• Thank you for visiting HeavyEquipmentForums.com! Our objective is to provide industry professionals a place to gather to exchange questions, answers and ideas. We welcome you to register using the "Register" icon at the top of the page. We'd appreciate any help you can offer in spreading the word of our new site. The more members that join, the bigger resource for all to enjoy. Thank you!

some link belt action

DGODGR

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
1,062
Location
S/W CO
The bucket, on the 435 in the photo above, does not look like OEM. Did you modify the Bobcat bucket or is that another MFR?
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
buckets

:usa:usayeah that is a bobcat bucket. i take them from the dealer directly to the welder. i prefer to beef them up when they are brand new. all of my buckets for the minis get hammered so i do what i can to increase their life. i use leftover cutting edge. they always seem to be heavy but i dont care, as long as they last
there is an outfit from durango hauling up here. tried to tell hom to use his tarp on the cb but don't think he heard or maybe did not care.
regards, cd:usa
ps. that 435 has 6000 hours on it. working at 9000 feet. installed a swing brake last year... that's it for majors on that piece. i can't believe the troubles some have with equipment and the luck others have. we are good at taking care of them though
 
Last edited:

dirty4fun

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
1,188
Location
N. IL
More great pictures of your work and the countryside, CD. Good to hear the work around there has picked up, some.
 

DGODGR

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
1,062
Location
S/W CO
I'd be interested to know who it is. Maybe you could get the name. I'll call him and harrass, if I know him.
I hope I'll get to 6k but I doubt it.
I started getting the severe duty buckets as the standard duty are just not up to snuff. I generally like to error on the side of caution when it comes to GET. The Bobcat salesman said to get the lighter duty buckets because the zero tail would be too tippy with the severe duty buckets. I have the optional counter weight (inside the back door) and the machine does fine, even with a 36" severe duty bucket. It IS tippy but you just have to overcome that with good operating technique.
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
435 buckets and beefing up

DGODGR-i agree the normal buckets from bobcat seem to be pretty wimpy. our 36" s all have cutting edges on them and have all been beefed up. you are right, it is basic operating procedure being able to sense the load and get it in the truck. the 24" s are pretty heavy and have all been fixed a few times.
i am killing tires on my tandem coming down off the ski hill when i am not loaded. my truck is so stiff that it is impossible to come down the hill smooth, i guess i will start having to haul some sort of material down the hill even if i dump it at the bottom. we have to walk the 225 up there to dig 150 lf of sewer. if it was a short run i would dig it with the mini but being so rocky and 8-10' deep:eek: i will use the 225.
i could use another mini at the moment but will not cough up 60k for an e50. i need one, but what the hell. they are so damn expensive. i know everyone loves them. a buddy told me the e50 will not lift a walk behind so he bought the cat305. i don't know if the coupler set up has changed on the cat. it was pretty funky, when you pulled the pin the thumb came loose as well. i would like to look at some other mini hoes this year but will not be buying. i do have a beat up 307 that is looking to go back into service. it is our yard b... at the moment. my big stuff has not really been working.
regards, cd
:usa:usa
those guys in G.J are monster welding, epic ironworks
 

DGODGR

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
1,062
Location
S/W CO
The E50 can't lift the trench roller?! My 435 can lift my RT. I even use it to load/unload the RT from the equipment trailer. It weighs 2,990#. I have to remove the bucket, attach the chain to the thumb torque tube, and only lift over the blade end of the machine but it does get it done. There is a guy, on this forum (TomG I think), who claims his E50 can lift 10,000# (even posted a picture of his lift chart when I called him on it). Something just doesn't compute here.
I have a buddy who recently bought a 305. He paid about $10,000 less than I did for my 435. I bought the 435 back in '06 and I demoed a 305 too. Part of the reason I went with the Bobcat was because it was $10,000 cheaper than the Cat (based on the quotes I got at that time). When I heard what my buddy paid I couldn't believe it. There must be some huge mark up on equipment. My 435 in '06 (with 2 std duty buckets, fast track, thumb, hydraulic x-change, cab and A/C) was $54,000. The quote for the 305 (similarly equipped) was $64,000. The price of the 305 (again, similarly equipped), bought three months ago, was $43,000! That's $19,000 less than what I was quoted back in '06! WTF!!
The severe duty buckets are holding up well so you may want to look into them when you are shopping for buckets. They may be cheaper, in the long run, if you are not paying for modification/ repairs or having to deal with broken bucket down time.
Any more Durango truck sightings? I'm still curious as to who it might be.
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
bobcat hoes

