Mini Excavator Brands, pros and cons?? Hours?

[streamin]

Looks like I may be looking at buying one, I've been reading and I always thought Yanmar was a cheap brand but it seems they have good engines. They seem to be priced a bit lower than most others. As far as all the rest, hard to choose. Any owners on here with any advice? And what is a decent hours meter reading? nothing over 2500 is kinda what I was thinking.

 

[5030]

Not sure, don't own one but I do work on them once in a while and the issue I see with used ones (and owned ones with moderate hours on them) is 2 things, first, the trunnions get sloppy from infrequent greasing which causes the movements to get real sloppy and hard to control and the buckets fail as in ripping side sheets and breaking off grouser teeth. Trunnions and trunnion bushings (if the have 660CA bronze bushings) are replaceable but do involve quite a bit of heavy work and if no bushings, new pins have to be machined or sourced and grouser teeth and mounts can be renewed but sheet rips require welding and sometimes material replacement depending on how bad they are.

If buying a used one, first thing I'd look for is jerky movement which indicates worn pins or bushings and then the look hared at the bucket for damage. The tracks and under carriage do wear out as do the drive motors but it's usually the stick that gets wonky first.

 

[M59]

Looks like I may be looking at buying one, I've been reading and I always thought Yanmar was a cheap brand but it seems they have good engines. They seem to be priced a bit lower than most others. As far as all the rest, hard to choose. Any owners on here with any advice? And what is a decent hours meter reading? nothing over 2500 is kinda what I was thinking.

streamin,

Any joint requiring grease is suspect so check for sloppy joints evident by banging or erratic movement. Machines get worked without proper maintenance because person operating the machine is paid to get job done and machine owner is not around to monitor if properly serviced.

Look up "Final Drive" since this is the really expensive expensive part that fails when hydraulic fluid is not properly serviced.

Buckets and bucket teeth are consumables as are rubber tracks. Expect a set of tracks to last a few thousand hours or less if used hard on pavement or rocky ground OR if operator is was hard on equipment.

If metal tracks are grousers ( metal cross bars ) worn down?

Does engine smoke after initial puff at start up?

I don't own Yanmar but have respect for the Japanese machine maker. Several friends own them and they are good quality machines.

Hope this helps.

 

[streamin]

That is good info to check, thanks for the tips. I thought the joints usually have a small bit of play just from watching other peoples machines. I am leary about a worn out machine and I'm sure they are not cheap to fix.

 

[Jchonline]

Looks like I may be looking at buying one, I've been reading and I always thought Yanmar was a cheap brand but it seems they have good engines. They seem to be priced a bit lower than most others. As far as all the rest, hard to choose. Any owners on here with any advice? And what is a decent hours meter reading? nothing over 2500 is kinda what I was thinking.

Yanmar makes good machines. Many other good brands out there as well. Most importantly is how said machine was maintained, and what type of parts support you have (ie bad idea to get a grey market machine or one where the company no longer has a US presence). Other than that Lots of choices.

What are you using it for?

 

[M59]

That is good info to check, thanks for the tips. I thought the joints usually have a small bit of play just from watching other peoples machines. I am leary about a worn out machine and I'm sure they are not cheap to fix.

streamin,

Side to side play is acceptable but other play ONLY results from wear of pin or bore bearing surfaces. Wear occurs due to either insufficient lubrication, wrong lubricant used OR use in aggressive sandy or salt water environments combined with poor lubrication.

 

[nova3930]

Pros: Fun to dig
Cons: $$$$

 

[streamin]

Yanmar makes good machines. Many other good brands out there as well. Most importantly is how said machine was maintained, and what type of parts support you have (ie bad idea to get a grey market machine or one where the company no longer has a US presence). Other than that Lots of choices.

What are you using it for?

Bought some property in NC mountains. so road building, maintenance, tree removal, etc. Lots of rocks to deal with.

 

[M59]

Bought some property in NC mountains. so road building, maintenance, tree removal, etc. Lots of rocks to deal with.

streamin,

Have you considered the larger Kubota TLB's L47, M59, M62?

I too live in western NC in the "mountains" ( Fairview, NC ) and use the M59 to maintain two driveways of 3/8 and 3/4 of a mile each. Grades exceed 20 degrees in places. Water erosion is a constant battle with 5 silt ponds in place to settle out silt before water drains away to local creeks. Helps keep the trout happy.

Cleared lots of land and removed acre plus of timber / stumps for utility buildings. Picture below of the rocks I find all over the property. Mouthful of Rocks in a 72" wide grapple. Can't put the hoe into the ground with adding adding more rock to the rock piles.

