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It's your money, but I personally would opt for a 3pt scoop or even a boxblade for the job.. depending on whether you want to spread the material out fromthe garage.. or move it somewhere else. Before we built our house, i used a 3pt scoop and a little yanmar 1700 ( 1800 lbs, 2cyl diesel 21 engine hp, 18pto hp, 200# front weight ) to move many many yards of dirt. Afte rthe house was built, the yard sloped heavilly down from or back porch to the fence of the pasture.. I again used the scoop and pulled from a stockpile and backfilled the area enough to pour an additional 15x10 concrete pad to screen in the back porch, and make less of a grade down to the fence.... took a bit of time.. but was cheaper in the end. The yanmar had a single stage clutch, and an engine driven hydro pump.. so it was like working with a NAA.. not an 8n without live hyds.... actually.. I wish i would have had my NAA back then.. it would have worked way better than the little yanmar, which was too light. My 30" bucket would carry about 500# of dirt, and even with front weight, the front end was spongy on bumps...
You can do it with the 8n though.. just gotta back in, then shift out and lift.. or use some technique and back in continually lifting.. might take some getting used to... but will work. On the other hand, I used a box to dig the packed clay floor out of the back of my horse barn to add another stall... The boxblade works good at digging.. though you just have to fan the dirt out from there as you can't transport it anywhere. As for the equipment rental... I work at a road construction co.. and that rate is close to normal for what we see rates on skid steers.. though they may not have also quoted you on delivery ( usually 50$.. and fuel surcharge.. as high as 40$ per day... ) so that 165$ rental gets expensive fast.... plus you might need a damage waiver, or liability rider.. otherwise you are paying for damages or breakdowns... if ya rent it.. read the fine print carefully. Soundguy
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