mini / mid excavators

[Steppenwolfe]

View attachment 516286

KX-71 here. I use my mini ex for stumping, and mostly trail building. These machines seem to go about anywhere you feel safe to tread. Mine sips diesel and is extremely quiet. Nick named it " Little Joe "... might be on the small side, but has a big heart...

 

[Ortimber]

I have a KX-057 which is close to the size of a 60 Deere. It's an awesome machine although I can only compare it to a small backhoe that I had on a B3200 tractor. I find it's a little small for some of the oak stumps on my property, but there's never been one that has beat me.

If I had unlimited funds, I would buy and 80 series machine. I think that would be the perfect for my ranch.

 

[Snobdds]

That's a nice machine, but before I traded in my backhoe for an excavator, I would make sure that I had something else to move dirt from one place to another, or even to move the trees I dug out. I've found that digging is the easy thing, it's moving stuff over distance that eats up the time and causes most of my break downs.

That's right, a person still needs a front end loader to move buckets of dirt. I usually run the excavator and my dad runs the tractor.

 

[bdog]

Good points. I have a 100hp tracked skid steer and dump truck so moving dirt is no problem. I usually have a helper here so while one is on the excavator the other can be dealing with the spoils or just load directly into the dump truck.

The backhoe has been an awesome machine but for a lot of tasks it is a pain positioning it to where you can dig and load the dirt directly into the dump truck or even pile it in a convenient place. I just spent a couple hours digging down the ground around my driveway entrance as I am adding more concrete and widening it. It was so easy being able to rotate completely around. I had to go easy digging because I could slide the machine pretty easily on the concrete if not careful though.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Sometimes a 2 x 12 board between the steel tracks and steel deck of a trailor is a good idea to stop them from sliding. Have seen it done on concrete also to save damage to the concrete and help on sliding. Hard rubber stock trailor floor mats can help also.

 

[arrow]

View attachment 516286

KX-71 here. I use my mini ex for stumping, and mostly trail building. These machines seem to go about anywhere you feel safe to tread. Mine sips diesel and is extremely quiet. Nick named it " Little Joe "... might be on the small side, but has a big heart...

With an extended boom, what can these things pick up weight wise? Too small to lift 1700-1800 pound oak stem off a trailer?

 

[bdog]

I don't know about the little ones but the 60G will lift 8,345 lb 10' away from the center over the front (blade) or 3,284 lb 10' away off to the side.

 

[bdog]

I got use it some more today and ripped out part of my driveway. Only took about 30 minutes. Was three heaping dump truck loads to haul off. The original driveway here when we bought the place was only 3.5" thick with no rebar or wire. It is a wonder it held up as well as it did. We ran around 300 loaded to the max 18 wheeler belly dumps across it a couple of months ago when digging the pond. The 60G impressed me and I am going to try and make the trade happen.

 

[Tractorman46]

I had a JCB 8014 (1.5 tons) for 3 years (and 400 hrs) and sold it a couple of months ago. Next week I take delivery of a 2013 JCB 8025 (2.5 tons) with 1,100 hrs and new tracks. Certainly missed the excavator when it went but the new one will be even better for the extra power it gives (about double the breakout and lifting power) and the added stability of a wider track and extended blade. Also it's got 2 speeds which will make moving about my land quicker and the option of steering using pedals (handy when crossing trenches or ditches). An excavator and a tractor (with loader) give you a good capability. With the excavator to load the trailer there is no need to keep uncoupling and recoupling the trailer as I have had to do these past couple of months.
As a tip I would suggest ensuring you have a quick hitch of some sort so you can quickly change buckets. I find a 120 cm grading/ditching bucket, a 30 cm trenching bucket and a 40 cm digging bucket with a hydraulic thumb gives a good capability. The thumb is good for picking up wood or rocks - or anything else you fancy. The other tip is to practice so that movement is automatic. Particularly difficult to master is smoothing - that is adjusting the bucket as it travels out or back to keep the angle and the pressure constant.
Hope this helps anyone thinking of getting an excavator.

 

[kthompson]

Have only used tlb a little but have used a mini Volvo in same class as you are talking about. Would not trade for new tlb even money today. Too versatile, the 360 rotation is great, if machine is so plumb with right size hyd mower great for pond banks and such. It is not made for travel, I have loaded on trailer to move it a few hundred feet for that reason. Have moved many yards of dirt with hyd dump trailer behind tractor (hook into the tractor's hdy and use its remote) and there is no way a tlb can compete with excavator and dump trailer for speed there. Even if you load the trailer and get off it and onto the tractor to pull the trailer. Dump trailer is going to hold more plus while the trailer is making the run the excavator operator normally has work that they can do to be ready to load again such as clearing the area, leveling the area or digging a stump. On digging stumps, large ones, do so before the tree is cut and is much easier, the tree will provide a great leverage to pop the stump out. You will leave less footprint with excavator compare to tlb if in same class.