The huge, lumbering back hoes are not always the best choice, especially for the smaller contractor and are not an option at all for the home owner who needs to rent a machine for the weekend. For them, there are mini backhoes or the small back hoes. If you are going down to the local heavy equipment rental store, you are likely to see a few of the different compact back hoes there, typically the most popular brands like John Deere and the Kubota back hoe. There are others, including the Ford back hoe, the Case back hoe and the JCB back hoe as well, although there might not be a huge selection of brand names in most rental places.

For those home contractors or weekend warriors who do not know: a backhoe has that name because it shovels dirt backwards rather than pushing it forward like other types of machinery. The first models were developed in Britain in the 1950's and were quickly adapted and changed for a number of uses. They are all basically built in the same manner, with a digging bucket at the end of an articulated arm. This arm can move to the right and left to some degree. In addition to the digging bucket, there are other attachments that can be used with the back hoe.

If you are renting a backhoe for a home project of most sizes, you will be looking at a mini, a small or compact backhoe rather than the larger, more complex models meant to be handled by the highly trained professional. Despite their name, these are still pretty big machines and there should be some great caution before you decide whether you are going to be able to safely and competently handle them. After all, it might be cheaper to hire a contractor to come in and do the digging for your project than it would be to repair and replace all of the things that you tear up, knock down or bowl over trying to learn how to handle the back hoe that you have just rented.

In the end, whether you have rented a John Deere or Case backhoe, or any other, you still have to know how to use it and use it correctly. Take the time to learn in the lot before you even put your money down. There is no sense in paying for something that you cannot handle once it gets to your lot. Figure in the cost of hauling or delivering the back hoe when you compare the cost of hiring a contractor to the cost of renting and doing it yourself. What might take you all weekend to do, may only take the contractor an hour making the professional the cheaper option. If you are looking at hiring a contractor for three hundred dollars an hour, or the same price for all day with the back hoe, you are not saving any money by renting, especially if you end up paying for delivery, additional charges for a second day or end up having to pay the contractor to come in and finish what you have started once you realize that you do not know what you are doing.