New Holland EC35

[Jnasystems]

Well this thing sure is the cats meow! I used it this weekend to knock down an apple tree that had seen better days and then removed the root ball. My wife told me it would have been faster to use the chainsaw to knock it down, but where is the fun in that? It also surprised me with how much it could lift. I have an old 500 gallon propane tank and was able to lift it and move it anywhere I wanted. I didn't like chaining it to the bucket though - any tips/suggestions on welding a hook to the bucket?

I also have some "needs" for more equipment - specifically buckets - I would like to find 3 used buckets, a 36" material bucket that I could also use for light grading, a 24" and an 18" bucket both with teeth for digging. Any ideas on where to look? Craigslist was sparse, and a google search turned up more excavators for sale than just buckets.

[wrench57]

Jnasystems, On our larger excavators the hooks that we had on them were attached up as high on the buckets as we could put them with depending on the weight going to be handled by the machine, we would use from 3/8" to 5/8" plate for backing material attached to the bucket first, then the hook attached to that. You have to be careful with this setup when digging in rock etc. to not curl the hook into the rock etc. while curling the bucket. Only suggestion that I can give you on buckets is to watch the auctions etc. or check with any equip. salvage yards that may be in your area. We have in the past purchased buckets that were not for our specific machine and rebuilt the ears to match what we were hooking to. The price on them at auction was almost give away prices so cost of converting them still made them a good buy.

[Builder]

Well this thing sure is the cats meow! I used it this weekend to knock down an apple tree that had seen better days and then removed the root ball. My wife told me it would have been faster to use the chainsaw to knock it down, but where is the fun in that? It also surprised me with how much it could lift. I have an old 500 gallon propane tank and was able to lift it and move it anywhere I wanted. I didn't like chaining it to the bucket though - any tips/suggestions on welding a hook to the bucket?

I also have some "needs" for more equipment - specifically buckets - I would like to find 3 used buckets, a 36" material bucket that I could also use for light grading, a 24" and an 18" bucket both with teeth for digging. Any ideas on where to look? Craigslist was sparse, and a google search turned up more excavators for sale than just buckets.

I would hit the local NH dealers.

[Jnasystems]

Well, I ordered an 18" digging bucket and a 36" ditching bucket - should be here next week. I think I will make a thumb.

The tank in the picture weighs about 1200 lbs I would guess. It can get a little tippy if I have the boom extended out, but handled it well. I had welded a lift lug on the bucket, but it wouldn't lift high enough to get the base under the tank, so I built an attachment point. I will get a picture of it and post it here too. It really worked out.

[Jnasystems]

Here is the pic of the lift point. Turned out better than I had hoped for my first implement. Next I will make the thumb.

The buckets I ordered came in too. Got a chance to play with them today too. Ripped out some stumps with the digging bucket and moved a bunch of dirt with the ditching bucket. Both performed better than expected. I love this thing. It can do way more than I ever thought it would. Maybe I will build a set of forks for it so it can lift shingles to the roof when I do that project next year.

[Jnasystems]

Ok, first problem with the machine, and I don't know how to fix it. I tried to grease the tracks and the grease gun didn't seem like it could push it into the zirk. It just built up pressure, then I couldn't get it off, finally it did come off, but with the ball part of the zirk still in the gun. I got the zirk swapped out and tried again and the gun is now stuck again. Am I going to have to take this track apart to clean it out?

[Bob Rooks]

What that scenario tells me is that it's been a loooooong time since that puppy was serviced. Zirk fittings just don't plug up overnight. Sorry.

You might want to check this out (worked for me):
http://www.alemite.com/catalog/detai..._jointcleaners
Click on the little icon for a pic.

[Jnasystems]

Well I found out why it was so hard to grease it - there isn't a place to grease the tracks - the zerk is there to tighten the tracks (oops). I loosened the tracks and tightened them to the proper tension. Thanks for the help though.

Makes me feel much better knowing it isn't broken. The bolts at the bottom of the under carriage didn't look like fun to have to remove.