Bh77 vs mini excavator / excavator size

[Omega Woods]

Can you dig with a tractor mounted BH? Clearly @PA452 has done some outstanding work with his. You have a lot of digging to do, @Kapster and I think you'd be happier with a Mini Ex. I have a Bobcat which I bought slightly used last year. I looked at a bunch of brands and landed on the Bobcat for the quality and price. I would choose the Tak 216 but either the Kubota or Deere are fine machines as well. I bought a BH with my Branson and it works fine but any tractor mounted BH is a pain to use in my opinion.

 

[Kapster]

Well it took awhile but finally landed a decent deal on a 2017 tb216. Brought it home Wednesday, haven't had time for much except putting it in the barn.

Any opinions on quick hitches? It has a tag adjust a hook coupler / bucket and a thumb. The 18" bucket it came with is, I believe, a size to large (didn't know this but a range of bucket sizes will fit a coupler size).

I don't really care for the tag, they always seem so loose but the advantage is they're compact so you don't loose power. The pin grabbers are interesting but they do reduce breakout force, would this be noticeable? I would like to get a couple other buckets, since I'll probably sell this bucket either way it doesn't make a huge difference.

I saw a dealer video talking about their house brand coupler for these that make it a deere wedgelock. That's another option.

would it make sense to keep the tag or go with something else?