Go with a 1.5tonner mate, just the right size for every thing handy... Tacahusi are the market leaders in minis, have been for years, all the hire center minis over here are Tacis, must be good , another one to look at is Hyundi, they have some pretty good smooth easy to use machines and they come pretty well speced also, over here you can buy a 1.5 or a 1.8 on a tandom axle trailer and 3 or 4 buckets... dirt cheap, the big hyundis have the market lead in in nz currently...