Well you folks i finally did it.

[Taylortractornu]

I finally bought an excavator. I went to my greymarket dealer that i know and trust and he brought me a PC50uu excavator. Its in good shape no leaks after 12 hours of use and its still tight. I rented it to the company i work for with me running it and drawing salary. Its got a nice cab no AC though Ill install a fan and maybe later a mini rooftop ac. THe blade is also in good shape not bent or dented which means the finals are in better shape. I pulled a few oil samples before buying and no significant amounts were in it. They also stock parts that may be hard to find but so far every thing is eay to get for it. I looked at me rental bill for last year and it topped 10 000 dollars i gave 8500 for this hoe. Its gonna get the paint treatment of the later model Komatsu yellow and black and later a 2way remote hydraulic circuit for an auger. Now i need to set up my thumb template in my burner table and whip out a tumb and rake for the thing.
Ill try to post a few pics this week

 

[badranman]

Congratulations. Yes, please post some pics. I hope to be posting the same announcement in a week or two, but it will be a mini-x. I'm also getting a thumb, I just hope it isn't in the way.

 

[Taylortractornu]

Badranman I have a table burner i bought for the shop, Its handy making thumbs. I made a thumb for my old Ford TLB when i was 17 out of bar stock it works great for reoving debris and privett hedges. They are indespensible for tearing down barns and other itemes that neeed to be grasped. I made mine to pin on under the bucket the one for the excavator will share the same pin s the bucket and have a rabbit valve to run it. Ill also make on that pins on under the boom they both have good and bad points the pin on one will be easiwer to remove to save on fuel when loading trucks. What brand new or used do you have in mind. The PC50 I bought has a Komatsu motor that NAPA claims they dont have a cross over for but i carried it to a real NAPA and they measured the filter for me and found that one off a 2910 Ford tractor was an exact match.
Grey market equipment has a bad rep but here alot of folks have cross reference lists and so fourth.

 

[badranman]

I was looking at the Bobcat 430 4 ton. I used one to lay some drainage pipe last week. It seemed to work pretty good. I haven't tried all that many brands to be honest with you. My dealer is close by and treats me pretty good (skidsteer). The Cat seems overpriced and most other brands are too far away for my liking. I plan on using it mostly for drainage projects, stumps etc. small stuff around peoples houses. That's why I like the zero house swing. Seems like a good size too, not too small and not too big. I tore down a small shed when I did the drain job and yes I wish I had a thumb then!