The annoying "what equipment" thread, again

aighead said:

I'm not nearly as experienced as a lot of the folks here but I'll agree with a couple points... With that budget, assuming it's for machines only, you can get a pretty good used backhoe and rent a sizable excavator for a few weeks and take care of a lot. The backhoe will continue being useful for a long time and the excavator can take care of your trenching and tree removal. If you have time you'll be amazed at what you can do with a backhoe, but like @Spud_Monkey said you'll learn to be creative also. You'd likely have about $10k leftover to play with (maybe dump truck money) and lots of stuff done.

Some of this depends on lot size as well, how much road are you doing? If it's a lot hiring it out will be the way to go. Getting someone who knows what they are doing for a grading project will be worth a lot. You can do it with a backhoe but it'll take a long time to learn to do it well, when a dozer (with operator) can do it in a day or two. And you'll be happier with the dozers results.

Also, the folks above are well intentioned but experience means they know when a little bit of laughter says a lot about a project. Don't get discouraged but also don't get kicked in the pants by reality.

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aighead has some good points here. I actually liked trenching with the backhoe a little better than I do the excavator, just was a little slower hydraulics and since my property is so flat, it was easier to keep a slight grade and not screw up my ditches.

The largest excavator you can usually rent without having to have your own insurance (atleast here in upstate NY where I am) is an 5-6 ton machine. It'll do a lot of work for you, but just isn't machine enough for the bigger stumps. My 8 ton excavator, on the big stumps like in one of my pictures above, takes me about 20 minutes to pop - i have to dig all the way around, and come at it from a lot of points prying (and praying) to finally get it to wiggle. Then its a lot of pull one side, pull the other, then backup and repeat to get it up and out of its hole so the dozer can take it away. You can rent larger 12-20 ton machines, however your money is much better spent on having someone show up that has that kind of machine and knows what they are doing. I still would lean towards buying a machine of that size, if your OK with getting efficient with it, and OK with the possibility of a large repair bill in the case something goes wrong.

And aighead hit the nail on the head with grading, I'm very glad I had the experienced dozer guy come in and put 3 inches of crusher on the driveway to finish it off, he really knew his grade, pitched it correctly, and I have not had even one pothole begin to form. I spent enough time on a dozer the past two summers to get very good at being able to do grade, but its easy to screw it up and the good guys can do it twice as fast as I can.

Aceofspades said:

In my mind an excavator that size could do that stuff, but again I'm uninitiated, and wouldn't know, which is why I asked ( again, thanks for your input, I started off looking at smaller machines). Time isn't really an issue, budget is. Want to have the whole thing (including building the house) done within a year. Thanks for your response, I have a lot to figure out.

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I actually disagree with petepilot on a 314 cat size machine being too small, for what you are doing it will probably do everything you want. If your doing a foundation that is quite deep or long (say longer than 40 feet) you may find limits of its reach, or if you have to chew through some really rocky ground, but other than that I don't see it being a problem for stumps, ditching, and the smaller foundation it sounds like your planning. At times, especially working close quarters in the woods, actually might seem too big.

Now I've done a lot of work with my little 8 ton machine, but I'm most likely going to pay someone to do the foundation digging. I'm sure I can figure it out and do it, but someone with experience will definitely do it faster and better.

Does it have to be a Cat? You are just paying for a name. A lot of the Cat stuff isn't what it used to be. I wear Volvo underwear, but when it comes to excavators, I'm a big Linkbelt fan, and I think Linkbelt is made in the United States.

I really appreciate all of the responses. Thanks Mattjohndeere2 for taking the time to write all that. That's a lot to think about.

To answer some of the questions:

The road from the highway to my* (haven't closed yet) property is serviceable. My future neighbors use it, it's just really rough and needs the holes and ruts fixed.

The road on my* property I think is actually pretty nice, it just has never been used, and there is one section that is fine now, but I'm worried about future erosion at if the road is in use. Looks like the road was cut in some years ago, and there is no sign of any gravel having ever been put on it, and it was never used but goes all the way to the home site (maybe around 800 ft). Property is 9 acres. Planning on leaving it all woods other than clearing the build site. Planning on a 24X40 house.

