buying takeuchi which one need opinions?

buying mini ex went to dealer too talk $ today 08 tb135 fully loaded 45k also have a tb138 zero tail swing for 40k 400 hrs now my question is every thread i read say even these small tb016 are strong as hell the work i do is r and r water service,sewer,gas to homes and other small jobs. the debate is have a 1993 f250 gas not sure if it will pull tb135 and trailer without being overweight and who can afford to buy brand new machine and truck old truck paid for. if i can get away with buying new smaller machine to do the same work i only was thinking of tb135 cause i rented one to do water service last fall and loved it. so does anyone think a tb135 is overkill and can do same work with something smaller. any feedback greatly appreciated :usa

newbie1276 said:

buying mini ex went to dealer too talk $ today 08 tb135 fully loaded 45k also have a tb138 zero tail swing for 40k 400 hrs now my question is every thread i read say even these small tb016 are strong as hell the work i do is r and r water service,sewer,gas to homes and other small jobs. the debate is have a 1993 f250 gas not sure if it will pull tb135 and trailer without being overweight and who can afford to buy brand new machine and truck old truck paid for. if i can get away with buying new smaller machine to do the same work i only was thinking of tb135 cause i rented one to do water service last fall and loved it. so does anyone think a tb135 is overkill and can do same work with something smaller. any feedback greatly appreciated :usa

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I would not go any smaller than the 135. Actually if your doing water and sewer a 145 machine would be better. I had a 7000 pound mini ex and traded up to the TB53FR and then to a 153FR. The extra reach is very valuable on sewer lines especially. The side to side boom on the TK excavators is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

If you are replacing sewer lines a 3 tonne machine would be fine because the ground has already been dug and probably got a house already there, therefore a smaller machine would get in better. If you are doing new sewer lines the bigger machine would be better. For gas and water lines any machine will do it provided they fit. Personally I would go for a 3T machine that is no more than 5' (1500mm) wide. It tows easier and fits in more spaces and can do more tight access jobs ( which appears to be what you are after).
Cheers
Bruce

thanks guys it think im gonna look into maybe a 125 size machine most of work in done on lines already in ground with house near by

First thing is to check if your proposed method of transporting the machine is legal. It has to be legal otherwise you are giving your insurance company an out.
A general rule of thumb is that the tow vehicle has to be as heavy as the load it is pulling.
A 3.5t ex plus suitable trailer would be heavier than a F250?
My advice is to buy an ex and trailer that can be pulled with the F250 and once you got the business up and running with steady work, then you could upgrade to a bigger ex and truck to load it onto. Most operators around here use a tip truck and drive the ex into the bin. Some just use a tray truck with build on ramps because they have a lot of attachments, such as 4 or 5 buckets, hammer and auger. However if you just have the standard 3 buckets a tip truck is the go. I have seen a few operators with a boogie drive tipper pulling a plant trailer.
I am not a great fan of trailers as such because a ex on the back of a truck is more maneuverable but it all depends on your individual circumstances, if you are doing a lot of inner city work I would recommend a trailer less set up but if you are more in the burps and rural areas a trailer would be OK.
My set up is a Izuzu dual cab ute with a tray out the back and a luggage/tool rack on the roof. My .5t Kobelco and motorized wheelbarrow fit on the tray nice and I put in a set of helper springs to enable the ute to carry the load better. On the rack I carry my ramps, tray sides, pine handle machines, a couple of jerry's and other bits and pieces including a lockable toolbox for things like angle grinders and drills. This leaves the cabin uncluttered, so I can store all the fn paperwork there. And yes I will post pictures once I have it completley complete, still got a couple of things to finish off.

I bought a "Brand New" TB135 last year with a 12 and 24" bucket along with a hydraulic thumb for $32,500.00 I bought it through Hertz equipment rental.
I love the machine and wouldn't buy smaller. We pull it on a Landoll LT1420 tilt trailer with a Chevrolet 2500HD with no problem. Just make sure the trailer is carrying the weight and you won't have any trouble.
Herb

croweater said:

If you are replacing sewer lines a 3 tonne machine would be fine because the ground has already been dug and probably got a house already there, therefore a smaller machine would get in better. If you are doing new sewer lines the bigger machine would be better. For gas and water lines any machine will do it provided they fit. Personally I would go for a 3T machine that is no more than 5' (1500mm) wide. It tows easier and fits in more spaces and can do more tight access jobs ( which appears to be what you are after).
Cheers
Bruce

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The issue is not having enough power to dig through the soil, but rather enough reach to get to the main sewer line. When we replace the sewer line it is usually from the house which may start at the bottom of the basement footing (usually 8'). It then moves to the sewer main which is anywhere down to 16' which is the max here. Sometimes you get lucky and they have a pump in the basement and the line is somewhere between 3-8 from the surface and then down to the main. It may be different elsewhere, but here the more stick you have the better. Even with 13' of dig depth on my TK, I have had to dig the machine down to reach at times.

Interesting??? Here in Adelaide you rarely find a main sewer connection deeper than 7'-8'. There is no F250 in the world that will tow a machine that will dig to 16', so newbie is going to have to decide which part of his business he wants to specialize in and hire a machine to do the other part.

Croweater

you have to consider where this guy lives,,, Idaho, where at minus 40 degrees cellsius they think about swimming outside.. Where I am the frost line is four feet down. I'm not sure in Idaho, but has to be a lot deeper than where I live...

croweater said:

Interesting??? Here in Adelaide you rarely find a main sewer connection deeper than 7'-8'. There is no F250 in the world that will tow a machine that will dig to 16', so newbie is going to have to decide which part of his business he wants to specialize in and hire a machine to do the other part.

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Take 145 with a Extenda boom

http://www.pwce.com/Blank.htm

http://www.pwce.com/objects/Extpaw1.JPG

Surely an extender arm would mean that you lose the auxilary hydraulics for any attachment as they are used to run the arm e.g you couldn't run a hydraulic thumb or breaker without either putting diverter valves on the arm to switch flows or re-plumbing extra auxilary lines if that was physically possible on the size of mini in question.