Excavation-Related Saving Tips For Private Burials

Respecting the wishes of a deceased loved one is perhaps the best way to pay your last respects. Thus, you shouldn't have qualms about paying for a geotechnical report and paying a surveyor to draw up the plan that will identify the position of the grave within your property as dictated by the government of New South Wales.

The mentioned costs may run into thousands of dollars. For this reason, you need practical ways to bring down the cost of a private burial. Here are three ideas related to the cost of excavation.

Forget About "Six Feet Under" 

You've probably always known/believed that a standard grave should be at least six feet below the ground level. This is not entirely true. The government of NSW dictates that the top surface of a coffin should be at least 900milimetres below the ground level. This translates to approximately three feet.

Add the dimensions of your loved one's coffin and you're working with approximately 4-5 inches. Digging a six-foot grave might therefore not be necessary and you can save time and money by not over-excavating the landscape.

Closely related to this is that a large number of mini excavators have the capacity to comfortably dig a 5-foot grave. Thus, you need not hire a standard-sized excavator (which will cost you more) for the grave-digging exercise.

Get The Right Excavator Attachments

Attachments are used to improve the functionality of excavation equipment. There are different types of attachments including rippers and landscape rakes.

Rippers are designed to resemble a large rhino horn. They are more powerful than conventional excavator buckets because power delivered by the exactor is concentrated on the "tip" of the attachment. A ripper will allow you to dislodge tree stumps that may be on the intended grave site. Once dislodged, you can use the landscape rake to clamp onto the stump and to move it away from the site.

The discussed activities may not be possible using the conventional excavator bucket. In the absence of the attachments discussed above, you'll probably need to hire a stump removal specialist.

Go For Rubber Tracks

The excavator you intend to use for grave-digging will either come with rubber tracks or tracks made of steel. Steel tracks are sturdier than rubber tracks and they're especially designed for rough, rocky terrain.

However, you're likely to pay more for a rental excavator with steel tracks than for its rubber-tracked equivalent. Rubber tracks might maneuver the typical NSW landscape with less ease, but they'll get the job done just as well.

Send off your loved one according to their wishes, but don't break the bank doing it.