Mini excavator work in Fallbrook costs $150 per hour with a 4-hour minimum, operator and fuel included. A 100-foot water line trench or a handful of stumps fits inside the minimum; footings for an addition or a long drainage run take 6 to 10 hours. We bring the excavator and the Bobcat on the same trailer trip when a job needs both.
A mini excavator does the digging a skid steer cannot: narrow trenches for water, power and irrigation, footings for additions and retaining walls, holes for stumps and boulders, swales and French drains on a slope. It fits through a residential side yard, works on hillsides, and does in four hours what a crew with shovels needs two days for.
The machine is run by Oscar, who has five years on excavators and loaders and learned the trade on his father's equipment. He is the person you text, the person who quotes the hours, and the person in the seat. We carry general liability insurance and we are owner-operated, so there is nobody between you and the operator.
Every dig starts with a DigAlert (811) locate request, which is free and takes two working days. We do not open ground near unmarked gas, water or power lines, and we ask every customer to call it in or let us call it in for them.
What is included
- ✓Mini excavator delivered to the property on our trailer, operator and fuel included
- ✓Trenching buckets in the widths plumbers and electricians specify
- ✓Spoil placed beside the trench for backfill, or loaded out by the Bobcat
- ✓Backfill after your inspection, with the Bobcat track-rolling the fill
- ✓Stump, boulder and root-ball removal with the thumb and bucket
- ✓A clean site: trenches shaded, spoil piled neatly, no ruts left in the yard
Typical hours and cost
Everything is $150 per hour with a 4-hour minimum. Here is what the common versions of this job usually take.
| Typical job | Hours | At $150 per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Trench 100 feet for a water or irrigation line, 18 to 24 inches deep | 4 | $600 |
| Trench 200 feet of electrical conduit to a shop, well or gate | 4 to 6 | $600 to $900 |
| Dig footings for a 60-foot retaining wall | 4 to 6 | $600 to $900 |
| Dig footings for a 400 sq ft addition or ADU | 6 to 10 | $900 to $1,500 |
| Pull 6 to 10 stumps from a dead grove or hedge line | 4 to 8 | $600 to $1,200 |
| Cut a 150-foot drainage swale or French drain on a slope | 4 to 6 | $600 to $900 |
Hours are typical ranges for normal ground and access. Rock, roots, steep slopes and tight gates add time. Material, haul-off and dump fees are quoted separately. 4-hour minimum applies.
The equipment
- Compact mini excavator sized for residential lots: it digs well past the depth a house water, sewer or power line needs and still fits on properties a full-size excavator cannot reach. Exact model and dig depth on request.
- Hydraulic thumb for stumps, boulders and loading debris; trenching and grading buckets.
- Bobcat T300 on the same trip for moving spoil, backfilling and finish grading.
Mini Excavator in Fallbrook and North County
Fallbrook soil is decomposed granite with granite boulders scattered through it, especially north toward Rainbow and up De Luz Road. An excavator with a thumb lifts the boulders a shovel crew would have to work around, and the tooth bucket cuts the hard-packed DG that stalls a trencher.
Many Fallbrook and Bonsall properties sit on well water, private septic and long electrical runs to a gate or a barn. Trenching those lines is a steady part of our week, and we know the depths local plumbers and electricians ask for before the inspector comes out.