crazyal
Super Member
Here's my story, maybe it'll help you in your decision. I bought a large chunk of land on a hill with rocky soil. My plan was to buy something around the size of the M59 to dig holes and trenches for building a house. After a winter of thinking about it I ended up getting a used Case 580K backhoe with the intentions of selling it after the house was built and then shifting down to a compact with a hoe. I ruled out a small excavator because it would be too slow and a skid steer because they don't look like they would be fun operation on rough steep ground.
After owning the Case and reading about others doing things like removing stumps I realized that as good as the M59 may be a full sized backhoe would run circles around it. I have literally dragged rocks out of the ground that weigh almost twice what a M59 weighs. I have maples here that were 30" in diameter I had to pull the stumps out. When the house was built I never did sell the Case. The cost of a backhoe attachment of a compact tractor or getting the M59 vs something like my L4240 without one just make it close enough to a wash.
Over the years I have found too many projects (like building a stone wall out of boulders that probably weigh up to 2 tons) that I would have been able to do. That being said there's jobs, like grading the driveway and skidding logs that the Case just is the wrong tool. It's not nimble enough to work in tight trees. If the ground is really uneven it has the ground clearance but it throws you around. It's great for jobs like moving lots of dirt with the loader or heavy stuff like round bails. If I could only have one I would sell it for something like the M59 but I would miss it.
After owning the Case and reading about others doing things like removing stumps I realized that as good as the M59 may be a full sized backhoe would run circles around it. I have literally dragged rocks out of the ground that weigh almost twice what a M59 weighs. I have maples here that were 30" in diameter I had to pull the stumps out. When the house was built I never did sell the Case. The cost of a backhoe attachment of a compact tractor or getting the M59 vs something like my L4240 without one just make it close enough to a wash.
Over the years I have found too many projects (like building a stone wall out of boulders that probably weigh up to 2 tons) that I would have been able to do. That being said there's jobs, like grading the driveway and skidding logs that the Case just is the wrong tool. It's not nimble enough to work in tight trees. If the ground is really uneven it has the ground clearance but it throws you around. It's great for jobs like moving lots of dirt with the loader or heavy stuff like round bails. If I could only have one I would sell it for something like the M59 but I would miss it.