i just lost my long winded reply so here is the summary. an e50 will not lift 10,000 pounds. don't care what chart you have. one time i hoisted 435 with my 225 into a deep foundation. did not roll or do any damage but thank god i had a long warranty on the hoe. they replaced the pump a year or so later. never knew if that's what did it or not:rolleyes the 435 will get the rt off my gooseneck but not my pickup. the s300 and 250 both can handle it.. does'nt really matter much beacuse the friggin rt is always broken anyway:Banghead i do like using a head shaker on the 435's. but the guys get lazy not wanting to takr it on and off. the hydraulic coupler might make that better, but it sounds like it breaks alot as well:confused: any way you slice it, it is excavation and it is colorado and everything is difficult. we break a ton of stuff, not from abuse just because it breaks. i would love another mini hoe but don't want to spend.
the severe duty buckets may be worth looking at, we run 12" 24" and 36" and the packer. gave up on running the breaker because or broken booms. we just use it on the skiddies. i can't live without demo tires and the skid steers either:D and prefer to have a/c and tunes:tong. oh and my rock hound came apart 100% and i am wanting a harley rake now. seeing the fotos of tom g made me want one:notworthy.
apart from other brands on minis?? i would like to try another cat,kubota,tak. i duunno i may need to see who will bring me a demo;);)
i am way busy at the moment, the guys are doing 65 hours a week but also know it won't last
regards, cd:usa:

oh yeah, and a little river surfing. not me but i thought others would enjoy
 

Attachments

  • IMG00653-20110612-1057.jpg
    IMG00653-20110612-1057.jpg
    95 KB · Views: 536
Last edited:

TomG

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 31, 2010
Messages
237
Location
New Hampshire
i just lost my long winded reply so here is the summary. an e50 will not lift 10,000 pounds. don't care what chart you have. one time i hoisted 435 with my 225 into a deep foundation. did not roll or do any damage but thank god i had a long warranty on the hoe. they replaced the pump a year or so later. never knew if that's what did it or not:rolleyes the 435 will get the rt off my gooseneck but not my pickup. the s300 and 250 both can handle it.. does'nt really matter much beacuse the friggin rt is always broken anyway:Banghead i do like using a head shaker on the 435's. but the guys get lazy not wanting to takr it on and off. the hydraulic coupler might make that better, but it sounds like it breaks alot as well:confused: any way you slice it, it is excavation and it is colorado and everything is difficult. we break a ton of stuff, not from abuse just because it breaks. i would love another mini hoe but don't want to spend.
the severe duty buckets may be worth looking at, we run 12" 24" and 36" and the packer. gave up on running the breaker because or broken booms. we just use it on the skiddies. i can't live without demo tires and the skid steers either:D and prefer to have a/c and tunes:tong. oh and my rock hound came apart 100% and i am wanting a harley rake now. seeing the fotos of tom g made me want one:notworthy.
apart from other brands on minis?? i would like to try another cat,kubota,tak. i duunno i may need to see who will bring me a demo;);)
i am way busy at the moment, the guys are doing 65 hours a week but also know it won't last
regards, cd:usa:

oh yeah, and a little river surfing. not me but i thought others would enjoy

The charts on my E50 say it will lift 8,000lbs over the blade... I 'd give it 7,000lbs max. The biggest thing I have lifted is a 6,050lb granite pad with the machine and I think it could have lifted a little more.

You will love a harley rake if you get one. We used to have a harley rake like you have pictured and there is no comparison. Harley rake is sooooo much faster and still does a great job.

