Save Your Back With A Toro Dingo
Posted on | December 19, 2008 |
Courtesy of Toro Tools
Hot-Diggity-Dog my life just got a w(hole) lot easier.
With spring still a ways off for us in the Northeast, planning for a great outdoor project is the right antidote to winter. Many of you are thinking decks, fences, pergolas, or gardens. Such plans rarely consider the “my aching back” reality of such efforts. Suffer if you like, but I won’t. This year, I’m selling my post-hole digger to someone I don’t like. The reason? There’s a great tool in town. It’s the Toro Dingo.
The Toro Dingo is a 20-hp, track driven utillity loader that you steer and control as you walk behind it. It’s like a souped-up wheelbarrow with plenty of useful attachments. This machine is completely hydraulic powered and can dig a Sonotube footing in no time flat with an auger attachment. (I’m told that there are over thirty attachments available for this machine including one for mixing concrete.) And with a bucket attachment you can move tons of gravel, bluestone, dirt, or turf without breaking your back. And, the machine is a snap to use.
When I say it’s a snap to use, that’s what I mean. If you can play Pac-man then you can use this machine, and the controls all make perfect sense from the get go. There’s no need for the operator to push or pull this tool, and it can get into some pretty tight spaces.
I rent one whenever I need it, and it fits in the back of a standard pick up. But, I prefer towing it on a trailer. Some rental places will even deliver the machine to you for a nominal fee.
Last Spring I had to dig a dozen 54-in. deep footings for a deck. I ponyed up my 200 bucks for an all day rental, but I was done well before lunch. My only complaint was when I hit some large stones. But then again, when is it ever easy dealing with large stones?
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About
I’m a sawdust making, tool buying, work boot wearing kind of guy. When I’m not building something useful, usually for someone else, I’m writing about it for Fine Homebuilding or This Old House. I’ve spent most of my adult life honing my craft and now I want to share what I’ve learned. From tool reviews to how-to this blog will explore a bunch of interesting stuff. So strap on a tool belt or crack a cold one and let’s have some fun.
December 30th, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
I totally need one of those! Everyone’s asking about their fences and decks, asking if I can help.
oh man, i feel a b-day present coming on.
lol