First large excavator recommendations

[artherd]

I've got 50 acres of hilly, steep terrain full of massive (in some cases 200+ foot) trees, mix of redwood, oak, and fir. I'm looking at buying my first large excavator soon.

I have a TB135 mini, which has been a real trooper of a machine, but for large land clearing, road and building excavation, it's no 30 Ton.

That said, that's what I'm thinking of picking up. Cat 330CL. Would you go larger or smaller, if so, why? All roads are (or are being) built 14' wide as are all gates, so an 11' machine is not a big deal. That said, I'm wondering if it will end up being too big/long when digging on some of these steep (2:1 overall natural slope before grading, 1:1 or more in places.) inclines.

 

[joispoi]

Are you clearing old growth redwood?

 

[artherd]

no.

 

[CatToy]

I have been using a Kubota L45 TLB and a Cat 933 to clear my land but to speed it up a little, I just purchased a Link belt 330 LX for the same reasons (trees, stumps, trails...) and about half of my property is as steep as 1:1. I also want to fix my pond. I chose a 39 ton machine because I will never move it (unless sold) and I have many 30" trees. The dealer had over 30 excavators to choose from, so I operated about 5 different sizes over about a week for several hours. He also had a rental customer clearing land nearby that allowed me to visit and operate a similar sized Kobelco 300 , taking down 100' tress are no problem, with a skilled operator it only took 3 bites of dirt, one push, and one rip out of the ground, I managed to get down a tree eventually. I hope the dealer cuts the guy a break on his rental, I burned a few hours of his time.

My comparison is I rented a Kobelco 160 a year ago, my memory tells me it felt much lighter and I spend at least 30 minutes a tree to get one down. Digging up stumps or taking down trees was not much better than using my BH and track loader, ie- I still had to cut them down first to be safe. I also remember I almost tilted it over on it side using the thumb, the bigger unit just feels more stable.

I looked at a few Cat 325/330s over the past several months and would have preferred a Cat (have a dealer 4 miles away and they are like the Harley of excavators, cost a lot and you can always get parts) but they command a price premium around here. I would have to shell out another 15-20K for a Cat similar to the Link Belt I bought. The Link Belt dealer is 3 hours away, I figure I can make a lot of trips for parts before I make up the delta.

BTW - the dealer thought I should hire out my work, it would have been cheaper and a lot quicker but what fun would that be...

 

[JGibson]

Link Belt makes a great machine. A 330 for a homeowner is a bit much, I would go with a 290 size. A lot of power and more maneuverable then a 330. I would look at Link Belt/Case, Volvo, Deere/Hitachi, Kobelco and Hyundai. All good machines. Not sure of your price range, but this looks like a nice hoe (not my ad) http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=10798155

 

[Buckethead]

I've got 50 acres of hilly, steep terrain full of massive (in some cases 200+ foot) trees, mix of redwood, oak, and fir. I'm looking at buying my first large excavator soon.

I have a TB135 mini, which has been a real trooper of a machine, but for large land clearing, road and building excavation, it's no 30 Ton.

That said, that's what I'm thinking of picking up. Cat 330CL. Would you go larger or smaller, if so, why? All roads are (or are being) built 14' wide as are all gates, so an 11' machine is not a big deal. That said, I'm wondering if it will end up being too big/long when digging on some of these steep (2:1 overall natural slope before grading, 1:1 or more in places.) inclines.

Maybe you should consider calling a landclearing contractor. Clearing is dangerous with small trees, if a big limb falls off one of those 200 foot trees, a 330 cab is not going to help you much if it lands on top.

 

[Georgia Iron]

I used a 325 c l model and I would bet it would be more than enough. It would dig down 25 feet or so and was a fantastic size. I would be careful with trees but the slopes are bad news. It is easy to get in a bad spot with that kind of terrain. Good hunting.

 

[mxsledder]

I do lots of demolition and tree clearing work. I bought a cat 336 EL.. For large trees you really should get as big of a machine as possible. As long as you've got room to maneuver it the 330 cl would be an excellent machine.

 

[Ozz]

Trees that large are in no way excavator clearing territory. They are chainsaw felling and then using a 330 size hoe to pop the stumps out.