Heavy Equipment List: 23 Types of Plant and Their Uses

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The heavy equipment list at a glance

In South Africa, construction machinery is called plant: heavy plant for the big machines, small plant for the portable equipment. These are the 23 types we hire, grouped by what they do. Tap any machine for sizes, specs and full prices.

Types of plant and what each is for
Group	Machine	Main job
Earthmoving	TLB	Digs, loads and backfills on house plots, farms and small sites
	Excavator	Deep and bulk digging, loading trucks
	Mini excavator	Digging where access is narrow
	Bobcat (skid steer)	Moving and loading material in tight spaces
	Bulldozer	Pushing and ripping: clearing, dams, fill
	Grader	Accurate levels: roads and building platforms
	Front end loader	Loading trucks from stockpiles
	Roller and compactor	Compacting soil, gravel and asphalt
Trucks and haulage	Tipper truck	Carting soil, sand, stone and rubble
	Side tipper	Long-haul bulk: coal, chrome, aggregate
	ADT (articulated dump truck)	Off-road hauling on sites and mines
	Water truck	Dust control and compaction water
	Flatbed truck	Steel, pipes, containers and machinery
	Lowbed	Carrying machines to site
Lifting and access	Mobile crane	Heavy lifts and long reach
	Crane truck	Lifts, carries and offloads in one trip
	Cherry picker	People working at height, reaching up and over
	Scissor lift	People working straight up on firm floors
	Boom lift	Self-propelled access to height on sites
	Telehandler	Lifting pallets and materials up and out
	Forklift	Moving pallets in yards and warehouses
Power and small plant	Generator	Site, event and backup power
Power and small plant	Compressor, breaker and mixer	Breaking concrete, mixing concrete

Not sure which you need? Use the machine finder above, or see which machines each job takes on plant hire rates and the job pages linked further down.

Earthmoving equipment types

The machines that dig, push, load, level and compact. All come with an experienced operator; prices are per day, excluding VAT, with transport as its own line.

TLB (tractor-loader-backhoe)

A wheeled tractor with a loader bucket on the front and a digging arm (backhoe) on the back, so one machine digs foundations and trenches, loads tippers and backfills. A standard 4x4 TLB (JCB 3CX or similar) weighs about 7.6–8.3 t and digs about 4.45–4.78 m deep, and it drives to site on its own wheels. R3,900–R5,150 a day with operator. More: what is a TLB?

Excavator

A tracked machine with one digging arm on a body that turns a full 360°. It digs deeper and faster than a TLB and loads trucks all day: a 20–25 t machine (Cat 320 or similar) digs about 6.7 m. Sizes run from 20 t to 70 t and more, and it travels on a lowbed. R3,500–R5,600 a day with operator for 20–25 t. More: excavator types and sizes.

Mini excavator

A small excavator of about 1.5–6 t on rubber tracks, for back gardens, narrow side access, cable and irrigation trenches and work inside buildings. The smallest (Bobcat E17 or similar) is under 1 m wide and digs about 2.2 m; a 5–6 t machine digs nearly 4 m. R1,700–R3,000 a day.

Bobcat (skid steer loader)

A compact loader that steers by turning its wheels at different speeds, so it spins in its own length. It moves sand and rubble, loads tippers and levels paving beds where a TLB won't fit; a Bobcat S450 or similar weighs about 2.4 t. With a breaker, auger or broom fitted it becomes a breaking, drilling or sweeping machine. R2,400–R3,700 a day with operator.

Bulldozer

A tracked tractor with a heavy blade for pushing and a ripper at the back for tearing up hard ground. It clears bush, pushes up dam walls, spreads fill and rips calcrete and soft rock. A D6 class (about 23 t) carries a 5.7 m³ semi-universal blade. R5,000–R7,750 a day with operator. More: types of dozer.

Grader (motor grader)

A long machine with its blade set between the front and back wheels, built for accurate levels over long distances: gravel roads, road layers, building platforms and sports fields. A 140-class grader (Cat 140 or similar) carries a 3.7 m blade. R4,500–R6,000 a day with operator.

