Kubota U 25 S mini

[Natman]

I'm spending this snowy day (spring time in Idaho up high) going back through some old posts, and saw this:https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/mini-x-is-air-mobile.340/ Being brand new to the continuous rotation any excavator has, I realized I had not considered the house position when rigging it lifting. I guess I consider the "front", the end with the blade, doesn't matter I guess. A three point bridle arrangement like used in this post, if my U25 has a similar place to rig to, will be even simpler.

 

[007]

I can send you the manual and they say clearly not to lift at those points.
it is a three point lift from each side of the blade and one at the top of the boom

 

[007]

 

[007]

Machine looks brand new.
Can't really see the bucket and pin arrangement in the pic.
I see they have removed the original hyd quick couplers and just fitted a nipple there.
Thats a pain.

 

[Natman]

Thanks much 007!

When I do pick it, with my adjustable chain rigging on the one end adjusted to get it nice and level, the end going to the designated lifting point on the boom that is, before I set it down I'll measure out things and get a local rigging shop to make me up a bridle. I'll have the three 3/8" cables (way strong enough) at the top terminating to a oval lift ring, designed just for such a purpose, I already have some. Then the one load ring goes onto my crane's load hook, better practice then putting 3 cables in there, and more professional looking also. That bridle will be kept and used JUST for picking the miniX. I did the same with my older Kubota tractor, and need to do the same with the new one at some point.

 

[007]

They are calling for a minimum of 12.5mm(1/2inch) aren't they?

 

[Natman]

Yes and no. in a vertical use, and assuming all three are equeally (and that very well may not be the case, probably not equeal) loaded, they are good for 8400 lbs. But about 10% must be deducted for the angle they would be used on (just working from memory there) so that gets it down to 7560 lbs. working load limit, still a ton over working load. Actual breaking strength of the 3/8' cable is around 12,000 lbs., Then again.... wire rope is cheap, a great bargain, the difference between 1/2 and 3/8 rope is maybe the price of a case of beer. I'll try and remember to price it out both ways.

 

[007]

I would not like to see my new pride and joy swinging in the breeze on 3/8 cable.
From an insurance or public liability aspect if any thing happened and the manufacturer was calling for 1/2 inch and you chose not to it would all come back on you.
I see in there documentation they were looking for a 6X safety margin.
This one makes me feel sick every time i watch it.

How you could do this to a brand new little cat.

 

[Tags]

Lucky someone didn't get killed! Stupidity at its best...

 

[Natman]

I fail to see the relevance of that video. They obviously did not protect the lifting slings from sharp edges, and/or used under rated slings, probably both. I can't believe they had an operator in the seat!

BTW, I am a fully insured and certified crane operator (18 years now, over 14,000 hours accident free) and hold a rigging authorization. I've also been a pilot for 45 years, and one way or another I trust my life, and others, to wire rope (used and rigged correctly, and inspected often) about every day, and it has "never left me down." Using whatever size rope, I would never lift the mini over people anyway, that's just standard procedure. I'm sure Kubota would also prefer I wear a hard hat when running their machine, and gloves and safety glasses and steel toed boots, I just get a little tired of the nanny state mentality! Having vented all that, I'll buy a 1/2" bridle, just to cover my ass, lets move on. We could spend all day looking at vids of cranes dropping excavators!

I just got a text from the trucker, on the road now, he just realized that when he parked at his home base last night, he removed the keys for the U25. He neglected to grab them on the way out the door when he hit the road very early in the morning, so his wife is sending them next day FEDEX. This probably means rather then start it up and walk it off his trailer tonight, I will need to lift it off, oh well! He is mortified, but I've lived without a mini X this long, another day won't kill me.

 

[Natman]

It got here right before midnite Saturday, and I've been working it hard since! It's like new, and to my surprise DOES have the quick change bucket fitting, that really made my day. So I have a 9, 12 and 16". The 9 for sure will be used trenching, the 16 is on right now, I'm not too sure how often the 12 will be used. I'll post a few pictures and detail my experience so far climbing hills and working side slopes.

 

[Natman]

I have about 10 hours on it now, and I find it hard to believe it only has 20 HP! I am very happy with my choice of this size of machine, it has way more digging power then I expected, and the small size is really handy for where I'm operating.

I made two small mods right away: The first was finding the location of the transport beeper that sounds CONTINUOUSLY when it is in motion. Then a switch was installed under the drivers seat (but in plain view and easily reached,) and labeled TRANPORT BEEPER ON/OFF. If and when I'm on a actual jobsite with others, it will of course be on, on a quiet Sunday morning on my own property and working it by myself, it stays off. I also put a coat hook on the ROPS, a minor but handy detail. It has one pretty large storage compartment under the seat, lockable no less, then a smaller one once you flip the seat up, and a third "unofficial" one on top the battery (sealed type, with a plastic cover over it) that'd be good for a spare pair of gloves or something.