The "Bone" is in the bank just outside kitchen window. I have plans for house expansion which include moving this slab. This bad boy is too big for the M59 so I have been looking at KX 080's for moving the bank back, this slab, and other big earth moving jobs around the property. Something an excavator excels at BUT for general preperty maintenance, the larger TLBs are the cats meow.

 

[m7040]

Getting the right size machine for what you want to do with it is first order of business I would say. If in doubt start by renting to zero in your minimum size and options. Then go buy new or used. Any of the major brands will work and dealer support and distance wold likely determine brand

 

[M59]

streamin,

M7040's suggestion to rent first is valuable advice and one I should have included.

If you intend to exclusively use the excavator, if you chose excavator over a TLB, on unpaved areas then metal track is preferred since they last much longer and rubber tracks can be "thrown" even by experienced operators. Putting a thrown track back in place requires a second heavy machine to lift the excavator. Royal PITA.

 

[sea2summit]

Getting the right size machine for what you want to do with it is first order of business I would say. If in doubt start by renting to zero in your minimum size and options. Then go buy new or used. Any of the major brands will work and dealer support and distance wold likely determine brand

I'm in this camp. Especially since you may realize that with the right size machine you can get 90% of the chores done you need to and not have the machine sitting unused for the next XX years. I've owned two tractors with back hoes and when I need it there's no substitute but for the last several years I've only put it on once or twice a year and normally it's for a job that takes less than a few hour.

 

[streamin]

I'm in this camp. Especially since you may realize that with the right size machine you can get 90% of the chores done you need to and not have the machine sitting unused for the next XX years. I've owned two tractors with back hoes and when I need it there's no substitute but for the last several years I've only put it on once or twice a year and normally it's for a job that takes less than a few hour.

That is good to know, I have thought about buying a Bh for my Mahindra but I've weighed both sides of the pros and cons. Having a second machine has much more advantages (except cost), I will be building an old school log cabin so moving logs higher up and stuff like that is a no brainer with a mini ex. And jumping off one to the other is a lot better than taking the bh off to put something else on.

 

[streamin]

streamin,

Have you considered the larger Kubota TLB's L47, M59, M62?

I too live in western NC in the "mountains" ( Fairview, NC ) and use the M59 to maintain two driveways of 3/8 and 3/4 of a mile each. Grades exceed 20 degrees in places. Water erosion is a constant battle with 5 silt ponds in place to settle out silt before water drains away to local creeks. Helps keep the trout happy.

Cleared lots of land and removed acre plus of timber / stumps for utility buildings. Picture below of the rocks I find all over the property. Mouthful of Rocks in a 72" wide grapple. Can't put the hoe into the ground with adding adding more rock to the rock piles.

The "Bone" is in the bank just outside kitchen window. I have plans for house expansion which include moving this slab. This bad boy is too big for the M59 so I have been looking at KX 080's for moving the bank back, this slab, and other big earth moving jobs around the property. Something an excavator excels at BUT for general preperty maintenance, the larger TLBs are the cats meow.

That looks like the same stuff I will be dealing with. I haven't bought a grapple yet but I will have to. I mentioned in another reply about building an old school log cabin so I will need to do some digging quite often. I think my 50 hp Mahindra will be good for maintenance later on. You bring up a good point about the tracks, metal. I see most of them are rubber. But wouldn't rubber grab better in rocky stuff? I also was going to hire a couple jobs first off but 4 people were so high I could have paid for the machine almost. AND they were months behind in work. So many things to consider.....

 

[kthompson]

I own a 5 ton Volvo. Bought it used direct from Volvo. I like the machine; I don't like getting service on it. Nearest dealership is right at 100 miles away. So far have not been forced to hire them but have found a local mechanic who has helped me out. I am guessing it is near 20 years old and Volvo has issue with the computer control in those machines. At a $1,000 per unit (was $2,000) but they got lower price due to not having all the controls they original did.

I would first look at distant of dealerships. If I were buying to day would want CAT or Kubota in my area or John Deere. They each have establish dealerships in reasonable distance (less than 25 miles).

On needing the second machine to get a thrown rubber track back on, I have only had to reinstall due to taking them off for a repair and I did not have to have second machine. I use the boom to lift that side of the excavator and was able to handle the track myself with pry bar. Just be sure you back off the wheel that is apply the pressure to keep the track tight. Now, that is one machine and is a 5 ton machine. I am not saying that is true on all machines.

