Hi this is my very first post/reply here but like you I have read and gained a great deal of info, now I feel that I can assist someone!
I worked in Colorado for years and the company was bigger is always better, them came here to Wisconsin and helped a friend with a
start up company, digging for electrical contractors. "Minis" and skid-steers where the main tools and we owned all John Deere and they
where fabulous machines. We rented about any and all brands over the years but I am a believer that Deere/Hitachi is the hands down
best mini excavators on the market. We owned 2-35s, 1-50, 1-80 all J.D. and 1-20 and 1-120 that where Hitachi and you cannot go wrong with any of them......besides we have worked in some out of the way places but you can always find J.D. dealer, it maybe green instead of yellow but we have never had a problem getting parts from farm implement dealers as well as construction dealers. something to think about when buying used equipment! Hoped that helped you a little in your quest........Good Luck
