How big of a role is your mini x?

[stuvecorp]

This fall I sold off our snow plowing part of the business and have been working on different ideas or ways to retool. One was to get a mini x, in the past have rented a machine when we needed it but didn't have enough work to buy one. Those that have a mini, is it something you use daily or once a week? Which attachments make it more valuable? How did you grow that part of your business?

I am looking to evolve more to the excavating side but do hardscaping, lawns, some boulderscaping and site work. Thinking on about a 10,000 pound machine that would complement a 440 skid but still be able to pull behind a 550 sized truck.

[CascadeScaper]

My dad, who started out doing landscaping, now does a large number of retaining walls. He started in business in '03 with a new Cat 216 skid steer that he still has. We added a Cat 303CR in the spring of '05, he was skeptical of spending a large sum of money adding another machine, but at this point it's been a good decision. He uses it pretty much daily. He works on a lot of larger projects these days, he had one that lasted for 6 weeks last season. Even if the mini only got used for an hour or two that day, it's totally worth it. Renting would be such a PITA on those projects. If I was still working for dad, I would definately be doing side jobs doing more excavation type work. I've done footing and utility work with the 303 in the past, I suppose my dad could do that stuff now he just doesn't want to move the machine around that much anymore, it usually stays on one site until the job is finished.

[KSSS]

This fall I sold off our snow plowing part of the business and have been working on different ideas or ways to retool. One was to get a mini x, in the past have rented a machine when we needed it but didn't have enough work to buy one. Those that have a mini, is it something you use daily or once a week? Which attachments make it more valuable? How did you grow that part of your business?

I am looking to evolve more to the excavating side but do hardscaping, lawns, some boulderscaping and site work. Thinking on about a 10,000 pound machine that would complement a 440 skid but still be able to pull behind a 550 sized truck.


A mini ex is very important to my operation. I have a TK TB153FR that machine weighs 12,500. It is an impressive machine. We do rock wall work, demo and everything you would do with a 580 sized backhoe. Very powerful (check the specs) and the side to side boom swing is the ticket. I am set up much like you are and the TK although heavy is matched well with a 5500 sized truck. I pull a 440 and the TK on one HD gooseneck (24K gvw).

[minimax]

My mini is my go to machine, about a 1000hrs a year on it alone.

minimax

[ff1221]

I do landscape construction, and have spent years working with rentals. I found it was to expensive to have a rental sitting on site constantly, so most of the time we used shovels, or compact tractors where they could access. I bought a Kubota KX41-2 last month, because it was a good deal, and when i figured out my labour on excavations it wasn't hard to justify the purchase. The first thing I did was build a hydraulic thumb for it so i can use it for something as simple as moving rocks around, the more I make it do the more valuable it is. The down side is I can use it until spring, unless i'm going to stack snow.:laugh

[Canadian_digger]

If your going to get one get it with a hydraulic thumb they are worth every penny.

[stuvecorp]

Thanks guys. I have run Kobelco, Yanmar, and Cat but most of the time Kobelco is my first choice - better dealer. The TKs are a nice machine and spec out well, looked at them (and the Yanmar) real close at the Minnesota Green Expo and it was well built and I couldn't find anything to pick apart. The bad thing is dealer support, the closest dealer will give you a good price but for the most part their service is non existent. I thought to start out with to find a 3-4 year old machine that had the thumb, aux hyd and quick coupler on it rather than spend to much and have the machine sit in the yard.

Over in the twin cities they have alot of machines set up with hyd grapples for boulderscaping, anyone use a setup like that? I think Totem(?) is the brand? What other attachments do you all use?

[mikef87]

I do landscape construction, and have spent years working with rentals. I found it was to expensive to have a rental sitting on site constantly, so most of the time we used shovels, or compact tractors where they could access. I bought a Kubota KX41-2 last month, because it was a good deal, and when i figured out my labour on excavations it wasn't hard to justify the purchase. The first thing I did was build a hydraulic thumb for it so i can use it for something as simple as moving rocks around, the more I make it do the more valuable it is. The down side is I can use it until spring, unless i'm going to stack snow.:laugh

I feel a mini is almost useless without the thumb. It makes life so much nicer and it's only about $600 more. I have a Cat 302.5, Volvo EW 55B ( wheeled mini) and a Komatsu PC95.

[Squizzy246B]

Our mini does 1000 hrs a year and we couldn't be without it:

http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=1457&page=13

[bobcat ron]

It was one of those machines that we hated renting from the local Bobcat dealer (Bobcat hoes SUCK!) and they never had the size we needed with a 60" wide U/C so the old man pulled the trigger and cashed out his stocks and bought a new '06 EX27 with a thumb, I hated it it, one more piece of junk to haul around, but man what a work saver, now we are mounting a large jack hammer to it and it will do the demo work I can't do with my Cat MTL.

[JDMGrading]

I owned a Deere 50D with the long stick for a little over a year and never had not one problem out of it. It was the best machine I've ever owned. Very easy to operate, Extremely fast, and very smooth.

I would still own it today if i did'nt need such a bigger machine.

