mini exc. hp vs. performance?

[mjm]

Just looking at specs for small excavators and found it suprising that the Bobcat 331 size have a 40 hp motor rating and most of the imports (kubota, taguchi, kobleco, etc...) in that same size range only have about 28 hp? Will this make much difference in performance? The break-out forces are similarly rated. I only have experience with a rented Bobcat 331 and am looking for advice.

[CascadeScaper]

It's all in the pumps. A certain pump on one machine might need less or more HP to run it efficiently than another. Breakout forces and crowd forces are what you need to look at performance wise.

[Tigerotor77W]

And cycle times if you can. Although the "toughness" of the material makes a difference in how good of an indicator cycle times are, you'll want a machine that's as fast as you can control. No use in having a mini-ex that can swing but not boom up at the same time.

Are there any other jobsite conditions that might help us give you a better idea (if you are looking for more advice, I mean)? What you want to do with the machine, where you work, etc...

[nitescapes]

I would strongly urge taking a look at the case line of mini excavators.... We have had one on rent for almost two months and sadly enough it went back yesterday lol....

It was a CX 36 with a swing coupling on it... we rented it mainly to prep some ditches in a new subdivision for sod and to also repair some ones that were damaged..... it worked great for that...

We ended up also doing some utilities work as well as some storm drain repairs and installs while we had it...

It never failed to do what I asked of it... I even used the front blade to grade an entire lot one day while our rubber tracked loader was down for repiars and was impressed as well.....

The =travel speed was ok for working in lots but making long treks across the neighborhood it felt slow some days... the only thing I wiashed it had was a cab and a/c with summer being here.....
we are looking at buying one and it will probably end up being this one or one a size larger just incase we pick up some more work

I also used it to clear the trees off a high end residental lot we worked on last week and it did well with up to 10" trees any bigger and I had to do some digging around the root balls first to get them to go over like I wanted lol

[Dwan Hall]

Another thing to look at is smoothness (operator comfort). Personaly I would not buy one without trying every brand in the size range you need. If you are realy interested most dealers will lone you a demo for a day if there is a chance for a sale. Try them all.

[mjm]

Thanks for the advice. I have a 40 acre cattle farm as a hobby with lots of scrub oak trees (oregon white oak). I would be digging out stumps, moving down falls, ditch clean out, landscape projects, etc... I rented a Bobcat 331 for a week and had a great time with some landscaping projects, stump digging, clearing down falls, etc... I'd have to work pretty hard with the 331 to cut the roots and dig out the stumps, but could do most of the work I needed, just slow. The hydraulic thumb allowed me to do alot of clearing of down falls. I was even able to roll very large 2+ foot diameter rounds onto the blade and traverse to the burn pile. The 331 was a good size to manuver in the trees but it would be nice to have something bigger to dig stumps out quicker (backhoe with a 4 in 1?). Anyway, I'm looking for something reliable to fit my need (not sure what size or type of machine) that isn't too expensive used ($15K-$25K?).
Thanks for the advice
Mike