Excavator Thoughts

[Turbys_1700]

Lots of great information here on this site. I have a question for you construction equipment experts.

The farm that I currently live on is approximatley 100 acres with 3 spring fed creeks running through them. Up until about 7 years ago my dad had cattle on it and I would like to put some back on it.

The creeks have large trees and need to be cleared and would take a sizeable excavator to do it. We have a Cat D4D Dozer and a nice 941B front end loader with 4-in-one bucket. Dump truck with trailer also.

I'm debating whether or not to purchase a used excavator or get one of our local equipment operators to do the excavator work as I could utilize the 941B to pile up the debris.

I calculate that it would take 30 days of excavator work to ge the trees out and stumped. That's gonna cost 30 grand. For that amount I could buy a decent unit and then sell it after the work is done. I am experienced in dozers and loaders but don't know squat about excavators.

What would you experts do?

Any input is appreciated.

 

[2310 guy]

I'm not an expert but if it were me I would buy the excavator and do the work my self. In 30 you won't be an expert but you will know way more than you did.

That just me thou.... If it were me I probably wouldn't sell it after I was done with it either.

Good luck.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a big fan of buying equipment, using it, and then selling it when I'm done. I've also found out that it takes allot longer to do it yourself, and allot more money. Keeping used equipment costs allot of money. If you have to hire any of the repairs, then allot of money can become a rediculous amount. That is if you can find somebody to do the work.

I have a buddy with a Case 1150 dozer that threw a track and needs some undercairage work. He hired a mechanic to repair it for him three years ago. Last month, he finally had it towed off his land and brought to a repair shop. It's still not running and he's got more into this repair then he paid for it. Three years of not being able to use it and he has no idea what the final bill will be when it's fixed.

My dozer had a massive hydraulic failure on both drive motors and the blade. I paid $400 to have it brought to the dealer, plus another $200 for them to tell me they "think" all three hydraulic pumps are bad. Cost is $20,000 each for just a replacement pump. Times three and labor and you have some rediculous numbers.

Luckily I was able to fix mine myself for next to nothing as the dealer was wrong in the problem. A year later, I blew up the engine and rebuilt it myself for about a quarter of what it would cost to have it done.

Sometimes buying isn't the cheapest way to get something done. When I have a small job, I almost always hire it out. My equipment is for long term use on projects on my land.

Eddie

 

[Builder]

Buy the excavator. Very simple to learn, but just be careful. Try some easy stuff with it first. I think you'll end-up using it for even more work than you think.

 

[Mike120]

Maybe I'm missing something, but with that many acres, why do you need to take the trees out around the creeks. You'll likely just create an erosion problem.....

 

[davidseaquist]

How much to lease one for 30 days ? David

 

[Turbys_1700]

Maybe I'm missing something, but with that many acres, why do you need to take the trees out around the creeks. You'll likely just create an erosion problem.....

I apologize for not being clearer. I don't want to take out all the trees around the creeks, just some of them.

 

[D7E]

Buy it,
I started selling fire wood a couple of years ago and wanted a dozer to clear stumps , Thought i was going overboard buying a D7e CAT as it turns out i'm now selling 200 cords a year(split) and i've cleared 70 acres of land which is ready to be burned and cultivated and it's amazing how much other work you find and custom work , This happened with my case 580 hoe too .
You never know what will happen ,if it don't work sell it nothing lost .

 

[Builder]

Whenever I got into a machine buying "size quandry" like that, I always tried to go bigger than I thought I'd need AND buy a machine that will re-sell easily in case I made a mistake. The only time I didn't do BOTH is when I bought my L-39 Kubota. I bought a smaller machine, but luckily when I realized it was too small, it was a pretty easy re-sell.

In other words, try to buy the next size up from what you think you need and buy a size or brand that's easy to re-sell.

 

[coopers]

You can't get much of an excavator for $30k.

Blake
WA