Ultra mini excavator

[haF.AST]

Now this is mini!!!

My new baby, a 2006 Komatsu PC09
2070lbs
28"wide
10", 14" buckets
built in breaker
custom thumb in the works
3.08psi ground pressure

Erik
haF.AST DIRTWORKS
www.hafast.com

 

[Cat420]

Welcome to the site.

I'm am very curious as to the uses of a machine this size. I always thought they would make a nice toy for children with wealthy parents, but have a hard imagining a use to justify the expense for a business. I am sure you had a good reason for buying it and I am always looking to learn more, so I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

 

[CT18fireman]

I rented one small like that once to run plumbing below a cement floor in what was becoming and office. Saved the plumber a lot of handwork. We had to run a fan through the space for the exhaust but the low clearance was a huge help. Not sure what the capacity was but it easily lifted the cut slabs we had. The downside was the low loading height. We solved this buy bringing in a dump trailer to load into rather then the one ton which barely fit in anyway.

 

[gordyo]

That's a great little machine. I ran a Cat 304 mini excavator today with a thumb. Pretty neat machine. I got on it to give it some practice before actually using it to do a job and I was all confused cause I am use to Deere controls. Wouldn't you know it, I read in the owners manual that some of these have the option to do both and voila, under the entrance door was a little access panel with a lever and I switched it to the opposite position and the controls ran like my Deere backhoe. :bouncegri

 

[haF.AST]

Why ultra mini

Why would I get something like this???

I hear that from all of the guys with bigger stuff until they try it...work becomes play!

I live in an area where there are a ton of small jobs that take 1-2 hours that most guys turn down. (not me!)

The rental houses here don't have anything that small either.

I get anywhere from $50 to $100 per hour for the pc09, and people gladly pay instead of spending their Saturday off digging in the yard. I work for alot of contractors doing trenches to utilities, drains, etc and I can get in and out much quicker than a bigger machine and tear up less too!

Of course there are the obvious jobs like close quarters, indoors, etc.

Both my excavator and skid steer fit on a 16' trailer behind my GMC 3500 dump...can you say self contained(with 2 buckets, thumb, and skid loader forks too).

It just works for me!

 

[Cat420]

I hope I didn't sound like I was bashing your choice of equipment, it's always interesting for me to hear about why different set ups work in some areas. There are definitely times when I could use a smaller machine, but they do not occur with enough frequency to warrant the purchase of that size machine. If you can put it to work consistently and get $100 an hour, that's great.

 

[haF.AST]

bashing

No problems here, I get that all of the time.

To bad you weren't closer, I'd let you "play"

...it's nice to carry 1 bucket in each hand when I'm loading up!

The bigger guys are busy around here, but I'm training them to let me have the small jobs.

 

[DKinWA]

I've seen small machines like this and a little larger lowered into a building for remodeling and demo work. It was a lot easier and cleaner for the company doing the work and I'm sure they walked away with more money in their pockets.

haF.AST - When the guys start teasing you and saying the bucket is no larger than a shovel, just hand them a shovel and tell them "lets see who gets tired first" :lmao

 

[digger242j]

The only downside to a machine that small is that, if you're going to work it all day long, you need to bring a really big pocketful of quarters! :bouncegri

Seriously though, those really small machines are great to have when the alternative is a shovel. A few years ago, we rented one that was even smaller. You actually swung the seat around and sat behind the machine, as opposed to on it. We hauled it in the bed of a pickup truck, and walked it right up the sidewalk and through the backyard gate. It sure beat doing the job by hand.

Kinda brings a whole new meaning to the concept of finding a "niche" in the market, doesn't it?

 

[Steve Frazier]

We have guys in our area who operate these things exclusively. Like CT18fireman mentioned, they are excellent for digging utility lines, both inside and outside buildings. I don't know if this particular machine is equipped with this, but many machines this size have both house swing and boom swing combined allowing you to dig right along a foundation. And as digger mentioned you can fit them places another machine couldn't go.

On another Board I belong to, a contractor there regularly has a machine like this craned into a back yard with no access, the labor savings offsets the cost of the crane.

 

[haF.AST]

swingin'

Yes, it has both a house and boom swing for doing that neat dig along buildings trick. I'm already starting to line up jobs for spring. Just got a good one putting in 90' of pipe in a mall floor in the next month. Needs to be jackhammered, removed, then dug down about 2'. The plumber said he would never use a shovel again!(good for me)

Got my custom mini thumb finished up last night...its alive!!!
Not bad for $55 and a few hours in the "shop"

 

[Dwan Hall]

One of the guys here just got an electric one. no emitions inside the building. Just plug it into 220V or run it off a 4.5 KW gens set. I have used the small ones several times. Just rent them when needed. Like the man said they handle more then a shovel with out getting tired. and that is great for an old man like me.

Big excavator cost $100,000.00 and makes $150/hr
Little ex. cost $25,000.00 and makes $125.00/hr.
Think of it this way for the same amount of investment you can make 3 times the money.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Those little machine are good for digging utility lines in buildings anything is better than a shovel. A little machine like that would be good for digging fence posts too.

I have seen a few of those little mini excavtors up for auction at Ritchie Bros they usually go for 18,000 dollars CND.

Like I said anything is better than a shovel and mattock when I was digging trenches I found what works good is a Hitachi Brute electric jackhammer with a digging spoon.

 

[itsgottobegreen]

Awww isn't that just the cutiest little mini excavator your ever saw.

Well I just decided what I want now for my next mini ex. Your completely right all my friends have bobcat 331 or 328 mini ex or similar from other companies. I can get one of those anytime I want. No one has one of these. This is a great idea.

If you don't mind me asking what did that run $$$$

Also the built in hammer is making me drool. Got any action shots of that. Thats the whole reason to buy it right there if its any good.

 

[haF.AST]

Integrated hammer

No pics yet but it is some really cool engineering...

The dipper is built as a "U" channel with the hydraulic hammer slid in thru the bottom. The bit is clipped to the side of the boom. After you curl the bucket in all of the way, you release one lever, slide the bit in, close the latch and flip over the high speed pedal to run the hammer. No hoses, pins, lifting, etc...

 

[cat320]

I saw the same type of hammer bucket set up on an ingersoll rand mini backhoe thought why didn't think of it first and patent it . lol

I think that is a great nich to get into you will make good money and not have to deal with the expense of trying to get bigger quipment around .You know that old saying less is more well there it is small is good and will make you money . So what type of trailer do ya have to haul it around?

 

[haF.AST]

Hauler

Just a nice little GMC 3500 with a 16x6.5 Quality trailer. 8000# capacity. Both my New Holland LS 120 and the Komatsu PS 09 fit on it at the same time.

 

[RyanCKing]

What range of depth of trenching are these machines best suited for?

 

[haF.AST]

digging depth

My Komatsu PC-09 will dig 4'11" deep.

 

[RyanCKing]

haF AST,
Is that the max digging depth? Or is that a depth where you can still trench relatively efficiently? I understand this machine is not designed for high production rate but it would add versatility if the machine was able to trench at 3' or so.
Thanks
Ryan