Thanks for sharing pictures. Keep up the great work!
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
happy 4th

i hope everyone can relax this weekend and spend some time with thier families.
i would love to have a harley rake, i wonder how much they are? we don't do a ton of finish prep, it is usually 3"- and we leave it for the landscapers. on this particular job we have done all of the infrastructure irrigation. all 3" brass valves and 2" scrubers. i don't think i will use 1" drip valves in this type of application. i would prefer 1.5" just for the fact of having more water. no prv either. it all depends though. right now i am happy to have this work. we do have another bit of infrastructure and road to put in, although i have a feeling it will be next year. we also just hydroseeded about 8 acres.
i have to start 2 other small jobs with lot's of demo and finish another one. i am also starting to look for some new clients and new work as things don't seem to be picking up that quickly with new foundation digs:confused::confused:
regards, cd:usa:usa
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
a few fotos

well, we are kind of in the mid summer groove. no major work happening. just lost a bid by 100k on 350k. i don't know how these other guy's are doing it. i don't have a huge overhead, don't overspend and go to work every day. when will it change, we work cheap but i don't want to go broke either.
anyway, we are busy enough. here is my trusted 225, up at the mid mountain lodge at aspen highlands ski area. then the 435 is on the side hill of the snowmass ski area. and a nice sunset just for fun.
regards, cd
:usa:usa
 

Attachments

  • IMG00733-20110714-1409.jpg
    IMG00733-20110714-1409.jpg
    86.4 KB · Views: 440
  • IMG00728-20110714-1039.jpg
    IMG00728-20110714-1039.jpg
    100.9 KB · Views: 447
  • IMG00730-20110714-1251.jpg
    IMG00730-20110714-1251.jpg
    76.1 KB · Views: 440
  • IMG00727-20110713-1333.jpg
    IMG00727-20110713-1333.jpg
    66.5 KB · Views: 437
  • IMG00153-20101213-1649.jpg
    IMG00153-20101213-1649.jpg
    42.8 KB · Views: 433

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,248
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
well, we are kind of in the mid summer groove. no major work happening. just lost a bid by 100k on 350k. i don't know how these other guy's are doing it. i don't have a huge overhead, don't overspend and go to work every day. when will it change, we work cheap but i don't want to go broke either.

I know exactly what you mean CD. Just bid a job to clean out a pond (approx 10K CY of muck), supplying and installing rip-rap and some grade work. Our portion was bid at $89K, the total job included our portion plus 30 acres of discing, seed and straw, about 250 rolls of hay mat for the slopes and other misc work. The total bid from our GC was right at $200K. Another GC bid the same job for the grand total of $62K...:spaz

Material, labor and diesel were that much for the entire job not to mention rental on a long reach excavator is $10K a month. (They don't own one :cool:)

I can sit at home and not make money but I will be damned if I will pay to go to work.:rolleyes:
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
some of the numbers are stupid right now. on this particular job i bid, we were in the middle. another guy was way high, another way low. i remember when we bid it in our office, i said if we don't get it for this price we don't want it. well.. life goes on. hopefully some of the other guys get out of the way. how do they do it, always owing on pipe and pit products, fuel, labor, ins,etc, etc.
cm- what are you even bidding for?? i thought you were in CR. don't plan on making enough this year in the u.s.a to spend next year down there. did you ever buy a 315?
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,248
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
i remember when we bid it in our office, i said if we don't get it for this price we don't want it. well.. life goes on. hopefully some of the other guys get out of the way. how do they do it, always owing on pipe and pit products, fuel, labor, ins,etc, etc.

Those are my sentiments as well.

cm- what are you even bidding for?? i thought you were in CR. don't plan on making enough this year in the u.s.a to spend next year down there. did you ever buy a 315?

Well I came back to the States for a while, believe it or not even paradise can get old. I am helping a friend out in the mean time, trying to put some equipment to work. Also it's darn near impossible to earn any money if you are a foreigner except buying and selling real estate which is in the dumps just like the US.

