Excavators

[cat320]

This last weekend i had to dig a pond for a customer and i rented a mini excavator because my backhoe could not fit into his yard.I gotta tell you that it made me want to go get one what a great digging machine.very easy to use and the ability to put the spoil on the other side of it was great.then the dozer blade to grade the yard out.Has any one out there own a small one and what kind is it?

 

[Scag48]

Don't own one but Bobcats are the best. John Deere and Cat makes them too. Great machines. If you buy, make sure you get one with auxilary hydraulics. Having it plumbed when you buy helps you out in the long run. You never know when you need and auger, breaker, etc.. I would also get a hyd. thumb.

 

[paul]

We own two, a Kubota, and a Tachuchi.
Kubota good lifting and digging power but slow on the spin and boom cycles. Tach, less lifting power but much faster digging. We use them for planting trees, trenching, stone setting and in rivers.
have a picture of one working on our web site.
http://members.aol.com/palnelson

 

[steveair]

hello,

Team up a mini-excavator with a skidsteer and you have a combination that will put any tractor with loader/backhoe to shame.

Also, the 'thumb' attachment (claw on bucket) on the mini-excavator will make clean up jobs like pulling old concrete walks up, moving rocks, etc. go faster than you ever thought they could go.

A single axle dump, with a 10 ton trailer to pull a mini excavator and a skidteer at once is a great set up.

steveair

 

[Guido]

Like SteveAir mentioned, Bobcat markets their setup as a loader and an excavator together = "the Bobcat advantage" We have a bobcat mini and several bobcat loaders that we use almost more than our backhoe loaders now. The bobcat mini excavator is very strong an has awesome weight distribution. We've had it in some real odd positions!! We bought the big dumper attatchment for the bobcat loader so we can dig with the mini excavator and load the bobcat when you don't want to ruin all the turf or whatever else you happen to be working in. Some people complain that the hydraulics on the mini excavator are to fast and jerky, but Fast is my operating style so I love it. Its a great machine!!

As a matter of fact, we've been working on about a 200 foot long road and sidewalk project this month, and we used the mini excavator to dig all the drains, sidewalks, utility cuts, etc. Nice and small so it didn't block up the jobsite much at all. I'll have some pic's on my site very soon from that job and I believe theres a bunch of the mini on there. Hope this helps!!


Scag 48 - Wow, I've been gone for a month and before I left you were asking how to stripe lawns and complaining about trimming customers yards more than twice a month and now your giving advice on excavators! You must have learned a lot!!

 

[little green guy]

yippy, Giudo's back, we missed you

 

[paul]

Scag, John Deere doesn't make them anymore!

 

[Scag48]

Guido-I knew about excavators and stuff long before I started lawn mowing. I actually wanted to start an excavating business. I wanted a double axle dump, 15 ton Trail King and a Deere 120. Great machines them 120s.I've run a Deere 200LC with a hyd. thumb. Gotta love them Deeres!

Paul-Check the JD site. They started making minis this year. to tell ya but this time you're wrong. Three models, 27ZTS, 35ZTS, and 50ZTS.

 

[paul]

Sorry havn't seen new site, just had looked at 1999 site. Older Deeres where much better, new ones not as good, just don't hold up like the old ones did. Like Cat 320 and 312, now for the Minis New Holland is makeing them plus their are a few more on the market now. they can all do a lot, check out Bobcats # on it now great deals going on equipment plus low apr.

 

[Scag48]

Sorry about that. They actually started making the JD minis last year I believe. I'm pretty sure they did. I like skid steers and stuff but I really like those mini skids. Man I want one of those. I figured when I started looking at them that they would be about $5000. Boy was I wrong! They want $15,000 for Toro's smallest Dingo!