What equipment should you rent for demolition? Breaker, excavator, compressor and cleanup

First: what you're demolishing

The machine isn't chosen by the word 'demolition' but by material, volume and space. Before quoting, sort your job into one of these cases — many sites have two or three at once:

• A concrete slab, floor, sidewalk or ramp to remove.
• Footings, low walls, equipment pads or short columns.
• Rock or very hard material that shows up while digging.
• Detail or indoor work: opening a doorway, chipping a floor, removing a finish.
• Structural demolition (buildings, elevated slabs, load-bearing walls): it needs a plan made by a responsible professional. This guide is about equipment and doesn't replace that plan.

Backhoe plus breaker: the workhorse combo

For most medium demolition, a backhoe with a hydraulic breaker solves two jobs with one machine: it breaks at the back and loads at the front. The fleet's breaker, the SIMAQ DB 60V, mounts on the backhoe, is installed by group technicians and has a silenced housing that lowers noise on urban sites. It rents with the backhoe or on its own if you already have a compatible backhoe: say so when you quote to confirm the mount.

The fleet's backhoes are 4×4: the Komatsu WB93R-5E0 (about 99 HP, front bucket of around 1.0 m³) and the Bobcat B760, with an extendable dipper on 4 of its 5 units. The front bucket is what then loads the rubble onto the truck.

When to step up to the 20 t excavator

If there's rock, a lot of volume or you need reach, the Komatsu PC200-10M0 CE excavator (20.3 t operating weight and 138 net HP) has the mass and stability a backhoe doesn't. One of the fleet's excavators is set up with breaker hydraulics: ask for it by that when you quote and confirm which breaker goes with it. The same machine, with a bucket, loads the haul trucks.

Cut before you break

When you're removing only part of a slab or floor, cut the perimeter first with the floor saw. A straight cut separates what goes from what stays: the breaker works up to the line without cracking the neighbouring concrete. The fleet's SIMAQ SQ16 PRO saw has a 13 HP Honda GX390 engine, diamond blade included, adjustable cut depth and a straight-cut guide; it cuts slab, concrete and asphalt.

Compressor: when the work uses pneumatic tools

Indoors, next to structures that stay or where a machine can't fit, demolition is done with handheld pneumatic tools. The fleet's Doosan C185 compressor delivers 185 CFM of air, is a single-axle towable — it goes to the work face behind a pickup — and its enclosed canopy makes less noise on urban sites. The compressor is what rents; confirm the tool you'll connect when you quote.

Getting the rubble out

Rubble left on site slows everything else. A Bobcat skid steer gathers and loads it: the S590 lifts around 998 kg on a vertical-path arm that reaches high-sided trucks; the S18 is the compact format that fits where the site gets tight, with 10 units in the fleet. If the backhoe is already on site, its front bucket loads too.

Safety, neighbours and hours

• Shut off and confirm utilities (water, power, gas) before breaking.
• Protective gear for everyone nearby: glasses, hearing protection, gloves and boots.
• Wet the area to keep dust down and fence off the machine's work zone.
• Respect the noise hours your municipality sets: a silenced breaker helps, but it doesn't make it silent.
• If you work at night or next to traffic, add a light tower and a variable message board.