I have a takeuchi tb053fr which is the earlier model of the 153. Their boom design is the one to have for these reasons.
Picking power, no other machine can match a takeuchi in lifting a load thats 10' high, you can knuckle the boom in so that the weight is in tight to you compared to having to lift at full extension. When would you need this? Lifting an outside wood boiler off a deck over trailer, lifting a tree off a house... etc
Ability to spin around in 7' with a loaded bucket. When do you need that? When your doing a perimeter drain around a house and you dont have alot of room. Any confined space work really.
You can also comfortably load a triaxle dump.
They also seem to be very stable. I have a 36" digging bucket and while its possible to tip the machine all the way out, over the side with a bucket heaping full of gravel, it handles the 36" bucket very well.
I run a hydraulic thumb on mine and find it indespensible.
What do I do with mine? Demo single story houses, dig basements, dig utility lines, dig and place sandstone boulders, clean up after a tree company, clear and grub ground. push over small and medium sized trees, load fill into my single axle dump, loaded a firebird into the dumptruck once...
Down side, the thing is too heavy to move with a reg. pickup safely. Mine scales in at 17k for machine on the trailer, and that was with a 4k pound trailer.
Post pics of whatever you get!