A slab is a compaction deadline with a truck arriving. Garage, shop, and shed pads all fail the same way: uncompacted fill and a crew that drove a telehandler across it at 4 a.m. Place base with a CTL, densify with a plate or RD12-class roller, then get the earthmoving off the pad. Footings around the slab are a different trench.
In This Guide
Equipment for pouring a concrete slab
Primary machines
Compact track loader
PrimaryT550 class for garages and shops. Skip it for a 10×10 shed pad.
Place and rough-grade base over the whole pad.
Skip it when the pad is tiny and a mini plus rakes can spread the base.
BrowsePlate or ride-on roller
PrimaryWP1550 plate under ~400 sq ft; RD12-class roller for garage and shop fields.
Uniform density so the slab thickness you paid for is actually there.
Skip it when the geotech already signed a proof-roll and you have not disturbed it.
BrowseOptional / nice to have
Mini excavator
OptionalE35 for sheds and small garages; 305.5 for shop slabs with real frost walls.
Perimeter, thickened edges, and interior footings before the pad is a pad.
Skip it when you are pouring a rat slab on existing, level ground.
BrowseDump trailer
Optional7×14 for a garage; 6×12 for a shed.
Import base and export organics.
Skip it when trucks can dump on the pad alignment.
BrowseLight tower
OptionalTerex RL4 class.
Early or late pours. Winter daylight along the Wasatch is short.
Skip it when you are pouring at 9 a.m. in June.
BrowseTypical pairing
Garage slab: CTL + roller + dump trailer the week before; mini only if you still have footings to cut. Shed pad: plate + maybe an E35. Keep the telehandler off the pour.
Subgrade is the spec
Strip organics. Compact native or import. Plates for small sheds; rollers for garage-sized fields. Rammers for clay pockets the roller just walks over. See compact subgrade for a slab if that is the only question you have.
Forms and edges
The mini is useful for the perimeter if you still have to cut. Once forms are up, a loader bucket is a wrecking ball. Switch to wheelbarrows at the edge.
After the pour
No telehandler, no CTL, no dump trailer on green concrete. If you need to place steel or insulation at height, that is a different week and a scissor — not this list.
FAQ
Do you rent laser graders or power trowels?
Not as listed classes. We outfit excavation and compaction. Finishing tools are a different vendor or a finisher who owns them.
Interior warehouse slab?
Same density logic, plus floor-load notes for any aerial you bring in later. See indoor floor-load limits. Do not run diesel compaction in an occupied building without a plan.
Can a telehandler place the mix?
With a bucket and a chart it can place material. It is not a pump. Do not treat it like one, and do not drive it on green slab.
Machines on the lot
Live inventory rotates. These are current machines in the related rental collections — not a promise that a specific used unit is still here.
Need a quote on the right class?
Call or text — we'll match height, width, and capacity to the job instead of renting you a bigger machine than you need.