The site is on a ridge and is pretty flat.

If I get an excavator, it doesn't need to be a specific brand. I'd just be looking for the best machine I could get for my budget. 314 cat was just an example.

I'd put my mechanic skills well above average (in general, not among the subset represented here), When it comes to automotive or anything smaller. If something I have needs fixing, I generally figure it out. That being said I don't have experience working on anything bigger than a truck, and no experience with diesels. With that being said, I'm a mechanic of necessity. I generally don't take stuff to other people to fix. I'm sure there would be a learning curve to wrenching on equipment, but would be planning on doing it myself.

Eta: the terrain is GA clay under a layer of topsoil.

Aceofspades said:

I really appreciate all of the responses. Thanks Mattjohndeere2 for taking the time to write all that. That's a lot to think about.

To answer some of the questions:

The road from the highway to my* (haven't closed yet) property is serviceable. My future neighbors use it, it's just really rough and needs the holes and ruts fixed.

The road on my* property I think is actually pretty nice, it just has never been used, and there is one section that is fine now, but I'm worried about future erosion at if the road is in use. Looks like the road was cut in some years ago, and there is no sign of any gravel having ever been put on it, and it was never used but goes all the way to the home site (maybe around 800 ft). Property is 9 acres. Planning on leaving it all woods other than clearing the build site. Planning on a 24X40 house.

The site is on a ridge and is pretty flat.

Eta: the terrain is GA clay under a layer of topsoil.

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No problem, I've been wanting to share my story, its definitely a long story short but it would take me a couple hours to type the whole story haha.

If your neighbors use the road also, would they be inclined to split some fix-up costs with you?

I assume if your up on a ridge or hill that its pretty dry even being clay? Not familiar much with Georgia terrain.

Don't be afraid of a diesel, that will be the nicest surprise of all after working on gas engines. Don't buy a junk engine, but most will be the least of your problems. Transmissions, tires, hoses, hydraulics will all be more trouble typically.

If the road is a lot of the ongoing maintenance, then a mid sized (100HP+ or-) farm tractor with a good blade would work, then a mini excavator to dig out the dirt around the trees, then pull them over with the tractor. Long term find a wheeled grader blade for keeping the drive in better shape than a three point blade.

Mattjohndeere2 said:

No problem, I've been wanting to share my story, its definitely a long story short but it would take me a couple hours to type the whole story haha.

If your neighbors use the road also, would they be inclined to split some fix-up costs with you?

I assume if your up on a ridge or hill that its pretty dry even being clay? Not familiar much with Georgia terrain.

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Haven't met the neighbors yet, but that could be a possibility.

Yeah, groundwater doesn't seem to be an issue at all.

Got a lead on a cheap low hours case tr320. Thinking about picking that up and renting what I need from there.

cuttin edge said:

I'm a big Linkbelt fan, and I think Linkbelt is made in the United States.

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Not a chance. Link-Belt and Case are identical, both are Sumitomo machines. Made proudly in Japan.

I need some details:
How long is the shared road?
How long is your driveway on your property?
What kind of material has been asked. Clay, sandy, etc.
Before you do anything to the shared road, find out if your neighbor needs anything in your trench. Sharing the cost of trenching is a big savings.
Same goes for the shared road improvements.
On that line, I would suggest hiring out that shared portion.

Shimmy1 said:

Not a chance. Link-Belt and Case are identical, both are Sumitomo machines. Made proudly in Japan.

