Ditch Witch Mini-x

Saw these at Expo, played around with one for a while. The styling reminded me of Yanmar. Anybody know anything about these? I know the Ditch Witch 'brand' is well respected and established...

Then, in general terms regarding these micro and mini machines,
How much horsepower would it take to dig out say... a 16" oak tree stump in Midwest hardpan clay...and let's say you had about 30 minutes or less to get it done?

 

You could do it with a 30 horse mini...I've dug many stumps out. I can't speak for the DW Mini-X's, but we own three ditchwitch plow/trenchers, and they are incredibly well built.

 

You could probably dig that out in 30 mins. depending on how far the roots went out from the stump itself.

 

Would the 17 horse Kubota dig it out with more time?

 

A 17 HP excavator is a powered shovel. They're almost useless unless space is REALLY an issue. There isn't many places we can't put a 7,500 pound 5 foot wide machine with zero tail swing.

 

Ditch Witch mini is made by a company in Italy. Not a bad looking machine. Talked to a DW rep last month, said they were a little slow getting off the ground with distribution and sales.

 

They are actually made by Komatsu especially for DW. Not italian made cause if they were, they would painted Ferrari Red!

 

If theres a tag on the machine that says "Charles Machine Works", then its a good ol made in USA ditchwitch.

 

Komatsu makes the Ditch Witch mini excavators. DW makes its own XT850 (the backhoe loader machine.)

 

Basically that's what all excavators are. Powered shovels. Some are bigger and some are smaller and each is matched better for certain tasks. I have a 17 HP Kubota. I've never dug a stump of that dimension or tree species so I can't add much in terms of how long it would take but I know the 17 HP will do the job. It will dig a hole 7 feet deep and 16 feet across without any trouble. The break out force is about 1/2 or less than the 7000# machine so you can't break as big a root. I'd like to hear others experiences time wise with a 17 HP machine on a stump that size.