Front end loader (wheel loader)

A big wheeled loader that scoops from stockpiles and faces and carries the load to a truck or heap. It loads tippers, side tippers and ADTs in sand and stone yards, quarries and mines, but can't dig below the level it stands on. A 950 class has a 1.5–3.5 m³ bucket: R3,400–R3,800 a day with operator.

Rollers and compactors

Machines that squeeze soil, gravel and asphalt into a dense, firm layer. Smooth drum rollers suit sand, gravel and road layers; padfoot rollers knead clay; plate compactors and rammers do paving beds and trenches. A 10–12 t roller is R2,150–R5,600 a day with operator; a plate compactor R270–R370 a day, machine only.

Ask which machine fits your job

Trucks and haulage

Tipper truck

A truck with a tipping body for soil, sand, stone and rubble, sized in cubes. From the makers' spec sheets for common models, a 6 cube carries about 10.9 t, a 10 cube about 17 t and a 14–18 cube about 21–22 t legally. R3,700–R5,250 a day with operator for a 10 cube with driver. More: tipper loads and cubes.

Side tipper

A truck tractor pulling two trailers that tip sideways, loaded to about 34 t, for long road hauls of coal, chrome and aggregate. Hired by the month with a driver: R75,500–R92,000 a month with operator.

ADT (articulated dump truck)

An off-road dump truck that bends in the middle, with all-wheel drive for soft and rough ground where a road tipper would get stuck: earthworks, dams, quarries and mines. A 30 t class (Bell B30E or similar) carries close to 30 t, and a 40–45 t class 39–41 t. R5,650–R5,900 a day with operator.

Water truck (water bowser)

A truck with a water tank, pump and spray bar, for wetting road and fill layers before compaction and keeping dust down on sites and haul roads. Sizes from 8,000 to 25,000 litres: R2,000–R2,300 a day with operator for 8,000–12,000 litres.

Flatbed truck

Flat-deck trucks and trailers for steel, pipes, precast, containers and machinery, from two-axle rigids carrying up to about 10 t to superlinks carrying about 34 t. Priced per job: exact price on WhatsApp.

Lowbed

A low trailer that carries tracked and heavy machines (excavators, dozers, graders, loaders) to site. A 30 t lowbed with driver is R23–R90 a km. On every machine we hire out, transport both ways is its own line on the quote.

Lifting and access machines

These are lifting machines under the Driven Machinery Regulations, 2015: each must be load-tested by a registered lifting machinery entity at least every 12 months, and the operator needs a certificate from an accredited training provider.

Mobile crane

A self-propelled crane on its own wheeled chassis, from 20–25 t to 80 t and more. What it lifts depends on the radius: a 25 t crane lifts 25 t close in but about 7.8 t at 10 m. about R4,500 a day with operator for 20–25 t. More: mobile crane types.

Crane truck

A truck with a folding loader crane behind the cab. It loads itself, drives to site and offloads, so containers, tanks, steel and pallets move in one trip. An 8–10 t class (Palfinger PK 18500 or similar) reaches about 14.6 m hydraulically. R2,500–R5,200 a day with operator.

Cherry picker

A boom with a basket for people working at height on signs, lights, gutters, trees and facades. A 12–15 m trailer-mounted machine (Genie TZ-34/20 or similar) reaches 12.19 m working height and carries 227 kg in the basket. R2,400–R4,000 a day with operator.

Scissor lift

A work platform that rises straight up on folding arms, for ceilings, ducting, shopfitting and warehouse racking. Electric models (6–12 m working height) work indoors on firm, level floors; rough-terrain diesel models work outdoors. R1,000–R1,500 a day for electric, machine only.

Boom lift

A self-propelled access machine with an articulating (knuckle) or telescopic (straight) boom, driven around the site from the basket. Articulating booms reach up and over obstacles; telescopic booms reach highest and furthest. From R2,600–R3,450 a day for 12–16 m, machine only.

