Ryan Francoeur, owner of a CD11 in Norther Ontario wrote, "The unit is great, very convenient and handy. The power is comparable to a compact excavator I had rented previous to owning the Candig. The Honda motor starts first pull, every time, and runs flawlessly. I can run the unit for many hours on a tank of gas, in fact I think the previous project mentioned I consumed about 3/4 tank from beginning to end." Email Ryan

James Temple; Dugald Manitoba...owner of a model CD21 CanDig mini excavator...
"Hello Gordon’ Sorry for the slow response on my behalf. We have been trying to get out and use the CD21, but the continual wet weather here in eastern Manitoba has not afforded us a lot of room. However, this past week, we have been able to auger 52 holes in this Manitoba gumbo with quite some success. I got the unit stuck in mud once and was able to extract myself with just the bucket and boom! This next week I am hoping to begin on a pond (40’x3’ deep) out in a pasture to help collect run-off. I did find a problem with the auger. The cutting tip needs to be fastened with ‘nylock’ nuts instead of the standard lock washer and nut, which came loose on occasion. This Manitoba gumbo can really play the devil with equipment. I also had my first rental of our CD21 two weeks ago. They loved it! Had and idea to just make a unit with trailer, pump/motor and auger unit. Definetly more useful than a two man gas unit. Overall, we are VERY happy with the CD21 and are passing the word here in our area of Manitoba. Thanks again Gordon!
Jim Temple" Email James

Shane Kmyta of Happy Little Dirtworx; Drayton Valley, Alberta...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Hi Gordon and family ;Hello Gordon I sure do like the CD11 I purchased from you. I have used it a few times and am very happy with the results. The CD11 is the perfect compliment to my mini doser and mini skid steer loader. I can actually haul the loader and doser on my 1-ton truck and pull the excavator behind!! this makes me ready for any task I encounter without makeing several trips to haul equipment! Thanks again Shane Kmyta"
Phone 780-898-8772 Email Shane

Joanne Held of Happy Acre Greens; 2058 Cambie-Solsqua Rd Sicamous,B.C. V0E 2V4...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Hi Gordon and family ; I first bought my Candig in July of 2006. The first summer of owning I only did 3 digging jobs for customers, since the spring of 2007 I am up to 12 so far this year. I am proud to be a female owner/operater of an excavator. I bought my candig to help me build ponds after taking a pond course for my business. I enjoy my machine so much thats once I'm on it I forget to get off and take break untill the gas runs out which is about 5 hours on 3/4 throttle. I sometime feel that I'm a kid in a sandbox. I even had a job recently where I had to use the dolly under the machine to get through a narrow opening and very soft ground. I started up the machine set everything up put two long boards under her and three of us pushed her through and then I set up on the other side, the owner of the property was very impressed for I didn't have to hurt his lawn. An other digging job I did the guy was so impressed that he is telling everyone that I'm better than most guys on backhoe. He was also impressed at how quickly the candig can set up, and how versitile it was as well as light but strong enough to do the job. I have torn up 2, 10" in diameter cottonwood stumps out of our yard, that a buddy of ours couldn't with his case loader/backhoe couldn't do, how is that! I have at least two more digging jobs to down near Nakusp before snow flys I will try and send some pictures of some of my jobs, especially the one I did this spring on a very steep gravel hillside. The owner on that job was very impressed that I pushed the limit of the grade to get the job done, wait till I can get you the pictures. Thank-you for your support and the backing and I will see you soon."
Phone 250-836-3878 home or 517-7171 Cell Email Joanne

Stephan Ermair...(helicopter pilot for Pacific Western Helicopters Ltd.)...phone 1-250-562-7911
or 1-250-494-7203
"The CanDig mini excavator has a built-in tripod towing system that makes it easy and safe to haul. The unit was very stable to tow because of this feature." Email Stephan

Ken Brophy, from Crosshair Exploration & Mining, wrote, "Gordon, Thank you for continuing to follow-up and great customer service you and your team provided to Crosshair all season long. The CanDig preformed better than I personally thought it would in our environment and our operators learned how best to utilize the machine and it capabilities in short order. It's been great to deal with a company such as CanDig when you know any concerns or issues that may arise are handled in an expeditious manner. From an exploration stand point, operating in a seasonal environment, the service you provide ensures the programs are done with minimal external impact. We have currently suspended our field activities due to the adverse market conditions. I foresee us returning to the field in 2009 and feel confident that the CanDig will play a role in moving our projects to the next step. Thank you once again Gordon, and I look forward to working with you again in 2009."