I have really enjoyed and used my a lot, for first few years. Today I would not buy most likely, I would rent by the week or month.

 

[JohnDeereJoey]

After using my backhoe for 20 years I switched to a mini excavator. The maneuverability and flexibility of the mini excavator far exceeds that of the backhoe.

 

[LD1]

When it comes to mini's, they all make a pretty good machine. Deere, yanmar, bobcat, kubota, cat, new holland, volvo, etc etc.

AS far as a used one, it all depends on how it was cared for. I have seen 2000hr machines that look and run like new, and I have seen 2000hr machines that are totally wore out. All good advise as far as checking the overall sloppyness of the machine and everything that moves.

And I know alot of people have the notion to avoid ex-rental equipment, but overall I found when I was shopping that they seemed to be in better condition for similar hours. Because they get rented a day or so at a time...then get a going through. They get greased ALOT and follow proper maintenance schedules. At least good rental companies. They tend to stay on top of keeping them in tip top shape. Because no one wants to rent a piece of equipment that has issues

 

[streamin]

When it comes to mini's, they all make a pretty good machine. Deere, yanmar, bobcat, kubota, cat, new holland, volvo, etc etc.

AS far as a used one, it all depends on how it was cared for. I have seen 2000hr machines that look and run like new, and I have seen 2000hr machines that are totally wore out. All good advise as far as checking the overall sloppyness of the machine and everything that moves.

And I know alot of people have the notion to avoid ex-rental equipment, but overall I found when I was shopping that they seemed to be in better condition for similar hours. Because they get rented a day or so at a time...then get a going through. They get greased ALOT and follow proper maintenance schedules. At least good rental companies. They tend to stay on top of keeping them in tip top shape. Because no one wants to rent a piece of equipment that has issues

I was always thinking to stay away from them just like a rental car, but you make a good point.

 

[mike69440]

streamin,

Have you considered the larger Kubota TLB's L47, M59, M62?

I too live in western NC in the "mountains" ( Fairview, NC ) and use the M59 to maintain two driveways of 3/8 and 3/4 of a mile each. Grades exceed 20 degrees in places. Water erosion is a constant battle with 5 silt ponds in place to settle out silt before water drains away to local creeks. Helps keep the trout happy.

Cleared lots of land and removed acre plus of timber / stumps for utility buildings. Picture below of the rocks I find all over the property. Mouthful of Rocks in a 72" wide grapple. Can't put the hoe into the ground with adding adding more rock to the rock piles.

The "Bone" is in the bank just outside kitchen window. I have plans for house expansion which include moving this slab. This bad boy is too big for the M59 so I have been looking at KX 080's for moving the bank back, this slab, and other big earth moving jobs around the property. Something an excavator excels at BUT for general preperty maintenance, the larger TLBs are the cats meow.

If I had to give up one piece of equipment, It would be my Komatsu PC75UU2 with blade and hydraulic farm. Our property would not look like it does without it, but at my at both my age and it's condition, given the current economy if it breaks bad, it will not get fixed. I've put +2,500 mostly happy hours on it, and now it averages 40-70 hours a year. My beefed up L39, modded to have same weight and loader capacity as the old L48 is my workhorse while the Max 28 handles the farm type duties. Still every year I find use of the old excavator, duck pond, walls, land clearing and logging, dozing, pulling rocks, and other stuff that would kill the L39.
If you have a 50 Hp. tractor, get an excavator in the 10-15 ton range. Darn handy tool.

 

[mike69440]

I own a 5 ton Volvo. Bought it used direct from Volvo. I like the machine; I don't like getting service on it. Nearest dealership is right at 100 miles away. So far have not been forced to hire them but have found a local mechanic who has helped me out. I am guessing it is near 20 years old and Volvo has issue with the computer control in those machines. At a $1,000 per unit (was $2,000) but they got lower price due to not having all the controls they original did.

I would first look at distant of dealerships. If I were buying to day would want CAT or Kubota in my area or John Deere. They each have establish dealerships in reasonable distance (less than 25 miles).

On needing the second machine to get a thrown rubber track back on, I have only had to reinstall due to taking them off for a repair and I did not have to have second machine. I use the boom to lift that side of the excavator and was able to handle the track myself with pry bar. Just be sure you back off the wheel that is apply the pressure to keep the track tight. Now, that is one machine and is a 5 ton machine. I am not saying that is true on all machines.

I have really enjoyed and used my a lot, for first few years. Today I would not buy most likely, I would rent by the week or month.

2n'd machine helps with thrown tracks. Just never throw a track. I've done it 3 times. Yuck!