Services Deck Building Fences Louvres & Covered Roofs Landscaping Tight Access Digger Work Retaining Walls
01Home 02Our Work 03Why Us 04About 05Reviews 06Where We Build 07FAQ 08Contact
Call 021 028 24072 Book My Digger Work
Tight access 1T Kubota digger on a Christchurch residential section
Tight Access Digger Work · Christchurch & Canterbury

Tight Access Digger Work in Christchurch -
1T Kubota for Restricted Sites

We run a 1T Kubota digger that fits where most machines can't - through most side gates and into backyards other crews walk away from. Deck piles, retaining footings, post holes, drainage trenches, site prep and small demolition across Christchurch and Canterbury.

Book My Digger Work Call 021 028 24072
What we do

Digger work for sections other machines can't reach.

The 1T Kubota goes where a 3T excavator can't - through internal doors, down narrow side runs, onto decks, into backyards cut off by tight boundary access. Standalone digger work or bundled into a Decks R Us build, either works. Here's what we use it for most.

Deck Piles & Footings

Pile holes for deck builds, pad footings for retaining, pergola posts or steel-framed louvres. The reason we own the digger in the first place.

Post Holes

Fence-post and gate-post holes dug with the bucket or drilled with an auger attachment. Faster than hand-digging and cleaner than a petrol auger in rocky ground.

Drainage Trenches

Subsoil drain runs, soakage pit excavation, surface drainage to an outfall. We dig; you or your plumber lays the pipe - or we do both if it's part of a wider build.

Site Clearance & Prep

Clearing overgrown gardens, pulling out old decking or retaining, removing tree roots and stumps, grading sections flat. Restricted-access work where a 3T excavator just doesn't fit.

Small Demolition & Loadout

Breaking up old concrete paths and pads, removing old paving, loading green waste and demo rubbish into a skip or trailer. Residential-scale only.

Work for Other Trades

Plumbers needing a trench, fencers needing post holes, landscapers needing a garden cleared. If the site's too tight for their own gear, we'll come in and dig.

See the full portfolio →
Why us

Why a 1T Kubota beats a rented digger for tight jobs.

Most tight-access digger work in Christchurch ends one of two ways. Either the homeowner rents a digger and operates it themselves (often with predictable results), or a bigger crew shows up with a machine that doesn't actually fit through the gate and the job gets downsized. Here's what we bring instead.

Fits Where Others Can't

Fits through most side gates and into backyards other machines can't reach. Tracks instead of wheels, so soft lawns and muddy sections don't get rutted.

Experienced Operator, Not a Rental

We dig, you don't. Years on this machine across Canterbury means we know what it can and can't do - and we've seen the failure modes a weekend-renter hasn't.

Attachments On The Trailer

Standard bucket, mud bucket, auger for post holes, dozer blade for grading. We turn up with what the job needs, not a one-attachment kit.

Standalone or Bundled

Hire us just for the dig, or bundle it into a deck, fence or retaining build. Bundled jobs share site setup, so the per-hour cost comes down.

Plus $2M public liability on every job and ten-year structural guarantee on any hard-landscape elements we build.
Decks R Us build - Christchurch
Common questions

Tight access digger work - common questions.

Straight answers to the things homeowners ask us most often. If your question isn't here, call John - he'll give you a straight answer, not a sales line.

Will your digger actually fit through our gate?

Almost always, yes. Our Kubota fits through most residential side gates and internal doors in Christchurch. If yours is unusually narrow we'll tell you straight up at the site visit and work out an alternative approach.

What can a 1T Kubota actually do?

Holes and trenches to around 2m deep, a few cubic metres of spoil shifted a day, small areas graded flat with a dozer blade, post holes drilled with an auger. What it can't do: heavy lifting, big-volume earthworks (a 3T+ machine job), commercial demolition or civil-scale work. We'll tell you if your job needs bigger gear.

Is this just digger hire with a driver?

No. You're hiring our labour, our experience on this specific machine, and our build sense - not just the machine. If you want hourly rental with a driver, plant-hire companies do that at lower rates.

Will the digger damage our lawn or driveway?

Not if the access route is protected. We lay plywood or ground mats over grass, paving and decking along the run. Tracks (not wheels) spread the weight more evenly anyway - long-term damage on protected surfaces is rare.

Can you do this as part of building our deck, fence or retaining?

Yes - that's most of our digger work. The 1T Kubota was bought because we needed it for our own builds. Bundled jobs are cheaper per hour because site setup is shared. See our deck building, fence builder, louvre and covered roof, landscaping and retaining wall pages for the rest.

Where we work

Tight access digger work across Canterbury.

Free on-site visits across the Christchurch urban area. For the right job we'll travel further across Canterbury and the wider South Island.

Most of our work runs across Christchurch urban - Halswell, Fendalton, Merivale, Redwood, Papanui, St Albans, Prestons, Marshlands, Casebrook, Harewood, Redcliffs, Sumner, Yaldhurst - plus wider Canterbury including Rolleston, Rangiora, Ravenswood, Kaiapoi, Ohoka, Cust and West Melton. For the right build we'll travel anywhere in the South Island, from Queenstown up to Nelson.

Not sure if we cover your street? Ask →
Based in Redwood · Serving Canterbury
Book the digger

Book the digger.

Free on-site visit to check access and scope the job. Written quote through within the week. No pressure, no hard sell, no follow-up spam.

Call John · 021 028 24072 Email sales@decksrus.co.nz
WhereRedwood, Christchurch
HoursMon-Sat · 7:00am - 5:00pm
Free digger quote

Book my digger work.