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Really, I thought there was a post on here before about linkbelt and case having a plant in the US. Are they all off shore machines, or just the smaller weight classes. We have 3 145s, a 235, and 2 350s, all bullet proof so far. To each their own, but I find different manufactures have different strengths. I have always liked a Cat Dozer, and we have always had good luck with them. We had a 320 hoe, that was problem proned. As well as a 308 that everyone here hates. But another company here had a 308, same machine, and it worked great. The last good cat loader we had was a 966F. Our G and H were like job security for the cat guy. Same as our 972, and our first 980M. They bought a new 950GB, I think, few problems when it first came, but seems ok now. Need ear plugs to run it though. The newer 980M seems great. Volvo loaders have been consistantly reliable, except for the 2 G series, but a few thousand bucks to remove the emissions crap, and they are good so far. Pretty good here for keeping the equipment new except the grader which they will run into the ground, most of the paving equipment. I think it has only been ten years since they got rid of a couple old back rollers from the 40s. The asphalt plant itself is from the 50s, pretty sure that was made in the USA

cuttin edge said:

Really, I thought there was a post on here before about linkbelt and case having a plant in the US. Are they all off shore machines, or just the smaller weight classes.

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160 and up I believe. I'll look tomorrow, I believe there is a Sumitomo tag on our 210C

Shimmy1 said:

160 and up I believe. I'll look tomorrow, I believe there is a Sumitomo tag on our 210C

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I know they are owned by Sumitomo, but thought they were made in Kentucky. Wouldn't surprise me. That's why the rich get richer I guess

skyking1 said:

I need some details:
How long is the shared road?
How long is your driveway on your property?
What kind of material has been asked. Clay, sandy, etc.
Before you do anything to the shared road, find out if your neighbor needs anything in your trench. Sharing the cost of trenching is a big savings.
Same goes for the shared road improvements.
On that line, I would suggest hiring out that shared portion.

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Shared road is ~1 mile. Driveway is ~800 ft.
There is an electrical unity box for the neighbor at the start of the driveway. We are the end of the road. Material is clay.

Still thinking about buying the case tr320 an a single axle dump and renting from there.

Everyone’s circumstances are different, therefore perspective is never the same. I’ve seen a lot of guys that are willing to take some extra time, and a little ingenuity, do a hell of a lot with a reasonable sized older backhoe. Obviously a huge excavator will crush trees/stumps etc., but it will fall short in a lot of other areas. Backhoes are extremely versatile. For the 40k range, I personally think it’s realistic to find a decent backhoe, a smaller skidsteer with auxiliary hydraulics, and an equipment trailer. These machines would all be well suited to making some cash on odd jobs after you’ve completed your project as well. Maybe more suited than most other machines that are more suited to specific types of work. Best of luck with your decisions, and may the ghosts of old equipment’s past bless you and hopefully you don’t spend that year working on mechanical nightmares!!

Working on an 800-ft road with your own little dump truck isn't bad. Doing anything with the mile long road would be pretty frustrating. The rock cost would be phenomenal to anything at all out there.
That was why I suggested hiring out that shared road and getting people to pitch in on the costs.

man, I did a 600ft driveway and I would accept nothing but end dumps. I am just a guy that wants to go big and get it done. However, I was a guy spreading that media with a 50hp tractor and box blade. I could have smacked it with the dozer but I just didn't want contamination from the tracks and I know how to grade with a box. She came out looking like a mint penny. Almost looked like I had skilz.....lol

I asked my wife how long the road is and she said it was a mile, so that's what I posted. Last time I went up there I measured it with the trip odometer in the truck and it was only half a mile (which is closer to what I thought) so that's good.

We're closing this week. I'm still thinking about picking up that case tr320. The price SEEMS right, and I want it, but the research I've done so far has me scared. Thoughts? They seem problematic from the reading I've done. Its a 2013 with ~ 1300 hours, open cab, privately owned.

The seller said it runs and operates great, but the tracks are worn and his mechanic said they are fine for homeowner's use, and he would only suggest replacing them for commercial use, whatever that means. The price still may work with budgeting new track in the near future.
The owner said he is a homeowner and the machine is bigger than what he needs.

I would never buy a ctl for home use. They are expensive to run and are not a multi tool. They move materials and level material. I would be looking for a backhoe.

I agree, I don't like the sounds of that Case unit. Don't give in to the quick and easy, go with the advice people are offering and take some time.