Telehandler

A wheeled machine with a telescopic boom and forks that lifts pallets of bricks, roof sheets and trusses onto upper floors and reaches over obstacles a forklift can't. A 14 m machine (JCB 535-140 or similar) is rated about 3.5 t close in. Priced per job: exact price on WhatsApp.

Forklift

A lift truck for pallets in warehouses, yards and building supply: 1–2 t for stores, 2.5–3 t as the all-rounder, 3.5–5 t for steel, bricks and machinery. R1,150–R1,600 a day for 2.5–3 t, machine only. More: types of forklift.

Power and small plant

Generator

Diesel generators for sites, events, homes and backup power, sized in kVA: portables up to 10 kVA for essentials, 40–60 kVA for a building site, and up to 1,000 kVA and more for whole buildings and plants. From R320–R520 a day, machine only; you pay the diesel.

Compressor, breaker and mixer

Electric jackhammers break slabs and lift tiles, a diesel compressor runs heavier pneumatic breakers, and a concrete mixer mixes footings and slabs where a ready-mix truck can't reach. A heavy 27–30 kg electric jackhammer is R380–R610 a day and a 300–500 litre mixer R370–R470, machine only.

Plate compactors and rammers, the small plant for compaction, are on roller and compactor hire.

Which machines for which job

Common jobs and the machines they take
Job	Usual machines
Site and bush clearing	TLB on plots; bulldozer and excavator on farms; tippers
Trenching	TLB or mini excavator; rammer for backfill
Earthworks and foundations	TLB or excavator, tippers, grader, water truck, roller
Dam building	Excavator, bulldozer, padfoot roller, water truck
Demolition	Excavator or breaker TLB, tippers
Gravel roads and driveways	Grader, roller, water truck, tippers; TLB for driveways
Land levelling and compaction	Grader or bobcat, roller, water truck
Dust suppression	Water truck
Mining	Excavators, ADTs, loaders, dozers, side tippers, water trucks

Operators, certificates and getting the machine to site

Construction plant (TLBs, excavators, dozers, graders, loaders, rollers, trucks): under Construction Regulation 23 the operator must be trained, certified competent, authorised in writing and hold a medical certificate of fitness, and must inspect the machine daily before use.
Lifting machines (cranes, crane trucks, cherry pickers, lifts, telehandlers, forklifts): load test by a registered lifting machinery entity at least every 12 months, and an operator certificate from an accredited training provider. Copies come before the machine arrives, on request: see safety and certificates.
Transport: TLBs, trucks and cranes drive to site; tracked and large machines come on a lowbed; small machines on a trailer. It's always its own line on the quote.

Every price, size by size, is on plant hire rates, and booking step by step is on how it works.

WhatsApp us the job and town

Questions people ask

What are the types of earthmoving equipment?

The main earthmoving machines are the TLB (backhoe loader), excavator, mini excavator, bobcat (skid steer loader), bulldozer, grader, front end loader (wheel loader) and roller. Trucks that move earth are tippers, ADTs (articulated dump trucks) and, on long road hauls, side tippers. Each is described with its sizes and price on this page.

What is the difference between heavy plant and small plant?

Heavy plant is the big self-propelled machinery: excavators, dozers, graders, loaders, cranes and trucks, usually hired with an operator or driver and moved by road or lowbed. Small plant is the portable equipment: generators, compressors, jackhammers, concrete mixers, plate compactors and rammers, usually hired machine only and delivered on a trailer or bakkie.

Do all machines come with an operator?

Earthmoving machines, trucks, cranes, crane trucks and cherry pickers come with an experienced operator or driver. Forklifts, scissor lifts and boom lifts are priced machine only, with a certified operator added on request. Generators and small plant run without an operator.

Which machines need a lowbed?

Tracked and large machines: excavators, bulldozers, graders, front end loaders, ADTs and big rollers travel on a lowbed both ways. TLBs, trucks, mobile cranes and crane trucks drive to site. Mini excavators, bobcats, cherry pickers, lifts, forklifts, generators and small plant come on a trailer or truck.

Sources we checked

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Heavy equipment list: types of plant and what each does

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