Anne and Brian Schuck...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Hi Gordon, Just a quick note to let you know how we used our CD11 this spring. We dug up trees and replanted them in our yard with a minimum of effort (CanDig did it all). We planted 18 trees including fir, spruce, white pine and fruit trees, some of which were 18 ft. tall. We didn't even break a sweat. We also used it in conjunction with our Kubota RTV900 to haul gravel and fix a low spot in our driveway. We hooked it on behind the Kubota and towed it to the bottom of our hill to the gravel pit where we changed it over and loaded the hydraulic dump box of the Kubota with gravel. After a dozen loads to our house, we hooked it back up to the Kubota and brought it home. I have to tell you, Gordon, this is the best machine we have ever purchased!! Thank you again for this great product! Anne & Brian Schuck
UPDATE:Yes, we're still 100% happy with our CanDig CD11 mini excavator. We use it every year for our outfitting business and have almost worn it out!! We may be in the market for another one in the next couple of years. It is still the best small machine we have ever bought and is exactly what we needed and still need. Gemstar Outfitting"
Phone 250-340-0061 or Email Anne and Brian

Patrick Prior...owner of a CanDig mini excavator, and Pysical Therapist...
"I really appreciate the "custom" designs that you have been able to produce for my Candig CD11. Being confined to a wheelchair, I never thought that I would ever be able to get onto and operate a mini excavator, but with your collaboration and design expertise, you made this a possibility for me. I know that other people with disabilities may now be gainfully employed in the building industry due to your design excellence. I am also very impressed with your design expertise in designing a new bucket which will allow me to use the CD11 as a mini loader. At this point, I have primarily used the CD11 to clear small trees and medium sized stumps from the building site on my 30 acre property, I have dug a foundation trench for a neighbour, I have spread heavy gravel to create the new road, and have made drainage ditches. I plan this season to create more ditches, build up the road with more gravel, clear more land, create a pit for the outhouse, and begin foundation work.
Thank-you to Gordon and your team,"
Patrick Prior, Kingston, Ontario
Phone: 613-634-3461 or Email Patrick

David Hughes...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"The CD 11 has been our compact 'work horse' through the 2006 landscape season. This machine allowed our design / build company to tackle many hard-to-access jobs and expand our growing customer base. The overall flexibly, digging power, and operating weight of the CD 11 set this machine apart from more expensive, heavier tracked excavators. On many occasions, people would stop their vehicles and watch the CD 11 do its' work. I'll be sad to see this unit go into storage for the winter months. The follow up call and emails were greatly appreciated! "
UPDATE: Hi Gordon, Thank you for your email. I continue to be a delighted Candig owner after spending endless hours on my CD11 over the past four landscape seasons. I've been very pleased with the performance of the overall machine. It looks like you have several newly designed machines to offer. You can place my name and new email address on the demonstration section of your website. New email address: david@dhlandscapedesign.ca Our company website: www.dhlandscapedesign.ca - check out some of the jobs - the CD11 worked on practically all the jobs displayed on construction page
David Hughes; Peterborough, Ontario; Phone 705-740-7355 or Email David

