Looking at Mini Excavators

[Greg_Phillips]

I am currently looking at mini excavators for my personal use around the house and our farm. Main uses would be digging out some bush stumps around the house, digging some drainage/tile ditches in some pastures, digging some foundations for a shop and other buildings in the future, and just other general digging chores. I am not married to any one brand, and am not sure what size machine I need. I would like to have a cabed machine, but that would not be a deal breaker.

Any of you have run these machines any and all opinions are welcome.

Thanks

Greg

 

[bstrom]

I think a lot of people might agree it's better renting one of those unless you are going to use it for a business. I hired a guy with a JD50 when I needed bigger stuff than my tractor would be doing and he was very talented with it carrying big rocks between the blade and bucket well as building a couple stone walls. They are quite pricey to have sitting around the farm but maybe that is not an issue.

Anyway maybe my answer will draw some attention to your post so someone can actually give you an answer.

 

[nobull1]

I have a Kubota KX-91-3 that is about 3.5 ton. My opinion is you would not want any smaller and a little larger could be an asset. The main reason people get small excavators is size. If your requirements don't need a small machine then all the better. The other side is too large just burns more fuel and cost more to repair and purchase. For what you are doing 3.5-5 ton would be a good size IMO so long as you are not in a major rock belt, if so larger would be better. All said a good dealer and ease of parts is a big deal. I would start by finding out what brand dealer gives the best support and who gives the worst and start from there.

My machine is used much the same as you will be using your's except I also do some landscaping as well. If you look at my info in my nobull1 personal info you can visit my website and see what we do with our machine.

 

[Kays Supply]

I have a Yanmar VIO-27. It isn't the smallest but for my needs it has served me well. I am a plumbing contractor. I use it to dig inside foundations and install water and sewer lines. At home I have used it basically as you describe. It out does itself every time I try something new. The one outstanding feature it has , is the hydraulic quick attach for the bucket. That aloan makes it stand out above the other three machines I had before it. I have 4 buckets and a hydraulic grapple. I can swap attachments in less than a minute while setting in my seat.

 

[drivadesl]

I've been looking at Mini Ex's also and considering those in the 4Ton range. Wondering how many owners of these wished they had gotten the enclosed cab or visa versa. I like the idea of AC in these machines in the summer months plus cuts back on noise and dust. Sorry don't mean to hijack this thread, but maybe the OP is also interested.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have a Yanmar VIO-27. It isn't the smallest but for my needs it has served me well. I am a plumbing contractor. I use it to dig inside foundations and install water and sewer lines. At home I have used it basically as you describe. It out does itself every time I try something new. The one outstanding feature it has , is the hydraulic quick attach for the bucket. That aloan makes it stand out above the other three machines I had before it. I have 4 buckets and a hydraulic grapple. I can swap attachments in less than a minute while setting in my seat.

That is some nice machine with a lot of options.

 

[Kays Supply]

Two of my last machines had cabs. The cabs did not have air. Heat was nice, but it was a greenhouse in the summer. I work with a crew when plumbing. The cab made it very hard to talk to them and hear them. It also was a problem to see to the sides and a little unsafe when working with a crew. If you are looking at a new one, cab and air is pretty pricey. I decided on a newer machine with out the cab, this time. If I used this machine day in and day out, the cab might be more important.

 

[Ken45101]

I bought a KX-121-3 (Kubota) last summer for use around the farm. Great machine. Wider and more stable than the KX-91 but light enough (8600#) to be hauled with a 1 ton dually.

No cab, and I haven't missed it. I don't tend to use it much in winter nor when it's raining. I prefer the openness. It's fairly quiet, so noise isn't an issue. Big $$$ to add the cab and heat/ac.

Ken

 

[Lt CHEG]

I'm starting to consider a used mini excavator or TLB myself. As I've started doing some work on my property I think I'm going to need more drainage help than I originally anticipated. So I will probably be digging more ditches than originally anticipated. Also I'm probably going to locate the house even further from the road and the utilities than I originally anticipated so that means more digging there too. I also have a couple of stumps that I'd like to remove that will be hard for me to pull out with my tractor due to their location. So I'm thinking about buying a used mini excavator and using it for what i need and then sell it. I can even use the excavator to dig the house foundation out. I know it will take a while to do it that way, but I'm not planning on actually starting construction on the house for well over a year, so if it takes me two weeks of nights and weekends to get my foundation dug with a mini excavator, so be it. If I factor in not having to rent a full size excavator for the foundation along with not renting a mini for all the trenching and drainage side projects then I should definitely be ahead of the game over the cost of renting all that equipment. Plus I have a fried that I used to work with that is always looking for someone with a backhoe or mini excavator to help him dig for water and sewer lateral replacement side jobs. I've helped him out in the past and a few $400 cash jobs for a Saturday morning's work would also go a long way to offset the cost of a mini excavator.

Oh I do have a question about looking at these machines as well? I'm pretty clear on what to look for with respect to track wear, but in general if a machine has a good 50% or more track life left and the pins and bushings all look pretty decent, and everything seems to run fine is 2,300 to 2,500 hours a lot of hours on a machine like a Kubota KX-71, 91 or 121, or say a Takeuchi 135? Thanks

 

[vettemanwight]

I bought a IHI 28J 5 yrs ago to do as you want to, did=g some ditches and dig out trees. Well I told the wife we would have it for 2 yrs get done what we want and sell it and get my money back..... well.... 5 yrs later and no plan in sight to sell itand its still worth about what I paid for it. The only problems was one injector and I changed all 3 for $100 and some hoses. I have also put 450 hrs on it so If you figure I paid rental of $20 per hr thats $9000 thats what I paid for it. So anything I sell it for is a +