As a homesteader, you're probably no stranger to DIY projects. If you're planning a serious DIY project that involves a lot of digging, though, you may need some machinery such as an excavator to help you out with the project.

Here are just a few homesteading DIY projects where an excavator will come in handy.

Digging a Pond

Homesteading tends to have self-sufficiency as one of its goals. A pond on your property can aid in self-sufficiency in a variety of ways, from providing fish dinners to producing geothermal HVAC power and even irrigation water for your garden.

However, not every homestead comes with a ready-made pond, so you may have to dig your own. Or, you may wish to dig multiple ponds so you can have one dedicated to fish and one dedicated to irrigation, for example.

Since even a small pond may require moving many cubic yards of soil, you'll need a machine such as an excavator to help you get through the project in a timely fashion. An excavator rental can provide a cost-effective and time-effective way to dig out your new pond.

Digging Foundations for Outbuildings

Whether you'll install a prefabricated metal building or DIY the entire building from scratch, any outbuilding needs to have a good foundation. If you want a permanent foundation, you'll need to dig out an area and pour a concrete slab.

But an excavator doesn't just remove dirt from a hole. This piece of machinery can also help you grade and smooth out the bottom of the hole before pouring the concrete. And an excavator can also help with lifting materials, such as concrete blocks, into place in preparation for building the structure itself.

Planting a Rain Garden

A rain garden collects water, similar to a pond. However, unlike a pond, a rain garden has the primary purpose of dealing with stormwater. This structure filters storm run-off through appropriate varieties of plants in order to reduce pollution to bodies of water such as ponds and streams. The rain garden will be full of water after a storm, but may not hold water all the time like a pond.

You'll typically have to excavate the area somewhat to create the most effective rain garden, especially if you have a lot of stormwater to deal with. Depending on the size of the rain garden, an excavator may offer the most effective and efficient way to dig and shape the rain garden area.

Digging a Root Cellar

Root cellars have a long history of keeping home-grown produce fresh throughout the winter. To create a root cellar, you'll have to dig down several feet, creating a hole the size of a small room. You then build a small room inside this hole and cover it with soil so it can use the earth's temperature to stay above freezing during the wintertime.

As you can imagine, holes the size of a small room aren't much fun to dig by hand. An excavator can save you a lot of hours and a lot of blisters here.

Planting an Orchard

Some trees can be planted by hand, with a simple shovel. But as a homesteader, you may need to plant a lot of fruit trees all at once to produce a large enough orchard. Digging dozens of holes by hand can be grueling work, so you may need machinery to help you pick up the pace (and avoid hurting your back).

You may also need to plant larger trees to achieve high levels of fruit production quickly. Larger trees will require larger holes, which can be another reason to choose an excavator for this chore.

These are just a few of the projects a homesteader may face that could require the use of an excavator. So if you don't have any digging machinery of your own, get in touch with a local rental company such as Ever-Joy Rent All to discuss the available equipment and pricing for the excavation you need.