John Diehl...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Gordon, The excavator and wood splitter are both working fine and I am impressed with their capabilities. Now that the weather has gotten better, work for the CanDig has been picking up. I've dug trenches for sewer lines, gas lines and drainage ditches, and just finished a job digging out for a retaining wall. The best thing is that there are not many machines that could have done a few of these jobs. The one sewer line was 55' long and located inside a new building that only had a 4' wide x 6' tall entrance and the builder needed it done in a hurry because the owner added the sewer at the last minute and the floor was scheduled to be poured the next day. The one gas line that I dug was at the same job and was located between a dumpster and a neighboring building that had a concrete walk way two foot from the building's wall and there was a nice rose bush that needed to be left intact right at the beginning of where I had to enter. I simply removed the right claw and wheel to crawl past the bush and once there was able to re-assemble and stradal the walkway to dig. The retaining wall that I just dug was only accessible by going through a neighbors yard, and this guy was very proud of his nice grass that took him years to establish. I was able to pass through without doing any damage where most other machines would have left tracks. I've also had two jobs digging up shrubs and small trees and it performed very well. I bought a dump trailer that I can tow with my pickup truck that can hold over 5 tons. It is low enough to the ground that I can load it with the digger and since it is 6' x 10', I can carry the digger in it by unpinning the wheels of the digger and pushing them in as far as they can go, removing the hitch and pushing myself up a pair of ramps. The two make a great combo and they are the exact same color to boot! My next job is to dig the dirt floor of a cellar two feet down. This should be very interesting. The door to the cellar is 36" wide and located at the bottom of three concrete steps. I have to remove the steps and dig a ramp that I will cover with a piece of 3/4" plywood so that the casters will roll. The cellar now has a 6 1/2' ceiling and is 27' x 19'. The customer is going to cut a hole in the ceiling so that he can install an exhaust fan for ventilation and I will load the dirt into a motorized wheel barrel for removal. If all goes well I should make at least 15 hundred dollars on this job. I'm well on my way to recovering my investment in this machine and the dump trailer that complements it so well by adding the ability to remove the material that I dig.
Thanks for following up!" John; PA. USA
Update: Gordon, yes, I am still happy with my excavator. I would be happy to perform a demonstration for anyone in my area that would like to see how well the excavator works. My contact number should change to: 412-980-1577 (cell). also, I would be interested in renting it and would like accsess to the 'agent' page and would need a username and password. Please, leave my testimonial as long as you wish. Good Luck, John Email John

Gordon Bader...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Our circumstances are difficult. We needed an excavator to use on very difficult soil and it had to be of a size that could be slung under a Bell 206 helicopter. Your CanDig CD21 excavator solved all of our problems. It was relatively easy to break down into payloads of 700 and 500 pounds and then to reassemble it at the landing point. As for its capacity to dig, it surpassed our expectations. Anyone without any experience in operating a back hoe can learn to use the CanDig effectively within a few hours. We are more than pleased with the CanDig CD21 and would recommend it to anyone." Gordon Bader;
UPDATE: Yes I am still very happy with the Candig unit we bought. It has done a lot of work and has never let us down. Without it, we would not have been able to do what we did. We still have to put in a septic field. This will be six trenches of 25 meters each for a total of about 475 feet. If we did this by hand, it would take weeks with the soil in our area.

