Who has what?

[BKrois]

I was just running a Kobelco 45 (around 10k lbs) today moving some brush and large tree stumps around. My friend was clearing an area and we also had a komatsu pc200, but for pushing stumps into the stump pile and moving around the wet dirt, the mini was perfect. I figured i'd ask who here has one. I've run a Komatsu PC40 and this Kobelco today (basically the same machine as the komatsu). I think the thumb is the best overall attachment for moving and grabbing things. I like the swing boom on the machines and the heated cabs.

Who has a mini excavator? what attachments do you have? What do you like your machine best for? What are the best features on your machine.

[nobull1]

I have a daewoo 3.5 ton excavator,steel tracks,heated cab and thumb.I installed the thumb last fall and would not be without it now makes the work go a lot faster mainly when placing rocks or moving brush,trees.The other thing is the steel tracks they are a lot more durable than the rubber and have not caused me problems on the jobs I have done.I have cleared about 3 acres of land for pasture by mostly using the blade, and just using the bucket for stumps and big rocks.

[cat304]

nobody

[PipeGuy]

JD 50D here. I agree the thumb is handy brush and stumps and such for for utility excavation it is a pain in the #SS!! I also have a breaker, and hyd plate compactor for the mine along with a 24" tooth bucket and a 36" ditch bucket. I love my machine. I have a full cab w/ heat and a/c.

[95zIV]

nobody


Nobody What?:beatsme

Nobody cares? not likely after all you dug this thread up.
Nobody has any minis, if you think that's the answer you haven't really looked around this site much.
Nobody likes someone who comes on here, digs up a thread that's been sitting idle for more then 4 years and then doesn't do a quote or state a reason for his post, just one word.
I don't know if you're sullen, don't like the thread, don't like young mr. Krois, but please if you're going to post on here at least give a decent reply.

Ray

[semipro]

New owner/operator here--These machines are incredible! I,ve had it 6 weeks and have 185 hrs on it-my own little logging/clearing/retaining walls/600' driveways--blahblah--PROJECT. I got 2 of these M 105-A's for $600. I just cruise around the 3.25 acre site and clearout brush/windfall/slash and load trailer--all w/out unhooking. Most times I unload by just pushing it all out--by jacknifing and sideshifting, the buchet teeth almost reach the end of down tailgate. When I see guys doing this stuff with loader/backhoe's [usually w/out thumb]--I just smile and shake my head. [Whew--2 mo ago I came just that close to buying a Kubota B-21]

[semipro]

When I saw those two saws on ground--YIKES! I set my brand new 441 on the remains of a completely rotted 6' across stump and was doing some stuff and changed position. When I backed up to straighten out I watched saw rise up out of golden brown sponge--directly under/in front of 16" track!! I jumped off and was just kneeling down and cradleing it like it was my dog that got ran over--for about 5 min. Unbelievably--no damage except broken comp relief valve and disjointed anti vibe handle/base part! A couple weeks later I was pushing over some 12-16" x 130' DF and hemlocks and rared up with the blade to get more height. Saw bounced out and after 1/2 hr of frantic searching for it, found it underneath and perfectly parralel to track. This time it was on firm ground and if I had not glaced back after pushing tree over and seen it gone--and stopped--it would be DOA fer sure. Bungys now in use!

[BIGDAN315]

Komatsu PC 40-7 here with steel tracks, hyd thumb that I fabricated, 24 inch and a 36 inch bucket. I use it on most jobs I do and would rather run it then my 580 backhoe.

[cat304]

sorry i was new to this and really had no idea what where or how i was doing i am from seattle area (long outskirts of town) but i am no bill gates when it comes to this computer. just was looking for a few suggestions to my tractor problem.

[Flexin]

I have a Bobcat 430. It has the long arm with thumb and i had them put on a 24" bucket rather then the 20".

James

[jkiser96]

I have a 430 as well with the standard arm, 12"-16"-24"-36" buckets as well as making a 4' bushhog to mow ditches with.

[Flexin]

I have a 430 as well with the standard arm, 12"-16"-24"-36" buckets as well as making a 4' bushhog to mow ditches with.

How long have you had yours and are you happy with it?

James

[Flexin]

Here she is.

James

[Flexin]

The day I picked it up at the dealer.

James

[HeyUvaVT]

tak TB175 here love it!

pics here http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=6555

[KSSS]

TK TB153FR. I am happy with the machine. TK builds a good excavator.

[jkiser96]

How long have you had yours and are you happy with it?

James

I have had mine for a year & am very happy with it. I would like to have a longer reach but with the mower on I do not want too much hanging out there.

[Canadian_digger]

We have a Bobcat 334 and I think its a great machine it just turned 1500hrs pins and bushings are still really tight and we have not put a penny into it. It has hyd thumb, 24" and 12" buckets. Cab with A/C. I also love the quick attach its super fast. I have nothing but good things to say about it.