[stuvecorp]

I suppose once it's in the yard it will be used much more. Around here hardly anyone has one. One of my competitors acouple years ago had a mid sized cat and he sold it, said he never found work for it but I find that hard to believe. When we built our shop we dug our septic, power and water with a 45 Kobelco and worked very well, even dug all the inner plumbing with it. I have talked to some local plumbing guys but they still dig inside by hand.

[Coastal]

I have 1 CTL and 4 minis from a K008 to a PC75....I love my minis. :D If I could find more operators...they would all be out every day.

[WVBartMan]

Our mini is a PC75R-2 and we love it. We have had no problems with it and it seems to be the perfect size and we love the backhoe style boom swing. Like most on here, we put around 1,000 hours on it a year and would use it more if we didn't have so much additional larger iron sitting around.

[ASPHALT04]

This fall I sold off our snow plowing part of the business and have been working on different ideas or ways to retool. One was to get a mini x, in the past have rented a machine when we needed it but didn't have enough work to buy one. Those that have a mini, is it something you use daily or once a week? Which attachments make it more valuable? How did you grow that part of your business?

I am looking to evolve more to the excavating side but do hardscaping, lawns, some boulderscaping and site work. Thinking on about a 10,000 pound machine that would complement a 440 skid but still be able to pull behind a 550 sized truck.

I am kind of in the same boat as you. I rented one alot last summer and just the time of having to go get it and bring it back plus the size I needed was not always available is kind of a pain in the a**. I know that if I had one I could use it alot more than what I did.
I have been checking into leasing one for the summer to see if I can make one work out for me. The lease option for me might cost a bit more in the long run but at this time I do not have the up front capital or the credit to buy the machine outright. (Had to buy another dump truck)
If I locked in for lease for 6mos they would apply 85% of rent money paid toward the purchase if I decided to do so in fall. I'm still kicking it around and not 100% certain of brand (kind of leaning toward a kx161 kabota).:beatsme

[bjosephdavis]

OK, I have a Kubota KX101 Mini-Excavator but have no idea if I have a hydraulic thumb or not. Obviously I am a newby to the heavy equipment arena but am curious if someone can tell me (or provide a link that explains) what a hydraulic thumb is? I have poor hydraulic power compared with other testimonials about mini's power and am curious if I am lacking a thumb...

[Countryboy]

OK, I have a Kubota KX101 Mini-Excavator but have no idea if I have a hydraulic thumb or not. Obviously I am a newby to the heavy equipment arena but am curious if someone can tell me (or provide a link that explains) what a hydraulic thumb is?

The attachment tucked against the stick is the thumb. The white cylinder is used to operate it. The thumb is used to clamp things against the bucket.

14801

I have poor hydraulic power compared with other testimonials about mini's power and am curious if I am lacking a thumb...

Adding a thumb will add extra weight which might lead to a noticable amount of decreased hydraulic power, but the lack of a thumb will not cause a decrease. I don't think the thumb, or lack of, is your problem. :)

[stuvecorp]

Well I ended up supersizing a bit, ended up with a 135 Kobelco. I just didn't think after talking with people here the mini would stay busy. My hope is the bigger machine will breed work down the road for a mini. So far I have lined up some digging so I fell a little better on the decision.

[jmac]

I sold the mini, a bobcat 331 and use a hitachi ex60 (about 16,000) for all the small stuff. Use a PC150 for the bigger stuff. I rented a 331 once last year and could of used the ex60 but it has steel tracks and putting plywood down was a pain. I found that the mid size is the way to go, even when I have to work off of pavement I use plywood. The ex60 can do so much more than the 331. The 331 was to small for me, but if I need a small machine the rental on one is cheap, but the rental on the neext size up is quite a bit more so I kept the larger and sold the smaller. It would depend on what you are doing with it, my 331 sat once I had the ex60. You will need a bigger truck and trailer but I had this already. JMO

[DunlapsLawnCare]

we where looking to get one to do light excavating along with are landscaping.

[raydz]

just got a tacheuci tbo35 mini...love it

[badranman]

I built my business with minis. I was so busy the first year I bought a second the year after. They are busier than the skidsteers we have although they are paired up quite frequently. Like was mentioned before, hydraulic thumbs and boom swing make these a versatile machine. We do garage slab preps for a local lumber yard that sells garage packages. We also install sign bases for several sign companies. Several landscape companies and carpenters use us when they need a machine as well. Add to this the residential customers and we're are kept busy. But saying this, it depends on your area etc. too.

[stuvecorp]

I was going through some of the older threads and came across this, I ended up trading in the Kobelco 135 for a Tak 153 last month. Just never broke in to the big dig market and can put the mini on jobs instead of renting a small one now. Had to learn the hard way I guess.

[strott]

Yeah you gotta put your toe in the water as every area is different - at least you know now.

[RTSmith]

You know, there are echos here of what a Cat salesperson told me a couple of years ago- "A lot of our folks are buying a mini-ex and a skid steer rather than 1 backhoe. Oftentimes, add the second operator and double the job speed. "