m | 7.25 m |
| Bucket | Small trenching buckets | 1.19 m³ | 1.76–1.80 m³ |
| Gets to site | Trailer | Standard lowbed | Lowbed, about 3.4 m wide on 800 mm shoes |
| Per day | R1,700–R3,000 | R3,500–R5,600 | about R4,500 |
- Size down to a mini for back yards, side passages and cable or irrigation trenches under about 3 m: mini excavator hire.
- Stay at 20 t for sewer and water mains, foundations for complexes, stormwater, farm dams and loading 10 cube tippers.
- Size up to 30 t or bigger for deep sewers, basements, quarry work and loading 18 cube trucks or ADTs: excavator hire covers 30 t to 70 t+.
Every excavator comes with an operator who is trained, certified competent and authorised in writing, and who inspects the machine daily before use (Construction Regulations, regulation 23); copies of certificates on request, see safety and certificates. Types and sizes explained: excavator guide.
WhatsApp us for a 20 ton excavatorQuestions people ask
What is the hourly rate for a 20 ton excavator?
R340–R690 an hour with an operator, or R340–R680 an hour dry (operator included, you pay the diesel), excluding VAT. Most bookings carry a full-day minimum because the lowbed costs the same for two hours as for ten, so the day rate of R3,500–R5,600 is usually the better number to plan with.
How much can a 20 ton excavator dig in a day?
As a planning example (a 20-second cycle, the bucket 90% full and a 50-minute working hour), a 20 t excavator on an open site in firm soil can load roughly 160 loose cubic metres an hour if trucks never stop coming, about 1,280 m³ in an 8-hour day. In practice the tippers set the pace: four 10 cube tippers on a 30-minute round trip carry about 640 m³ a day. In a deep, shored sewer trench, a planning figure is about 30 m a day.
How deep can a 20 ton excavator dig?
About 6.72 m with the standard 5.7 m boom and 2.9 m stick on a Cat 320 or similar, and it reaches 9.86 m along the ground. For deeper work, a 30 t machine digs about 7.25 m.
How many tippers does a 20 ton excavator need?
Its 1.19 m³ bucket fills a 10 cube tipper in about 8 to 9 passes, a few minutes a truck. On a short run to a tip on site, two or three tippers keep it busy; on a 30 to 60 minute run to a landfill you need four to six, or the excavator stands waiting.
Should I hire a 20 ton or a 30 ton excavator?
The 20 t for most trenches, foundations and loading 10 cube tippers: it fits on a standard lowbed and costs less a day. The 30 t (about R4,500 a day) digs about half a metre deeper and carries a bucket about 50% bigger, so it pays on deep sewers, basements and bulk earthworks feeding 18 cube trucks.
Related
Sources we checked
- Cat 320 hydraulic excavator specifications (Caterpillar)
- Cat 330 hydraulic excavator specifications (Caterpillar)
- Bobcat E35z mini excavator, key specifications (Bobcat)
- King Saud University, CE 419 Construction Equipment, chapter 3: excavator production (production formula and 50-minute hour)
- National Road Traffic Regulations reg 223, overall width of vehicles
- Construction Regulations, 2014 (GN R.84), regulation 23: construction vehicles and mobile plant
- Construction Regulations, 2014 (GN R.84), regulation 13: excavation work
Need an excavator?
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