Tractor and Excavator OR Tractor with backhoe...

[PAfarmer]

Mini Excavator and a tractor with a loader is the best combonation in my opinion. They are one of the most underrated peices of equipment in my opinion. I use mine daily for work and always bring it home from the job site for around the farm projects. Go with the kubota mini ex, they are the smoothest operating and the most reliable . I have owned many different brands.....Their KX line is a good place to start. My .02...LEt us know what you end up doing and best of luck.

 

[couchsachraga]

My current plan is to get what I think will be the ideal tractor, and perhaps get a BH for it short term. If it is all i need, I'm all set. If it isn't, once the tractor is paid off it'll be time to go excavator shopping. If I go that route I suspect I'll be looking at a 5-8 ton machine... trailerable won't make any difference for me.

 

[jenkinsph]

If that is the case you might wan't to consider keeping the older backhoe at least for a while and buying the tractor minus a hoe. Having used alot of various sized machines something worth noting is the extreme difference in reach. A small hoe means you have to get the tractor on top of the work whereas a fullsize hoe can reach quite a ways in between two trees as an example. Bear in mind you can still buy the hoe attachment if needed.

 

[couchsachraga]

The dynahoe gets used almost exclusively as a loader - other than pulling a few more stumps out I have not plans to use the hoe portion right now. I do need to put in a 850' waterline, but for that I was planning on renting (or hopefully using a friends who had offered) excavator, as it is too wet to get the Dynahoe in there.

I think I may start looking at tractors now (financing deal is certainly good) and only get a backhoe for it if my current one sells.

Looking at breakout force I've been surprised how "weak" a lot of the mini-ex's are. For similar breakout force as I'm used to looks like I'll be looking at an 8 ton machine. Not that I necessarily need that much grunt, but it surprised me none the less.

 

[jenkinsph]

I looked at lots of mini's back in 2004 or thereabouts and came to the same conclusion as you have. It takes a good sized excavator to match a full sized backhoe. For most of my plumbing jobs I don't need a large hoe, rather a small unit I can move cheaply and easily is more advantageous. The small 110tlb works great for this work.

I came very close to buying a Cat 304.5 mini ex and a Cat 902 wheel loader but this would involve multiple trips. While I prefer the separate excavator and wheel loader it was too inconvenient to make it work.

 

[VaughnB]

I just purchased a M59 it is very versatile with ability to switch from backhoe to 3 pt .hitch and all the skidsteer attachments for the front. I looked for the JD110's but they are now discontinued

 

[slowzuki]

A neighbour had a Case 580 and a 6 ton mini (midi?) The escavator could outdig the backhoe 2 to 1 easily, both with a 24" bucket. Not sure about max capacities though, just normal digging in shale/clay till.

 

[couchsachraga]

The Dynahoe has the breakout, but is a slow old dinosaur.

For now I've decided to wait and see if my friend wants to purchase it or not, and proceed with looking at tractors that would be "perfect" otherwise. I'll hold off on a hoe for it until the old beast goes, and then have more time to try and decide what might be best (485 hoe or midi-excavator). The more I think about it the less I seem to think I need a heavy duty hoe, though I'm sure if I had one (an excavator) I'd use it.

I started a new thread as I'm heading to the dealer on Friday...

Heading to the Deere Dealer Friday... - TractorByNet.com

 

[ManAtArms]

...Looking at breakout force I've been surprised how "weak" a lot of the mini-ex's are. For similar breakout force as I'm used to looks like I'll be looking at an 8 ton machine. Not that I necessarily need that much grunt, but it surprised me none the less.

From my informal research, it seems that most minis have a breakout force between 80-95% of the actual weight....for example it makes sense that a 11,000lbs. mini would have breakout force of 8000-9000lbs. I guess your breakout can't exceed your weight. I'm not sure if minis are rated differently than backhoes.

I think breakout also has something to do with how "long" the testing bucket is, i.e. a shorter bucket (including teeth) will have more breakout force. I bet not all manufacturers use a standardized bucket.

mark

 

[Dr_Zinj]

From my informal research, it seems that most minis have a breakout force between 80-95% of the actual weight....for example it makes sense that a 11,000lbs. mini would have breakout force of 8000-9000lbs. I guess your breakout can't exceed your weight. I'm not sure if minis are rated differently than backhoes.

I think breakout also has something to do with how "long" the testing bucket is, i.e. a shorter bucket (including teeth) will have more breakout force. I bet not all manufacturers use a standardized bucket.

mark

Hmmmm. An excavator with a breakout force greater than the weight of the machine would certainly expand the applications you could use it for. Push out of a hole, or do a vertical climb. Seems that there'd be some interesting military applications that might work for it.