Haven't bought a 315 yet. It would involve selling and/or trading some pieces in order to get one and with work as slow as it is, I am taking my time.
 

dirty4fun

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
1,188
Location
N. IL
C D Not fair to tease with such pretty places to work and looks like it is cool, to boot. It was a hot miserable day again here, with high humidity. The water just kept dripping off my face, cutting brick for a new ATM machine installation. Glad to have them done, last week had to cut brick and concrete in a 4" X 6" room. Looked like Casper the Ghost when done, then brick the new ATM into the wall. Start another demo in a week or two, sure will be nice to get back in the excavator for a few days. Have to bid another house demo and digging a basement. One of the competion is selling his stuff, but still have to bid things pretty close to get the jobs around here. No use in bidding it and knowing there is no way to come out on top. Plenty of other work to do, but much easier on me pulling levers, and a whole lot more enjoyable, also.
 

tootalltimmy

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2008
Messages
397
Location
Okanagan Falls B.C. Canada
Nice pictures C D.

On July 11, at approximately 2:55 a.m., Penticton RCMP responded to a security alarm at the IGA Market Place in Okanagan Falls.

"Here they found that someone had used a skid steer loader (bobcat) to smash the front doors of the IGA store and remove the Royal Bank ATM situated inside the store," says RCMP Sgt Rick Dellebuur.

Steal a truck, steal a Bobcat and help yourself to an ATM!
 

dirty4fun

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
1,188
Location
N. IL
Since you are still posting toot guess it wasn't you or they haven't caught up with you yet. Good luck either way!

DFC I have been getting information and reading about your paradise in CR must not be quite as nice as they say, or you just had to do some slumming. It will make you appreciate it more this way when you return.
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
some fotos from today

backfill of some 6" d.i.p. interior demo and some other stuff. this job is about 30 mins up a real steep summer road at a ski resort. the road was killing me in my tandem i finally did the downhill without the power divider locked and it was so much better. :confused::confused: operaters running trucks...the same as what we say when truck drivers run iron::nono
regards, cd:usa:usa:usa
 

Attachments

  • IMG00740-20110720-1320.jpg
    IMG00740-20110720-1320.jpg
    68.7 KB · Views: 703
  • IMG00737-20110720-1245.jpg
    IMG00737-20110720-1245.jpg
    59 KB · Views: 704
  • IMG00738-20110720-1313.jpg
    IMG00738-20110720-1313.jpg
    87.7 KB · Views: 700
  • IMG00742-20110720-1321.jpg
    IMG00742-20110720-1321.jpg
    93 KB · Views: 701
  • IMG00736-20110720-1136.jpg
    IMG00736-20110720-1136.jpg
    99.9 KB · Views: 702
Last edited:

dirty4fun

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
1,188
Location
N. IL
Hey share some of those dark things in the sky, please. We are cooking and no rain. Though I have pond job to look at, that I wish was dry. Not sure I want to see my excavator buried trying to reach the middle of the pond.

Did you have to track the 225 up the job site?

When I was in Wyoming to get stuff up the mountain in a semi, they followed it with a crane. The crane swung the end of the trailer out and around the corners on the switch back road, to the top.
 

Colorado Digger

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
1,169
Location
Carbondale,co
some more fotos

here are a few fotos. one is from my yard, loading up on some bedding. the others are from up on the ski hill. it has been a wierd summer weather wise. not all that hot, although the last few days were close to 90f here. a good amount of rain. and a not so good amount of decent work.

regards, cd

:usa:usa
 

Attachments

  • IMG00747-20110726-0926.jpg
    IMG00747-20110726-0926.jpg
    76.1 KB · Views: 645
  • IMG00745-20110726-0926.jpg
    IMG00745-20110726-0926.jpg
    97.4 KB · Views: 640
  • IMG00746-20110726-0926.jpg
    IMG00746-20110726-0926.jpg
    51.8 KB · Views: 638
  • IMG00744-20110721-1147.jpg
    IMG00744-20110721-1147.jpg
    82.8 KB · Views: 629
Top