How hard is it to learn to use a rental mini-excavator?

[m7040]

I got a small Kubota X KX033-4 with cab that I use in retirement to make up for being old and not as capable as I used to be. Now 82. But took me a good amount of time playing with it to get it to be second nature. Sure I could lift things, dig out stumps etc but took time. Now it goes fast and easy because it is in the memory bank.
Dug out a few big pine stumps and since I had left 4 ft of the trunk it was able to get leverage to pull it over and break the roots after digging around it.
The thumb is used all the time for lifting trees branches etc. Pushing over trees is surprising easy up to a certain size.
The 36 inch bucket is very useful and can smooth or move dirt fast
I even use it for gardening
not cheap to buy but I can likely sell it for close to what I paid for it if I wanted

 

[Geoffm]

I have a New Zelaand made Tracgrip RM25 backhoe on a Massey Fergusson MF50 (a MF165 based industrial tractor). It is a chunky 40 year old large commercial backhoe about the size of a JCB 3cx or a large Case. I also have a 5.8T Mitisibishi excavator, but that wasn't running when I needed it. They have different controls and it takes quite a while to get used to swapping from one to the other.
I recently took out 8 smallish trunks in a day (in a machine I use once in a while). a 1.7t trailer mini ex would have done it but would have struggled with some.
I had another one a few weeks ago, say 300-400mm diameter that was not coming out. I dug down a long way all aroudn, and in the end I had to cut through the roots with a chainsaw and then it came out, and buried the rest. Didn't do the chain any good...
I think a stump grinder would be faster. Mini ex if you have other earthwork to do or grind the stumps then tidy up with the mini excavator.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Another vote for grinding them. I had a friend pull out a few stumps with a backhoe, with my rocky soil it took about three times as long to clean up the mess as it took him to pull them. I couldn't get all of the rocks to go back in the hole, so I had to figure out a way to get rid of them and then find some dirt to fill the hole.

I rented a grinder and did about 20 stumps of various sizes in a day.

 

[dodge man]

This thread reminds me of scene from the movie Moneyball. Brad Pitts character is trying to talk a player into switching positions and playing first base for them. “It’s really easy, nothing to it”. At the same time another coach is saying “it’s extremely difficult, it’ll take a lot of work”.

 

[eKretz]

This thread reminds me of scene from the movie Moneyball. Brad Pitts character is trying to talk a player into switching positions and playing first base for them. “It’s really easy, nothing to it”. At the same time another coach is saying “it’s extremely difficult, it’ll take a lot of work”.

Well, isn't that about the gist of it? Everyone learns and adapts at different speeds. For some, it's jump in and go after 5 minutes. For others, it's very slow going, and tedious. I've been lucky and always fit into the former part of that range.

 

[MoKelly]

This thread reminds me of scene from the movie Moneyball. Brad Pitts character is trying to talk a player into switching positions and playing first base for them. “It’s really easy, nothing to it”. At the same time another coach is saying “it’s extremely difficult, it’ll take a lot of work”.

Great movie. One of Brad Pitts best.

 

[Rockbadchild]

id say it depends, I've never been good with multi function joystick but I get good quickly on the old single action stick spool... some people get it fast some not as fast... but the cost of a operator can buy you many hours...what you have to do is not very technical so I would go for it if I was you, the main thing is be good before you try to be fast... speed will come once you get good.

 

[johncanfield]

Another vote for grinding them. I had a friend pull out a few stumps with a backhoe, with my rocky soil it took about three times as long to clean up the mess as it took him to pull them. I couldn't get all of the rocks to go back in the hole, so I had to figure out a way to get rid of them and then find some dirt to fill the hole.

I rented a grinder and did about 20 stumps of various sizes in a day.

Let me say right off the top that I'm a fan of grinding stumps depending on their location. The problem is after several months you are left with a depression where the stump was ground into little bits. If it's in a field that's no big deal, but in turf/lawn - big deal (for me anyway.)

 

[Rockbadchild]

Also depending on the type of trees grinding it is not a good idea ... like poplars or willows every roots will sprout again so you are better digging it out... for spruce or pine its not a problem. So that's a consideration to take in that decision.

 

[TimberFarm]

Also depending on the type of trees grinding it is not a good idea ... like poplars or willows every roots will sprout again so you are better digging it out... for spruce or pine its not a problem. So that's a consideration to take in that decision.

Not to mention there is still a lot of termite food left. Middle of field, no worry. Anywhere near a structure, no thanks.