Hey all, I work for an electrical contractor who is interested in buying either a small backhoe or a mini ex so that we can begin to do all of our own dirt work on jobs.For the most part all we will be doing is digging ditches. The deepest we should ever have to dig is 5ft, but usually not more than 3. We will also want to be able to get around inside a pad after plumbers have all their stub ups. I think we are leaning a little more towards the mini ex but there are so many models that its hard to know where to start. Our biggest truck is a 3/4 ton so i know that weight is definitely going to be something to look at. If anyone has any advice i would greatly appreciate it.