I got warmed up, keeping in mind I didn't know which lever did what, by loading a slash pile into the dump trailer, that thumb sure is handy. Then I had to snake it through an obstacle course first thing, and at one point I couldn't believe Kubota didn't make the track handles work so that pushing them forward moved you forward, instead of backwards, then I spun around 180 degrees and figured out they had it right, I'm still laughing about that. Many times I had to use the hand clippers to trim off an overhanging tree branch, and I quickly learned to pull the lever up that kills the controls before doing so, after I once accidentally hit the rotation lever NOT doing so, I will not forget that lesson. By the time I had worked my way up about 150 yards of trail building, pulling big rocks in tight quarters, I started to have a pretty good handle on it. I've rented backhoes a few times, but years ago, and never an excavator. Nothing wrong with learning on the job, with no other people or things endangered anyway, and maybe being a crane/boom truck operator helps a bit?

I do know once I worked my way up the 18 degree slope, I had figured out being level, like on a crane, was imperative, at least to have full capacity. I missed having a level bubble, and plan to get one. I am used to being level when slewing my crane around and even when the front tires are 3' in the air, the machine is stable IF set up level. Working the mini unlevel was OK until I slewed a bit, then the loss of stability was instantly felt, though I never had any close calls, it was obvious what was going on and how to prevent it.

I also have a Kubota mid sized tractor, a L3301, and as planned, after roughing in the trail with the mini, the tractor's scraper blade was the right tool to buff it out a bit. Having both these machines makes me feel like Superman, like I can do about anything, but the mini's 360 degree operation and track drive does make the tractor seem a bit awkward. Tomorrow I'll be picking rocks and boulders out along the trail that I stockpiled along side it, now that I can get both machines in there I'll use the mini's thumb to load the tractor bucket, to shuttle them a ways, where I am using them as fill.

I bought this machine from Nebraska Equipment Inc., and they were a pleasure to deal with, highly recommended. I can't believe I made it this far along in life WITHOUT a mini excavator, what an incredibly handy machine, I am one happy camper.

 

[Kiwi-truckwit]

Nice looking machine.
On the point of lifting, I've lifted a lot of minis and midis, and every one of them is the same. Lift the boom and the blade right up, there should be one, maybe 2 lifting eyes on top of the boom, and a lifting eye either end of the blade. I like simple rigging, so I use 2 synthetic slings 2m long on the blade, and then don't need to muck around with shortening chains, just a 4 leg set and we're away!

 

[Kiwi-truckwit]

Also on the video, just a point of interest. The port operation diggers here (mainly cat 312s) are fitted with a single lift point on top of the boom. They are repeatedly lifted in and out of ship holds, so they are all set up this way for simplicity

 

[Natman]

Yes I see two holes in the gusset on the boom, and the blade has the same, so easy enough. The first time I pick it, I'll use my adjustable chain rigging, then I can measure what is needed for a specific bridle, I rarely use chain (and only chain approved for overhead lifting) but when the load needs to be adjusted, it's handy. Mostly slings and round slings these days. According to my 30 ton's load chart, I can lift it 110' high, but only with a 25' radius, or I can put it 45-50' away from the center of rotation, and 70' high. I still am not sure if the need will arise often or at all, I'll pass the word around to my contractors I do crane work for and see what happens. Lot's of mini's around, a few light cranes, no one with both, until now! It will be another tool in the box.....

 

[Kiwi-truckwit]

Here's one we lifted around 2 years ago for a demo job. It was a 5 ton machine, from memory, and as you can see we used 2 equal length chains. One straight to the boom, and another to 2 round slings which were shackled to the blade. The soft slings had the added benefit of not scratching the counterweight. The chains would have been 13mm from memory, which have a WLL of 6700kg per leg, and the round slings are 3000kg per leg. So plenty of capacity, even accounting for the included angle.
It's up to you, of course, but I don't know that a single purpose bridle would be that beneficial

 

[007]

Mine came with switch on control panel from factory to stop beeper, yours not have??
60mm bubble on king pin is handy some times.
With the absence of a tilting bucket you better get used to not working on the level if you are going to match grade with your bucket.
You can make some corner extensions for your blade to bring you up better if you are working on horrendous slopes like me.
What control pattern have you settled on?
Just a word of warning for a newbie on this machine there is a small hand grab welded to the roll bar on the left as you enter cab.
You tend to grab the roll bar and rotate out of the cab when getting out especially on slopes as your foot is looking for top of track.
Your hand slips some times and your already committed and your hand goes between roll bar and handle.
Very nasty, breaks your wrist.
Once you have had a few close calls you will become very aware of trap.

