Newbie Deere 26G vs 35G worth the upgrade? Cab's worth it as well? 8000 lb max tow

[Shawk]

Hey guys...

We picked up an 80a piece this spring. There are two 2 acre ponds and another 15+ acres brush, trees, rough fence lines and so on. Initially I planned to put a backhoe on our Deere 3520 but have decided to just get a mini instead of paying the 11k for this backhoe and thumb. Together with the 3520 I think it'll be a nice combo to get things cleaned up. My tenant does have a large backhoe and small dozer for the big stuff but I don't want to overly rely on them with what I can do.
Deere has a 17 mini which specs out a little better than the BH for our compact tractor but clearly the 17 should be much faster... but then we get into the 25/26 series and the 35 series. That 35 should be a bit of beast and I think would do fantastic for us. But I'm thinking the 25/26 series will likely do every thing we'll need. So of course the question is how much better is the 35 and is it worth the jump? We're limited to a 8000 lb machine for towing. An open station standard arm comes in right around there. A 26 open or cab with long arm comes in around 6500-7000 so either machines will work. Cab on a 35 is to much...

Looking both new and used... the crazy thing is the used market is so high we may just buy new (which we rarely do on anything)...

1) Suggestions on the machine sizes?? I know bigger is typically better, but don't know if it's needed this time around... that 26 I'm assuming should be a pretty good machine.
2) Cab runs an extra $3200... well worth it?
3) Bucket size??? Soft Iowa farm land.... I plan to not out get trees out but also close off a pond that had a side breached by the creek that runs through... also plan to clean up the edges around the ponds as well. 18" for the 25 and 24" on the 35?? Or an I get a little bigger on each of the machines? I would like to but don't want to overkill it to much...

Thanks!!

 

[boggen]

your going to be out in middle of sun. if cab does not have a/c... then make sure you can take off the windows and doors. or you will be banging your head on them. and listening them rattle and be in constant sweat puddle. how is the glass on the cab. are you going to be getting a lot of glare from the glass. and/or does it off some better shades / blinds to keep sun out of your eyes?

i hate wearing sun glasses, i hate hats, and i hate glass that causing bunch of glaring. if i am going for a full day or more. i am bound to have to stop due to "glare" from sun. i am always looking down, so something to keep my noggin from cooking into a lobster. if sun is just right i work for an hour or so in another spot then come back and i can see again if it is shinning directly into my eyes.

are you going to be in trees removing root balls. and taking out windows, lights, etc... on a cab via other trees nearby?

if you going into he mud / pond edge. are you confident you can deal with bringing in some mats / tree logs to use as mats. to get yourself unstuck?

is the wider stance more to your advantage than a smaller width unit? getting into trees. or stuck in mud and tipping machine over some to get a log or mat under it?

the more clearance under the machine the better within reason. but with you dealing with mud/pond that you will and could sink in. more clearance more likely the better for you?

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buckets...

there is a trenching buckets. 8 to 10" inches or so. and then a wider buckets for physical moving material / dirt. and then a larger wider bucket for like a FEL (front end loader) on a tractor.

trenching bucket = trenching gas, water, electrical, internet cables.
20 to 30" bucket i see more in physically digging out a basement, or a hole, or dealing with tree stumps.
36" to 48" and wider... material handling and moving, and not much digging. (inserts tractor FEL width buckets not really good at digging)

--trenching buckets good enough more of a special type of bucket.
--wider buckets might be better served with "teeth" so you can break through hard pans, snag a tree root. better able to grab some branches with a thumb. vs having branches slide off a clean cutting edge bucket.

weep holes / anti suction holes / let water out holes. with dealing with pond / muddy water, or just plain sticky wet mud. having the correct holes and position of holes within the bucket can mean difference between uncurling bucket, and watching it fall out. or bouncing you and machine around as you jolt the uncurl/curl of bucket to get mud to fall out. wider buckets less likely for mud to fully stick clear across the bucket, but the bottom and and right at the sides the dirt can still stick pending on shape/design/hole placements.

some buckets have a nice flat bottom (bottom side of bucket). while others tend to be all roundish. what makes sense for compacting dirt with bottom side of bucket? myself nice flat bottom. and then curling bucket more and using the back side near the pins if i need to pounce on an area a bit more.

buckets to excavators, are like 3pt hitch attachments for tractors. pick and choose for correct tool for the job.
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reaching vs digging depth.

i more likely put emphasis on reaching length. than depth. having remove some trees from a creak area / run off area. and having to set TLB (tractor loader backhoe) further away or less i would fall down into the creak. reaching was a struggle. and kept forcing the TLB to move back/forth from the edge.

reach as far as digging a pond/swimming pole. or like. the extra reach = move the dirt removed that much further away. (larger pile of dirt made beside the hole)

couple extra feet might mean difference between getting bucket out there further. or creating a "hill under water" reaching out so you can get 4 feet depth or deeper below water level, from bank edge and not fall in. will that extra couple feet be worth it?

reach as far as dragging dirt back into a trench / hole. *shrugs*. your in a excavator / mini ex. they are are more maneuverable than a TLB. your more likely to move machine, so you can get better angle of attack to compact some dirt. than run out of reaching to bring dirt back in to fill a hole/trench. at least that is how it is with me.

