Foxtrot08
Silver Member
I didn't dig the whole foundation, I just dug to fix a wall that was bowed in 3 inches, then put a floor drain.
I had limited space so I needed something small. I put it this way, when I back filled with gravel, I was using my 2305 since I didn't want to haul the skid loader from the farm - and I could BARELY make the turn to dump it straight.
It was about a 7 foot trench, about 3 feet wide.
My father did all the landscaping / work / etc around the farm with it when we built the new house. (Had a Komatsu PC200 to dig the foundation) but that little CAT worked it's tracks off. We laid 300+ feet of pipe with it, dug 1/2 mile trench for electric (seriously, 1/2 mile) with it. It's not the fastest - a bigger machine will do jobs much quicker - but it will get it done.
I imagine for most cases, a 5 to 7 ton machine would do everything that you want to do. Then if you're working in ultra-tight spaces, you can rent a 1.5-3 ton.
If you can budget it, an extenda-hoe for the machine would be awesome. And of course, a thumb is mandatory pretty much! Our ZTS 50 has a thumb and yeah... best investment ever. Moving large landscaping stones (Cut stand stone, big lime stones, etc) takes seconds, instead of hours. Grabbing stumps / downed trees / etc. Plus, I know our ZTS 50 has no problem tearing a building down. I can PM you a link of my father tearing my barn down with it.
We also put in about 200 yards of concrete - the area cut and leveled with the ZTS50 in solid stone, packed by semi's. And put a 3000 gallon oil/water separator in with it. A 3000 gallon tank is a bit much for it to lift and set, but it did it.
We've done a TON of work with it... but we've done a TON of work with the CAT too. But if I had to make a living off my equipment - a 5 ton would probably be ideal. You have the GPM to run different attachments too. A decent sized hammer, compactor, etc. Plus, you're close~ish to me - I assume you have the blue clay like I do.
I had limited space so I needed something small. I put it this way, when I back filled with gravel, I was using my 2305 since I didn't want to haul the skid loader from the farm - and I could BARELY make the turn to dump it straight.
It was about a 7 foot trench, about 3 feet wide.
My father did all the landscaping / work / etc around the farm with it when we built the new house. (Had a Komatsu PC200 to dig the foundation) but that little CAT worked it's tracks off. We laid 300+ feet of pipe with it, dug 1/2 mile trench for electric (seriously, 1/2 mile) with it. It's not the fastest - a bigger machine will do jobs much quicker - but it will get it done.
I imagine for most cases, a 5 to 7 ton machine would do everything that you want to do. Then if you're working in ultra-tight spaces, you can rent a 1.5-3 ton.
If you can budget it, an extenda-hoe for the machine would be awesome. And of course, a thumb is mandatory pretty much! Our ZTS 50 has a thumb and yeah... best investment ever. Moving large landscaping stones (Cut stand stone, big lime stones, etc) takes seconds, instead of hours. Grabbing stumps / downed trees / etc. Plus, I know our ZTS 50 has no problem tearing a building down. I can PM you a link of my father tearing my barn down with it.
We also put in about 200 yards of concrete - the area cut and leveled with the ZTS50 in solid stone, packed by semi's. And put a 3000 gallon oil/water separator in with it. A 3000 gallon tank is a bit much for it to lift and set, but it did it.
We've done a TON of work with it... but we've done a TON of work with the CAT too. But if I had to make a living off my equipment - a 5 ton would probably be ideal. You have the GPM to run different attachments too. A decent sized hammer, compactor, etc. Plus, you're close~ish to me - I assume you have the blue clay like I do.