Mini Excavator or Backhoe: How to Choose
A backhoe digs with the arm on the back, and then the operator turns the seat around to backfill and load trucks with the loader bucket on the front. It runs on tires, so the operator can drive it from one job site to the next without a trailer. A mini excavator is built to dig, and it fits where a backhoe can’t: through a gate, between a house and a fence, or across a lawn you don’t want torn up. If the job is a trench in a tight spot, start with a mini excavator. If one machine has to dig, backfill, and load all day, or move between job sites, start with a backhoe. We rent mini excavators from Takeuchi, Hitachi/Landcros, and Link-Belt. We also sell New Holland tractor loader backhoes.
What a backhoe does well
- Digs and loads from one seat. The operator digs with the backhoe, turns the seat around, and backfills with the loader bucket. The same bucket loads the truck, so nobody waits on a second machine.
- Drives to the next job site. On its own tires, the backhoe travels from one job site to the next. When a crew works several job sites in one town, nothing goes on a trailer.
- Grades and moves material. The loader bucket also grades, levels, and carries material around the job site.
What a mini excavator does well
- Works in tight spaces. The upper part of the machine, where the operator sits, turns all the way around on the tracks. It digs, swings, and piles the dirt beside the trench without moving, in a space not much wider than itself. Ours start at 2 feet 6 inches wide.
- Fits where a backhoe is too big. Our 1 to 4 ton machines weigh 2,535 to 8,990 pounds and are 2 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 9 inches wide. A New Holland backhoe weighs 17,487 to 18,805 pounds. The 1 and 2 ton machines go on a trailer behind a pickup rated to tow them.
- Easier on finished ground. Tracks spread the machine’s weight, and a small mini excavator weighs a fraction of what a backhoe does, so it leaves less of a mark on a lawn or soft ground.
Which one for the job
- A mini excavator. Start with one for utility work along a house, deck footings, drain lines, and demolition inside a fence line. These jobs all happen in a tight space, and that is what a mini excavator is built for.
- A backhoe. Start with one for road work, utility crews that open and close a trench the same day, and farm work. These jobs need digging and loading from one seat, and often a machine that drives between job sites.
On a lot of jobs, the answer depends on what else is on the job site. A mini excavator has no loader bucket, so it isn’t built to carry material around the job site. If a skid steer or a loader is already there to do that, rent the mini excavator for the digging. If the backhoe will be the only machine, it can dig, backfill, and carry material by itself.
Renting and buying
Our rental fleet has 22 compact excavators, from 2,535 to 19,200 pounds, so a mini excavator is easy to try on one job, and every rental machine has a rent-to-purchase option. Our guide to mini excavator sizes matches the size to the job.
We sell New Holland tractor loader backhoes new, and our technicians service them.
What to tell us
When you call, tell us the job, how deep you are digging, the narrowest opening on the way in, and what other machines will be on the job site. That tells us whether a mini excavator or a backhoe fits the work.
Talk to a location near you
Call or text, or send us the question through our contact page.