No rental customer has the same story, same skillset, same need or same demand. Being able to provide a solution to those customers with a variety of jobsite demands is essential to a successful business. A vacuum excavator might just be your solution.
Vacuum excavators are some of the most versatile machines on the market for renters. They’re ideal for tight work areas, like residential yards, where traditional equipment won’t fit.
Here are a few reasons why a vacuum excavator is the most valuable machine to have in your rental fleet that will help you increase profits by providing customers with a flexible, low-maintenance machine that helps them increase efficiency and take on a variety of tasks.
Endless Uses
Vacuum excavator can help renters in ways they themselves may never have imagined. From cleaning out manholes and vehicle wash pits to landscaping beds, parking garages and nearly anything that’s been flooded with water, like basements, bathrooms, storm shelters and even sand bunkers on golf courses, the vacuum excavator can be used in countless ways.
Landscapers are using the suction tool to remove old mulch and debris from a flower bed without damaging homeowners’ flowers, grass, or well-cultivated vegetation.
Arborists and tree care professionals are using vacuum excavators for tree installation and growth stimulation. Whether planting a young tree or maintaining a mature tree, vacuum excavators can help loosen up the soil to create a more stable root foundation and encourage proper root grow-out.
Regardless of the task, a vacuum excavator helps operators to save time and labor, while also reducing surface disruption in the excavation process.
Access to Constricted Spaces
Vacs allow operators to excavate near sensitive areas and in areas where traditional methods are unable to get the job done. For example, trenching near a structure like a house, shed or fence can be challenge. However, vacuum excavators can be parked up to 100 feet away from the trench location and still reach the site.
A vacuum excavator also performs in a variety of ground conditions. There are five main ground conditions that operators may deal with on a job: rock, sandstone, clay, topsoil and sand. Landscapers specifically can easily encounter more than one of these conditions on a single jobsite. In these situations, a vacuum excavator allows them to switch between air or hydro excavation depending on the ground condition and the delicacy of the surrounding environment.
The versatility of vacs and their ability to conquer a wide array of tasks less invasively is why they are growing in popularity. With these machines in their fleet, landscapers can stay safe, agile and efficient on a variety of tasks while maximizing jobsite uptime and minimizing downtime. Listen to the Green Industry Pros Grass Roots Podcast to hear more from Ditch Witch product marketing managers about the benefits and variety of uses of vacs in landscaping and the green industries.
Low Maintenance
Manufacturers are designing vacuum excavators to eliminate daily maintenance and grease points, allowing rental yard owners to keep the machine out and working. The most important daily maintenance task for operators is to always dump and clean the debris tank and empty the freshwater tank at the end of every day.
Functionality and serviceability improvements are always being considered and made by manufacturers. For example, some machines now have liftoff power pack doors for greater access to maintenance points, and improved filtration systems minimize filter cleaning frequency and increase component life.
If used properly, vacuum excavators offer a low-maintenance solution with parts that are often protected from excessive wear and tear.
