[bobw]

It looks as if my business has gotten to the point where I need to invest in a small mini-ex to do some of the harder digging/trenching type tasks. I know very little about them.

As near as I can tell, I'm looking for the smallest or next to smallest units made by the manufacturers. I'd like to keep the machine weight down to under 4000 lbs.

I won't be putting many hours/year on this machine; maybe 50 or so. I'm going to be looking for something well used (i.e. 1500+ hours). Renting a machine doesn't work for us as we can't regularly predict when ground conditions will make us want a machine. So, having a machine on site for use whenever we need it makes some sense.

So... I'm looking for a well used machine for occasional use. I want to keep it relatively light ( < 2 tons).


What should I be looking for? Any brands age better than others?

Thanks for any help you can give.....