[woodchuck2]

I bought my Sumitomo used with almost 6k hours, around 8k lbs and not a leak anywhere. The main boom knuckles which works great for ditches and foundations. I just put on a manual thumb, man is that alot handier but it will be hydrolic down the road. Its not the most powerful machine but it is bought and paid for. I ran a buddies new Kubota and that is twice the machine, that will be my next manufaturer of choice when mine decides to die.

[upnover]

Well after 3 years of looking and thinking about it I finally bought a mini. A used Yanmar VIO35-5. Only has 155 hours on it, 2 buckets and a thumb, cab heat , A/C. I cant wait to use it. Got my first job lined up for Saturday.

Hears my question. The machine came with a 24" dig and 30 " clean up. I would like to get a 12" dig for doing water, power and sewer lines. Is this too small? I'm thinking move less dirt faster, rocks wont be as much of a problem, more digging ease. Or will the smaller trench cause a problem for laying the pipes and lines.

Thanks

[KSSS]

Typically a 12" bucket is too small. They are slow to dig with especially in wet material (material sticks in the small bucket). They have value when digging in hard rock and frost, I sometimes use them in difficult concrete removal jobs. The size of the trench is too small for sewer, you don't have room to lay the pipe. It can work for water if your laying poly pipe and don't need to be in the trench. However if your stepping the trench it will take forever with a 12" bucket. I typically use a 24" bucket for most everything, I also have a 30" which is nice for sewer, gives you lots a room. A 12" is a valuable bucket for somethings but I don't use it for normal digging conditions or jobs. It can work fine for power, phone, cable, but I usually dig this with the 2' cause thats what I usually have with me. If I need to keep the trench small due to cutting across a lawn or maybe through the street for the power trench, I will use the smaller bucket.

[Squizzy246B]

Well after 3 years of looking and thinking about it I finally bought a mini. A used Yanmar VIO35-5. Only has 155 hours on it, 2 buckets and a thumb, cab heat , A/C. I cant wait to use it. Got my first job lined up for Saturday.

Hears my question. The machine came with a 24" dig and 30 " clean up. I would like to get a 12" dig for doing water, power and sewer lines. Is this too small? I'm thinking move less dirt faster, rocks wont be as much of a problem, more digging ease. Or will the smaller trench cause a problem for laying the pipes and lines.

Thanks

Try this thread:

http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=6917

[redlaker1]

my tak 135 on my garage project. I have big pile of dirt because I am saving up for a dump trailer, so I have to wait to haul out the clay that I dug out for the garage foundation

[BCB]

Another Bobcat 430 here. We have a 12,18,24" buckets, breaker and a Hyd. thumb. its been a great machine since we got the bugs worked out. Its a great fast machine but me being 6'4" and 230 i'm just too big for the cab, i can move the sticks all the way in towards me cause they hit my legs. so dad normally runs it and he fits just right. (5'11")

[Red Bank]

The company I work for has the following: Hitachi EX35u, Hitachi ZX35u, John Deere 35D, Cat 303.5cr, Komatsu PC78mr, we have 24" buckets on all, we work in sewer. One team has been wanting an 18" bucket for a water service project they are on, but we can't justify buying the bucket. Because we dig a lot in streets, the buckets wear out faster than normal and I have spec'ed new ones from USA Attachments with AR400 wear strips and they have lasted longer than the buckets that came on the mini's. Another neat trick, we wear the blade edges down working in the streets and I fixed the blades to where I could bolt up a 6' box scrape blade. Wear one edge down, flip it over, wear it down. Edge costs $59, lasts 6 months to a year. On the PC78 we have a tamp and a 36" bucket, all on quick coupler. We had some issues with the Cat 303 cracking the hyd cooler but Cat worked with us even though it was out of warranty, the Hitachis have been great machines and the Deere is basically a Hitachi painted yellow!

[upnover]

I spoke with the dealer rep today and he says to stay with the 24" for now. Also he said to always buy wide mouth buckets if going smaller because the dirt/mud wont jamb inside. I guess I have a lot to learn about this sport! I'll post some pics of the 35 when I get it home.

[junkman-ca]

My son (16) and I just bought a Hitachi 50 urg.He has had his own wheel tractor with front end loader for 2 years but wanted somthing larger and better suited to digging and lifting and placing rocks at our summer cabin.
We went to an auction just to look and get a idea of prices , makes and to learn a bit. Long storey short . we came home with a 50.Although I have been around heavy engines and equipment for 30 years working as a marine engineer ,the learning curve on excavators was very steep.
Got someone to haul it home for us and after I finished servicing it I loaded it on our heavy flatdeck trailer. Any reference I could find to weight of machine said 10,500 to 11,500 . in reality it was 12,500 and I was really overweight on trailer . Have to add another axle to trailer now.