 

[Natman]

I guess I'm spoiled by having 4 outriggers on the crane, and always being able to get perfectly level. Often though, I have to use extra dunnage under the pads, so I don't run out of outrigger travel. So far I have not felt the need to throw some blocking under the blade, it has more travel then I first thought, but that is my backup plan.

Another day, 4 hours anyway, of trying to outsmart rocks in the trail I'm building, some quite large (3' wide and almost as deep) and embedded. I still can't believe just 20 HP does the work this thing does. My old/first Kubota tractor also had about the same HP, and a backhoe attachment, but the mini weighs about 3 times as much and sure does a LOT more work, without even grunting. Today I raked the high side of the upsloped trail, and sniffed out the big rocks, using the thumb to move them, later they will be used as a border. All the ones I could manhandle, after I backed the mini out of the way, I threw in the loader bucket of the K tractor and dumped some distance away. It's been great fun using both machines, making the the best of their abilities. Some functions overlap, some the tractor clearly excells at, (scraping, for one) overall though the mini is a lot more fun to operate.

I'm not sure what control pattern I'm using, the one it came set up with! I started out with it anyway, and it all fell into place. I do understand it's easily changeable, but the one I'm using seems familiar to me from my backhoe time, bottom line is I have it figured out now, and don't want to rock the boat by changing it right now. I could see that handle thing happening like you mention, I'll watch for it, a broken wrist would ruin the fun.

 

[007]

did you find the beeper switch behind the throttle lever??
I have to tell you i would not be on the side of a big hill with dunnage under my blade.
My blade extensions attach to the blade and dig in holding me in place.
Yes I am very happy with mine also.
I ran the U35-3 before this and it was a more capable machine but it would chomp through 20-30 litres of fuel each day and you had to wear ear muffs.
The U25 is going through 16-20 litres each day and purrs like a sewing machine, no ear muffs.
Yes you know you have big rocks when you can only roll them.
The knob on my pattern selector comes loose and you go into nowhere land some times.
I used both patterns for a time but i found not from a personal preference but from a mechanical point of view the machine was better at grading using this pattern.
Probably going to spark outrage from some people on this site saying that.
Will explain why i say that if your interested.
By the way what RPMs are you running your machine?

 

[Natman]

Mine does not have a built in beeper defeat switch. I did get a separate install sheet on installing the beeper, seems it was done by the dealer, as an option I believe, which at least made it easier to figure out how to (when the situation warrants) defeat it.

So far, I have been able to get level enough (at least it felt level enough), using the blade only, I was thinking if working up hill, blade behind me, and needing a bit more blade down to level things up a bit, throwing some dunnage/cribbing under it would be one way. Again (and here's where my hoisting experience could bite me in the a**, I am used to doing so when setting up. One big difference of course, now that I think about it, is the crane isn't getting pulled forward or back by the digging action, all loads are, hopefully anyway, plumb, or exerting no forward or backwards pull. I used to be a big time ultralight aircraft builder/dealer/seller/ trainer, and some of my worst customers and students were long time conventional pilots, I had to work around their prior experience, some of it good, some of it not applicable, same thing here with me getting lined out on this digging machine! Got a picture of your blade extensions? So far my uphill (18 degrees anyway, with no side slope, and only minor slewing required) work has been working my way uphill, the next part I will be working my way down.....

I'm in mode A, that's how it came, and for some reason, it immediately felt right to me, and how I am now used to it. If I need to grade much I'll use the tractor scraper blade. I'd like to say to say I studied the operator manual carefully and took notes before getting into the seat for the first time, but I'd be lying. It arrived around midnite, and I fumbled my way through walking it off the trailer, the next morning, due to having a few days off work (rare) and an urgent need to get my project underway before things dry out and fire season arrives, I immediately got to work. RPM's? I have no idea, but just enough to not lug it down and not too much to feel like I'm racing it. I have not looked. I checked out the big boulder i moved again, it was fully 3' across, but only about 2' deep, but I was able to cleanly pick it. The few times I've picked boulders with my crane have taught me that boulders, even similar appearing ones, can vary vastly in weight, a geologist could explain this, from heavy, to really heavy.

Fuel consumption seems to be similar to my 20 HP old Kubota, as in almost perpetual motionish, at times it almost seems like it's producing fuel. Let's just say "not much", no numbers yet, assuming the dealer topped off the tank as I asked, I'll figure it out in a while, but it's already obvious that it's so low it's almost irrevelant! My new L3301 K tractor on the other hand, actually consumes fuel, probably twice as much as my older one, sounds like your U 35 was more like that. Yeah, the lack of noise the U25 makes is great, (and all the more surprising the power it has) I am thinking of installing a docking station for my Siruis sat radio, along with a couple weather resistant speakers on the ROPS, I wouldn't be without my Sirius in the crane as it keeps me entertained and informed, and from falling asleep.