Mini excavator

[VroomVroom]

Was wondering if anyone had experience using one of these. I dug the side of my garage out, but not sure if I know the rate I could dig a hole. I'm talking about a mini with rubber tracks, but still in the 7000lb range like the 302.7 cat, or the E26 bobcat or 26 G john deere and equivalents. I want to dig a hole 30 x 40 feet for example, 8 feet deep using one of these and a dump trailer. how long would it take to do this? The reason I ask is because they charge so much for ground work, I don't know if it wouldn't be just as well buy a unit of these size, 50000$ Canadian dollars and do it myself. I am not home at the moment, but will likely get a quote when I get back home just to see the price. But I know I got stone laid on a driveway, maybe 3 inch blast rock and it cost me 9000$ for about 200 to 250 feet driveway. So I can only imagine if I wanted them to dig a foundation hole 6 to 8 feet deep.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I would really consider buying a $15,000-$20,000 used machine, do the dig and sell the machine for +$2,000 when your done.

Buy it right, use it light, give it a "detail for retail" used car dealer level cleaning and kick it out the door for at least what you paid. Heck, sell it for a grand or 2 more. People will over pay for shiny things.

 

[LouNY]

How much can you haul in your dump trailer?
A 30x40x8 is 9600 cu ft or over 350 cubic yards.
How many loads, how far are you going to haul, going to level?

 

[sea2summit]

How much can you haul in your dump trailer?
A 30x40x8 is 9600 cu ft or over 350 cubic yards.
How many loads, how far are you going to haul, going to level?

This^

More about the spoil then the actual digging in this scenario.

 

[plowhog]

I had a pile of dirt left over from cutting in my driveway. I thought: no problem, I have a front end loader and a dump trailer. Gawd that took an incredible number of trips. It was very deceiving ... and the dirt removal was waaaaay more effort and number of trips than I expected.

 

[finn1]

I bought a Deere 26G late last summer to do some work around the property. I really couldn’t cost justify it, but consider it another toy, like my boat, side x side, dumtruck, and fifth wheel.

My work scope involved a lot of trenching and drainage projects, so I selected the mid sized bucket. It’s something like 16”, I think.

All of my property is sand, so it performs well.

For digging what sounds like a large basement as you describe, you really need a larger bucket. You have to consider the geology of your site, too. With difficult geology, I think the 26g sized machine would struggle with a larger bucket.

My option was a 35G machine with extended reach, 24” bucket, a heated and air conditioned cab, and power swivel blade, all for an additional $15k. It would have had better resale, but I choked on the extra cash outlay.

In the end, the open station 26G with the smaller bucket is a better fit for my use, but the larger 35G would be better for moving large volumes of fill or difficult geology.

Most small contractors here prefer the 35G or even the 50G or 60G sized machines, although one local guy has both a 17G and 60G and is amazed at what the little 17G can do.

 

[4570Man]

I’d be looking more towards a 50 series machine. If you had a second driver for the dump trailer you could move dirt pretty fast assuming it’s not going very far.

 

[Big Barn]

I’d be looking more towards a 50 series machine. If you had a second driver for the dump trailer you could move dirt pretty fast assuming it’s not going very far.

THIS^^^.

 

[finn1]

Agreed, the 50 or 60 series will make quick work of such a project, but if cost is part of the equation, he’s better off hiring the work out.

A 26Gopen station is in the neighborhood of $30k, a loaded 35 is in the low $40k ballpark, and I suspect the 50 is in the $50k range, although I didn’t price them because I felt it was too heavy for my soft and wet lakefront property.

The salesman, however, told me that he had just sold another retiree both a 60G and a CTL for personal use on his recreation property, so sometimes money is not part of the equation.

 

[Tomtint]

Was wondering if anyone had experience using one of these. I dug the side of my garage out, but not sure if I know the rate I could dig a hole. I'm talking about a mini with rubber tracks, but still in the 7000lb range like the 302.7 cat, or the E26 bobcat or 26 G john deere and equivalents. I want to dig a hole 30 x 40 feet for example, 8 feet deep using one of these and a dump trailer. how long would it take to do this? The reason I ask is because they charge so much for ground work, I don't know if it wouldn't be just as well buy a unit of these size, 50000$ Canadian dollars and do it myself. I am not home at the moment, but will likely get a quote when I get back home just to see the price. But I know I got stone laid on a driveway, maybe 3 inch blast rock and it cost me 9000$ for about 200 to 250 feet driveway. So I can only imagine if I wanted them to dig a foundation hole 6 to 8 feet deep.

Forgive me if I wrong.. but I think you may only need to go down below the frost line to pour the foundation...not the entire size of the slab... if this is the case... it should not take even a whole day and the spoils would be minimal.. and probably pretty easy to loose onsite.