UPDATE: Hi Tony: Regarding your first question, our situation is similar to yours. Our terrain is also very rocky consisting of a lot of basalt. Previously, we were digging holes by hand for SONA tubes to install concrete footings and pillars. To say it was difficult would be a huge understatement. I also wondered at the ability of the Candig to perform but after using the machine, can only say that it surpassed my expectations. Our Candig has moved huge amounts of dirt and rock and performed jobs we would never have undertaken. We are building a 2500 square foot lodge on a hill and have moved all the dirt from under it to make a level storage area, dug a root cellar, dug out tree stumps, done all our trenching for water pipes and this year will be digging 150 meters of septic field. When moving boulders, the size of them will be a factor. The largest I have moved would be approximately 2 feet X 2 feet X 20 inches. I don’t know how much that would weigh but would be heavy. We have had our unit for seven or eight years now and have not needed any repairs. I keep it greased on a regular basis. Any areas of wear have replaceable nylon bushings but none have worn out yet. The motor is a Honda and of course never has a problem. I use stabilized gas, keep the gas tank free of dirt, change the oil regularly etc. Just use regular maintenance and I don’t think you will have any problem. Even if things go wrong with the unit, It is easy to work on in the field without the requirements of a machine shop, hydraulic press etc. I don’t know my total operating time because others use the unit but would guess at 1200 hrs. Regarding lifting by helicopter, I broke our unit into three bundles, the arm, the main body and the scoops, wheels etc. This amounted to two lifts of about 700 pounds each and one of approx. 550 lbs. Seven hundred pounds is about all the 206 can lift at our elevation (5000 feet). We brought in supplies until the helicopter was low on fuel than flew in one lift of the Candig. He returned, gave the helicopter a squirt of gas and took the other part. After that, no problem. You’re a-Star 350 should not have a problem. We have an early version of the CD21 and it is not self propelled. In other words, we reach out with the bucket and drag ourselves around the property. A self propelled unit would be an advantage not for moving the unit but for moving dirt. For example, to move dirt, we dig in front, dump behind than move the machine and move the pile all over again. For the most part, a hole is dug and later refilled but if you plan to move a lot of dirt, consider a self propelled unit. This would be the only thing I would change if buying a new unit. Other than that, I am very satisfied with the Candig. It has surpassed our expectations and I can say you will not be disappointed if you purchase one. Just a note. The last person I spoke to asked if I was anyway involved with the Candig company. The answer is no. We found the company on the internet some years ago. We tried their unit mainly because we were able to fly it in. I can only say that I am glad we went with this unit. It has done everything we want and more. I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions, please ask. Gord Bader
Plateau Fly Fishing Lodge, Kamloops, B.C. Phone: 604-594-9767 or Email Gordon

Ken Pickett...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Hi Gordon, I thought that with my engineering background, I might come up with an improvement or two.
After weeks of thought here's the best I can do.....
It needs a cup / water bottle holder.
Cheers,
Ken (250-339-9810) Comox, B.C." or Email Ken

Bruno Stoncius...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Gord, Hope all goes well in the west.
I have been using the excavator for the last 4 summers with great success. I have used it to dig trenches for drainage lines, a swimming pool and a significant amount of digging to replace the foundations/instal drainage at my cottage. I have not had any significant problems with the machine."

Mississauga, Ontario
Phone 905-822-6343 or Email Bruno Ed Babcock...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"What a great concept! The CanDig mini excavator represents quality in every way. I couldn't be more happy with it. It handles the rocky digging around my hobby farm with ease. The low cost is well worth the investment. I'm very satisfied with the service, fairness and sincere concern expressed by the owners of the company. (250-579-9906) Kamloops, BC Canada"

Vince Pelss...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"Dear Gordon & Nohra-Cecilia Leschyson:
My experience with your company has been a pleasure from start to finish. After shopping around, I found your prices the most reasonable and your selection of backhoes and accessories allowed me to choose a model that fit my needs. The thing that impressed me most was the quality of service and support. You answered all my questions promptly, monitored my shipment from start to finish, and insisted to replace a missing pin on my order. I was even pleasantly surprised to find touch up paint included with my order. Candig even went to the trouble to mail our pin twice, due to the fault of our local post office. The Candig has saved me hours of digging by hand.
Thank you for everything. Vince. (Newlowell, Ontario)
PS: Please feel free to use me as a reference for future Candig clients. 705-424-9987" or Email Vince

Shaun Martin...renter of a CanDig mini excavator.(Vancouver)
I rented a CanDig unit to excavate about a foot of ground out of my existing basement in downtown Vancouver. I am certainly impressed at how the people from CanDig delivered the unit, then helped to crawl it into my basement with ease. I highly recommend using one of their diggers when digging in tight spots! Email Shaun Paul Baxter...Teck Cominco Mine (Management)
"We flew one of their mini excavators out into the mountains using a Long Ranger helicopter near Smithers for about 2 1/2 months last summer. We were able to get some significant digging done around our camp area that otherwise would have been very difficult and time-consuming to do by hand in this remote setting." Email Paul

Steve Kanigan...owner of a CanDig mini excavator...
"I'm delighted with the way CanDig handles. It is powerful and able to do the digging I require around my acrage. The ground here is pretty rocky too! (250-573-3094) Kamloops, BC Canada"

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