Upgrade to a newer mini digger.............which one

Thinking of changing my mini digger for a newer one. Its a 2002 kubota kx41-2s with 1500 hours on it. Machine is perfect and running great, just id like to come up to a 08 - 10 year machine. I was considering a takeuchi as i have driven one for a few weeks and the long blade had its advantages i found. Other machines i was thinking of was bobcat, hanix and jcb. Looking for some opinions on the machines i quoted although the kubota dash 3 i probly going to be a strong contender. here is a pic of it anyway

A good machine would be a 2002 Kubota kx41-2s with 1500 hours on it that runs great. If it's paid for, and running great then keep it. I thought only us Americans liked to flush money down the drain just so we could say we have something newer.

My opinion on older, well running equipment that "doesn't' owe you anything is as follows..... why not keep that one and buy another. Keep that one as a backup machine, keep it for jobs that might be "low margin" but you need the work, maybe move up or down a class or two in terms of size, which will allow you to do more variety of work. You don't get much in terms of dollars for those old/good runners. In terms of a new machine opinion, all else being equal, TK, Kubota, JD would be my votes.....

is there much work there ???? excavator thats paid for is good and running well

There is bits of work, nothing constant. But i do ok, i had considered a 2.5 ton takeuchi or kubota. The digger is payed for i have but i would prefer something with a full cab. Also considering a .75 ton kubota or taceuchi to go with it for narrow access stuff. The little kubota only let me down once with dirt in the hydraulicss but two sets of filters and 2 fluid changes sorted it. Appart from that its bang on, just its looking old now and a newer maching would look better but most have more hours than mine. Dont have John Deere over here, its mainly takeuchi overe here

I run a 301.5 Cat, paid for itself at least twice over, 1900 hrs. The big work here is very competitive, so I actually aimed to be specifically small, and haven't looked back. I would just as soon have the 3/4 ton than a 2.5 ton, but that's just me. I always smile when I hear the big guys complain about diesel being $4.xx a gallon, as I fill up my mini from a 5 gallon jug and go work an 8 hour day.
I am looking to add to my fleet, and I'm thinking that a site dumper might be a great thing. I would love to be able to haul spoils out of a building at 2-3 yards at a clip, instead of 4/10 of a yard with my skid loader. They're not very popular here ( we're Americans, if its not huge, burn tons of fuel, or need an escort vehicle and permits to move, most of us simply aren't interested ), so I was hoping to see what kind of use you get out of yours. Any thoughts?

We have a ''PelJob'' hi tip dumper. its made by volvo and is 4wd and holds .75 of a ton. Has a little 2 cylindar perkins engine and runs for days from 2 gallons of diesel. Ours is 2001 and has 1200 hrs and we would never sell it. We also have a narrower hi tip track dumper with auxillary lines to run a breaker. Its handy as you can drive under a small truck and tip. It has a 1 cylindar yanmar diesel engine, it likes a drop of diesel but very handy. Has about 100 hrs on it as we dont use it. Its 2004, ill get pics up later of them. you shift alot of stuff with either one in a day....

ok what part of ireland are you in . is hitiachi popular

im in Wicklow, Hitachi is popular in 3 , 6, 13, 20 tone machines

Here is the PelJob, it raises also to tip over walls or into small trucks etc

This is the track dumper...........