Hiring Rotary hoes and Dingos

I'm wondering exactly how easy these machines are to use.

Would like to hear your experiences of using them, or if you chose to go through a professsional.

I'm thinking about hiring one of each, but then I wonder if it's not easier just to get someone around to do it.

Cheers

Hell Yeah!, just hire hire them. Easy as to use and lots of fun. I am sure that the hire place will be fine with giving you a demo in the yard. Heaps of fun You'll be jerky and wobbly at first then after an hour you'll be doing it very easily Don't stress about getting them off the trailer. It will go fine

It's just a new thng and they make noise. Be daring and have a crack

I agree with Fu. I had never used one until I did my lawn. Very fun but yah it is a bit scary driving the dingo off the trailer. Just go slow and you should be alright. Like Fu said, you will be jerky and wobbly at first, but I reckon after 10mins you will get the hang of it. Most likely you will just be stopping too quick. You'll know what I mean when you do it.

One bit of advice with the dingo: don't try to climb too steep a bump or sudden hill on the ground or do anything that will put it off balance or tip over. It is pretty heavy so it should be quite stable but at the same time you don't want it to land on you either.

The mistake I made was letting my wife have a drive.

That was the last chance I had for the rest of the day as she was having too much fun.

We hired a mini dingo. $180 for 24hrs-DP used it all day however the ground was a bit too soft in one area and we got bogged. It's a fun machine but to be honest we probably won't hire one again. Recently a month or so ago we got someone in to do it for about 4 hrs and he achieved more than what we ever could have in 4hrs. Yes it did cost more but well worth the extra money.
We'll probably get him back to do the side area where there isn't much space.

Phhfffft... Fun police alert

best machine they ever invented to help you in the garden. a couple of things that i have found are.

1 get the machine that has teeth on the bucket, it helps you dig in really compacted soil to rip it apart.
2 take your time with the machine over any hilly ground as you will feel like you are a cowboy riding a bullif you go to quick.
3 having driven both a dingo and a kanga i liked them both but i liked the kanga as it has the fuel tank either side of where you stand and allows you to brace yourself. but i think the dingo is a better machine.
4 try and hire the bigger unit/models as you will struggle less.

like others have said get on and have a go. take your time to start with and then you will be going flat out. still don't think i could operate one of these all day every day.

Thanks for the tips. I was thinking about hiring one and getting the ripper attachment as well, so I can rotary hoe the existing soil and then lay loam on top for grass.

No, get organic compost, add the amendments minus the bentonite, then rip or rotary hoe the lot in. Avoid laying soils. It doesn't end well. Then rake even, level, then compact slightly (enough to firm up the soil when you walk on it) Then lay the turf.
Check the turf stickies for further instruction as there has been great detail and time put in to teach it.

I know this is an old thread, but is there any significant difference between ripping or rotary hoeing?

I'm planning to hire a Kanga Miniloader, which only comes with a ripper, not a rotary hoe attachment.

I'll also get a trencher attachment, I remember someone one here actually using one instead of a rotary hoe, but I'm not quite sure how well that would go.

Hey Klacka1
Rotary Hoe is the most important part of your turfing project, it aerates and improves drainage.
Ripping really only rips in segments.

We are landscape contractors and would never rely on ripping tines.
Ripping tines where produced for dingos as they are gutless and cannot just dig into the ground like a bobcat can so you rip the area first then use the bucket to dig.

Hope this helps mate, good luck with your project.