[nkh111]

I have ran cat 308"s, takeuchi 145's and 175's and kubota 161-3's and I have to say that the kubota's where the best machines. I was very surprised but they were very well built and powerful for their size

[Colorado Digger]

bobcat 435 is what we run up here. we have one pushing 5000 hrs and all we've done is replaced the tracks and welded on the boom a little bit. last year bobcat was having a screaming special so we picked up another one. Both machines have 24" digging buckets and 36" loading buckets. They split a 12" hd. as it does not get used much. We also have a head shaker and a 980 hammer. I think the only other machine of this size that has a turbo is the deere 50. Most all of our work is over 6000' so production goes way down without the turbo and a clean air filter. it's friday so time to :drinkup:drinkup

anyway our fleet has more than 6 bobcats mini, 435's and s300's and they are awesome.

[JDMGrading]

The Deere 50 does'nt have a turbo. Just a Natural Aspirated Yanmar 4TNV88 Diesel.

Unless they changed for 2009.

[mikef87]

I have a Cat 302.5, Komatsu PC50 and a Volvo EW55B wheeled mini. I love the wheeled mini because it's great for running around doing the water services.

[ctkiteboarding]

case cx36b with almost 400hrs and no issues :drinkup ,,, wish it had more fuel capacity:( but thats about it:usa ,,,,heres a pic right when we got it

[Canadian_digger]

MikeF Do you have a pic of your wheeled Volvo I would like to see it.

[Country]

I have a Bobcat 331D. It's an "02 with 2200 hours on her. Has a Bobcat thumb with 12" and 18" C&P quick buckets. I also made a log splitter attachment for it. It can be used to split with the machine or hand fed.
The 331 is a nice little machine and comes in very handy.

[Crete Buster]

Greetings Gang , I'm a newbie bear with me. I have a Bobcat 435zhs with Bobcat thumb and hammer as well as 2 JCB Micros with mechanical thumbs and hammers.The tiny 28" wide, machines save a lot of labor in small spaces. One is diesel the other is 480 3 phase

[joe6794]

we have a bc322 and a tc5 backhoe

[CATmandew]

I am very interested in purchasing either a Cat 305c or a Bobcat 435.....what do you all think?

[CATmandew]

Another question I have...... can you guys give me an idea on fuel consumption for either machine....

Cat 305
Bobcat 435

[Yukon Digger]

First time member. Hi all.

We got a brand new Kubota KX121-3. Got steel tracks, thumb, angle blade and float. Also an extra 30" ditching bucket. Used it for mining trenching and road building up here. A real dream machine. My only wish is that it wasn't -38C outside. I'll post some picks when I figure out how.

BTW Great site. Thanks for all the tips I've read so far. A great bunch.

[Yukon Digger]

I hope these pics attach ok.

This is from this summer on trenching jobs in the Yukon down Tagish Lake and up in Keno City. I was very nervous for the 10hr barge ride down the lake but all went well. The barge hauled a brand new D3 Cat dozer so I felt ok with my little hoe on it. The truck and trailer fell into my lap from a retired mechanic down the street after I bought it in Jan 08. I was going for the brand new Dodge/Chev/Ford thing but I can fix the old 1985 F350 with a 460 engine myself and parts are still cheap. And it just feels great to drive. A bit underpowered for the load but I do longer term remote jobs rather than hopping around town so who cares if it takes a few extra hours to get where I have to go.
Oh yeah a bucket full of high grade silver-lead ore sure weighs more than dirt.

[Country]

Great pics!
What kind of job are you doing in the 2nd to last one with the hose?

[Yukon Digger]

Thanks Country.

We were trenching some gold veins so we dug down to bedrock trying to cut across the vein system and then wash the bedrock down for detailed mapping and sampling. There was water at about 8' down so we just used that and pumped down to a sump in the foreground. We also cut roads for hauling a small diamond drill (800' deep) around and made the drill pads. A great job. Hope the markets get better so its a go next sumer.

The pics are from about 59.557,-134.253 on Google Earth. We barged down from Tagish if you Google Earth that too.

[Country]

Man, that's some interesting work you do. Sounds fun too.
Thanks for the explanation.

[john1066]

We have a cat 304.5 and 301.6 both have their purpose the 304 is a 2002 and has 4000 hours on it with no problems it was the first one at milton cat and when we demoed it we wouldn't give it back

[strott]

I have a Kubota K008-3 complete with semi hitch and hydraulic breaker and Kubota KX41-3 complete with manual quick hitch.

[KSSS]

Here is picture of mine.

[tyrkflyer]

I have just bought a Komatsu PC75 with thumb, 14" and 28" buckets, plus I have a 550 Deere dozer....I'm a farmer. Great site!

[Bobcat s330]

My 2 mini excavators Cat 305 ccr and bobcat 334

[coopers]

For some reason I like that cat but I'm not too much of a cat guy.

[Bobcat s330]

For some reason I like that cat but I'm not too much of a cat guy.

I did not like the previous cr models, but they did a real nice job with the new ccr models.. Its a very nice machine