Looking for a mini for my homestead

[PeterG]

Buckets don't have to be TAG brand. There are a lot of good brands of buckets. For the most part I have been happy with my TAG buckets and the brand. But sometimes the pin is tight, so you need a little sledge hammer to knock it in an out. A trick is to remove the pin clip and then shake the bucket a bit and the pin will fall out.

 

[PeterG]

Contact your local Takeuchi Dealer. The buckets I bought for my TB153FR are the QC29 size. They do work on my TB240.

I purchased buckets years ago at a good price from Joe at Phoenix Equipment in PA, 800-282-5381

 

[PeterG]

Your QC27 coupler should be fine.

 

[MovingRox]

Congrats on getting a machine - looks like a nice rig. is the condition good, show some pictures of the beast itself! I can't help on the coupler, don't have any experience with TAG gear, but the forum will provide assistance, I'm sure

 

[laidback01]

hey, I don't know if you have any maintenance planned, but if you are pulling pins to replace shims for slop removal... I'd really recommend you replace your steel shims with polyshims. I did this years ago on my sloppy old 410B backhoe and while it's still sloppy, it doesn't clang around at all. I replaced every steel shim I could on my mini, and while I also did pins and bushings, you may not be doing that right now. The makers put plastic shims on all the big equipment and metal ones on the little stuff. I much prefer the sound of metal-plastic-metal rather than metal-metal clang. just my thoughts on it.

if you have some real slop in some of your joints, and you have a lathe, do what @materthegreater did on Page3 of his Mecalec thread. Great use for a cutting board!

 

[HarleyHappy]

Or you could buy a quarter sheet of UHMW in whatever thickness you want.
I have pieces of that leftover from cutting boards for deer processing.
I make furniture glides and everything else out of that stuff.
Believe it or not but it wears better than most steels for chain glides and other things and it machines very good.

 

[MovingRox]

hey, I don't know if you have any maintenance planned, but if you are pulling pins to replace shims for slop removal... I'd really recommend you replace your steel shims with polyshims. I did this years ago on my sloppy old 410B backhoe and while it's still sloppy, it doesn't clang around at all. I replaced every steel shim I could on my mini, and while I also did pins and bushings, you may not be doing that right now. The makers put plastic shims on all the big equipment and metal ones on the little stuff. I much prefer the sound of metal-plastic-metal rather than metal-metal clang. just my thoughts on it.

if you have some real slop in some of your joints, and you have a lathe, do what @materthegreater did on Page3 of his Mecalec thread. Great use for a cutting board!

The pins/ bushings are pretty tight I looked at a bunch of machines. I’ll keep that in mind for the future … thanks! I do have some other maintenance things to do .

 

[KenMac]

From my research on atachments, I've been told that Wain Roy (TAG) couplers go by the attaching pin diameter. They asked me if it it 1 1/4 or 1 3/4". My TB260 has 1 1/4 pin. TAG bucket is very heavy and strong, but is a sloppy fit on the front. Hope this helps.

That attaching pin is the one with the lynch pin, by the way.

 

[laidback01]

I see you have aux plumbing in place to the boom-dipper joint. good deal on that. You can get a thumb if you so desire. that would be worth doing IMHO

 

[MovingRox]

Yes I would like to add a hydraulic thumb … that’s on my list . If anyone’s added one I’d like to hear what brand and how it went . Adjusting flow to it ect. Even if I pay a person to add it I want to be sure the welds on the arm are correct and it’s adjusted properly.

 

[skyking1]

Or you could buy a quarter sheet of UHMW in whatever thickness you want.
I have pieces of that leftover from cutting boards for deer processing.
I make furniture glides and everything else out of that stuff.
Believe it or not but it wears better than most steels for chain glides and other things and it machines very good.

UHMW rocks! I cut it on the table saw to make bits and pieces. It does not glue what-so-ever, so plan on countersinking fastners into it below the rub grade a bit. Big rivets work on smaller things.
EDIT: it does heat weld though, if you have that soldering iron with the flat doohickey.

 

[Orest Anhel]

I bought a Yanmar Vio35-3 in 2016 with 2900 hours on it. I have put a little over 800 hours on it since with no major problems and have been pretty happy with it. It will pull a 5000 pound 20 foot seacan around the yard but won't lift a 3600 pound block. I used it and a 450C dozer to clean up fireguards that were made with a D7 and 270 size excavator after fires came within 500 yards of my house in 2018. It has been a great machine, easy to transport at 7500 pounds. I think a 35-45 size machine will likely do most of what you want to do. If I were buying again I would look for a 45-50 size more for extra hydraulic flow to run a small disc mulcher or brush cutter.

 

[laidback01]

UHMW rocks! I cut it on the table saw to make bits and pieces. It does not glue what-so-ever, so plan on countersinking fastners into it below the rub grade a bit. Big rivets work on smaller things.
EDIT: it does heat weld though, if you have that soldering iron with the flat doohickey.

Turns out, there is glue for UHMW: https://reltekllc.com/Adhesives-for-uhmw (it's only about $500/gallon for the 2 part epoxy resin)

 

[David_Johnson]

Been using a 1-ton Chinese mini excavator on my property for about a year now. For the money, it's been solid for basic work around my place. For your specific needs though - creek banks and moving those big concrete blocks - you might want something with a bit more reach and lifting capacity. My little machine handles trenching and small stumps just fine, but struggles with deeper creek work. Just my experience so far. Good luck with your project!

 

[laidback01]

Been using a 1-ton Chinese mini excavator on my property for about a year now. For the money, it's been solid for basic work around my place. For your specific needs though - creek banks and moving those big concrete blocks - you might want something with a bit more reach and lifting capacity. My little machine handles trenching and small stumps just fine, but struggles with deeper creek work. Just my experience so far. Good luck with your project!

You didn't read the thread it would seem. He bought a nice sized Takeuchi - TB145, about 5T. It's an ideal machine for his property, and doesn't have the stigma of hard to get Chinese parts.

 

[skyking1]

That happens a lot people look at the first post and then answer a question that was asked 15 years ago and answered 14 and 7/8 years ago.

 

[mike holcomb]

We have 2 older Kubota KX121-3 Machines with over 14k hrs, they start back at 0 again after 9999. 10k lb Machine but they run and run with minimal upkeep

 

[MovingRox]

We have 2 older Kubota KX121-3 Machines with over 14k hrs, they start back at 0 again after 9999. 10k lb Machine but they run and run with minimal upkeep

Yeah I looked at a kx161-4 and ended up with a tb145

 

[David_Johnson]

You didn't read the thread it would seem. He bought a nice sized Takeuchi - TB145, about 5T. It's an ideal machine for his property, and doesn't have the stigma of hard to get Chinese parts.

My bad for not reading the whole thread! Yeah, the TB145 is a solid choice. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[masterwelder]

For reference, My Kubota 057-5 will lift a 8’ tonka over the side.