 

[Shawk]

Awesome stuff Ryan! Thanks a ton for the time to put this together... Looking at videos online now and it's crazy how much even the little intro 17D can do! I think this is the way to go over the backhoe (for us) the more I research. Even more so if I can move dirt as quick as this guy is doing with his 17D. john deere 17d excavator - YouTube

 

[boggen]

Awesome stuff Ryan! Thanks a ton for the time to put this together... Looking at videos online now and it's crazy how much even the little intro 17D can do! I think this is the way to go over the backhoe (for us) the more I research. Even more so if I can move dirt as quick as this guy is doing with his 17D. john deere 17d excavator - YouTube

thumbs down on video. i only watched 1st minute of video. might of loaded it quicker with FEL, with that loose pile of dirt. the general duty bucket of tractor most likely would of sunk completely into the pile of dirt without much effort. a little work to curl bucket as you go into pile to get a heaping bucket of dirt. were there is a mound of dirt above the edges of the bucket. ya... i cheat with the TLB i have. dig out a spot i want dug out, make a pill of dirt with backhoe. then run the FEL bucket into the pile to actually move the dirt some place.

the ford 333c TLB, 4 cylinder diesel, i was running out of hydraulic pressure / lifting capacity and causing pressure relief valves to open up on me. dealing with root balls of trees.
--get that bucket in a narrow trench. and try to scrape little bit of the side (side scrapers on buckets can also be had), and go into pressure relief.
--trying to raise a concrete pad up so you can drop it and bounce it to crack the pad up. = going into pressure relief.
--trying to grab a tree you dropped, and chopped the top off. and just using the hoe, you can quickly go into pressure relief.
--trying to dig into and through a gravel driveway during dry hot summer, to put a trench in = going into pressure relief.
--pulling out some wooden fence posts = going into pressure relief. more so the stubborn ones that have suction going for them and holding them down in the ground.
--trying to pull a tree and/or just tree limb out further so you can better chain it up to rear of tractor and pull it someplace else. (going into pressure relief)
granted this is a TLB. and not a mini ex. but still running out of pressure to grab a hold of and dig. and going into pressure relief.

look at the breakout force along with max weight lifting capacity.

 

[Shawk]

lol... yeah, the video wasn't the greatest other than I don't think of these machines as material movers and it actually was decent. FEL... much faster.

More good stuff... thanks Ryan!!

 

[Shawk]

Anyone else have opinions on these mini's? I just discovered there's a 30g added to the lineup...

 

[bspeedy]

I have a Kubota U25 - 5600 lbs with open station. Currently looking for something a bit bigger - maybe 8-10k lbs. A cab would be worth 3 grand to me any day. In fact, I've been eyeing a larger cabbed machine on craigslist.

I'd advise you to get the biggest machine you can afford, store and haul. That said, even a small mini ex will dig circles around a tractor mounted BH. Just the maneuverability makes it so much better. 5 to 6 feet wide is a nice size.

You are making the right choice with the mini ex. You won't want to be without it after you've owned one.

 

[Shawk]

I have a Kubota U25 - 5600 lbs with open station. Currently looking for something a bit bigger - maybe 8-10k lbs. A cab would be worth 3 grand to me any day. In fact, I've been eyeing a larger cabbed machine on craigslist.

I'd advise you to get the biggest machine you can afford, store and haul. That said, even a small mini ex will dig circles around a tractor mounted BH. Just the maneuverability makes it so much better. 5 to 6 feet wide is a nice size.

You are making the right choice with the mini ex. You won't want to be without it after you've owned one.

Thank you! Leaning towards the 35 now...

 

[redman135]

Are you going to use a swivel head? See Site Map | Helac Corporation
The quick change feature alone makes bucket change a breeze, so you are more likely to use the correct bucket, and the tilt means that you can make a tidy batter on the pond walls that would be much slower and more difficult with a fixed head bucket.

 

[finn1]

Reviving this old thread, but I need help deciding between these two (26G and 35G) machines also.

I sold my skid steer (which was a mistake, but I had it for ten years and recouped my entire investment) and bought a Kioti ch4010 with a loader, snowblower, and box blade. It痴 fine for snow removal, but is no match for my old Deere 240 skid steer for dirt work. I have several projects lined up that require trenching and drain tile on two lake properties, and my shop, which is a mile away, as well as some stump removal.

I have decided that an excavator is the right tool. I could buy a backhoe attachment for th Kioti, but it will struggle removing any stumps based on the specs.

I also looked at a used JCB 214 TBL, but the weight of the machine scares me for working near the lake. The price is attractive, though, at $19.5 k.

I致e looked for used excavators in our area and have come up short, so I decided that a Deere 26G or 35g is in my future. The 26G is a bare bones open canopy model, while the 35G is a long arm with a cab and hydraulic swivel backfill blade.

The 35G as equipped, is around $19k more than the smaller machine, and has a little more ground pressure with its associated higher weight, but still better than a 4wd backhoe.

I値l probably only run the machine 300 hrs over a three or four year period, then sell it.

Local contractors overwhelmingly prefer a cab and slightly bigger machines, so resale will be better, or at least easier, with the larger machine.

I can transport the smaller machine on my current trailer, at least short distances. The bigger machine would require that I drive the mile to my shop, or buy a larger trailer, which is another several thousand dollar expense.

Rental is not an option, as I am retired and want to do these projects at my own pace and not be pressured to get the machine back.

I bought the old skid steer with the intent to sell it after a year or two... that extended to 10 years.

Any opinions out there?