New Kit for Ellon Digger Hire

We have been contacted by James Shulver who was keen to tell us about his new Aberdeenshire based plant hire business.

As a youngster James Shulver grew up with his stepfather who ran his own small building company and had previously spent a lifetime working on farms, as such he had always been surrounded by machines and had a passion for operating and servicing them.

Just recently James has taken the plunge and set up a new business which he has called Ellon Digger Hire, named after the closest town to where he lives.

James takes up the story, “My wife and I decided to start our own plant hire business, alongside me still working full-time on a farm and driving an artic lorry on a freelance basis. Whilst I love my job which includes shifting plant and machines on a low-loader, it doesn’t give us a legacy to leave to our two young children.

For now, I intend to carry on with my freelance work and grow the business on the back of it, taking on extra help as it’s needed”.

James continued, “We spotted had a gap in the market in our immediate area for a plant hire firm specialising in self-drive plant primarily aimed at the domestic property market. My aim is to become the go to hire place for self-drive hire in our area, and I intend to get there by providing the best customer service and machines that are well specified, well presented and well serviced”.

To start with the business has invested in two Bobcat E10z zero tail-swing micro diggers and a Slanetrac HT1000 High tip dumper, which have been supplied by Inverurie based dealer Balgownie Ltd who coincidentally also supplied James with a new Ifor Williams plant trailer. These machines are supported by a large selection of buckets, attachments, a Rammer 108 breaker and a compaction plate.

“We chose the Bobcat micros for their servo controls and 710mm width with the tracks in making them the perfect narrow access tool, ideal for domestic properties. The Slanetrac with its 1-tonne payload was the obvious choice to partner the Bobcat” said James.

But the ambitious plans have not stopped there, “We have a track driven NiftyLift TD120t spider lift/cherry picker arriving in January, which we think will be a popular machine. Once again, it’s a narrow access machine. We intend to add a 1.6 tonne and 2.4 tonne mini excavators to the fleet in the new year to cover the average domestic sized digger range. We will also be keeping a close eye on the market to see what machines are in demand and invest accordingly.

I have a bank of skilled labour available for any domestic works and will be offering operated hire as an option too”.

The Digger Man Blog wishes James and his wife all the very best with the new venture.