Excavator v. Skid Steer for Hobby Farmer?

[houska]

Oversimplifying:

• Miniexcavator: digging and grasping stuff at awkward angles
• Skid steer: carrying stuff, and making almost flat stuff even flatter

The ex would help you more with trees (pushing them down and moving bits of them around, minus the big logs) while the skid steer with moving around your tools and brush hogging, etc.

If you can afford it, and have the space, you might be happiest selling the tractor and getting a skid steer AND a mini ex to replace it. Two machines, not 3.

If, like most of us, you're constrained on $ and space, I'd start by spec-ing out the best machine of each kind you could get within those parameters, and then check what its limits will be on all those operations you're talking about.

For instance, a mini ex can lift stuff and move it around too, but check the lift capacity (pay attention it varies based on how much the arm is extended and whether over the front/blade or side) and ask yourself if you can live with the small travel speed. And a skidsteer can do all sorts of stuff with the right attachments, but will you have the $ and space left over to get them? (SS attachments are more heavy duty than tractor ones and cost a pretty penny).

You call yourself a "gentleman farmer who doesn't grow crops". I'm a hobbyist landowner/managed forest maintainer (few people would call me a gentleman ) which sounds a bit similar, though in very different terrain. I currently have a 42 HP tractor and am in the market for a miniex (after trying a few). Were I doing it again, I'd skip the tractor and get miniex+skid steer, but given where I am and what I'm doing for me right now the miniex is the better upgrade.

You don't mention a backhoe attachment for your tractor. That sorta would help with digging, if you ever need to do that, but it's a lot less powerful and less maneuverable than a miniex. (Just like the front end of a tractor is less powerful and more awkward than a skidsteer.)

 

[mikester]

Excavators aren't really meant for travelling with loads. If your goal is to take out big trees and dig holes you can't beat a 25-30 ton excavator with thumb.

Skidsteers are cheap power and have brutal pogostick ride and poor operator comfort - wear a kidney belt if you get one. CTL's tend to have a better ride and better lift capacity. Both machines are like sitting in a milk crate with poor visibility and your only exit is under the load. I personally feel like I'm in a death trap operating these machines.

A full sized construction TLB would be my preference over an M59/M62, especially if you already have a tractor. I'd look for a late model CAT 420IT as a general purpose farm machine. If you need to work in tight spots all the time the CTL would be better.

The compact telehandler looks like a great option if you are into house construction and need high lift.

 

[Jims1025R]

A mini excavator does not "handle" stuff well, but for

for removing stumps and rocks, digging, and knocking trees over.

It's as good as you can get. Particularly for removing stumps, nothing can match it. If you can't pull it out, you can take your time, and dig it out. I bought a used John Deere 15 mini ex in 1998, and have put more than 3000 hours on it since. Between that, and my new JD 1025R, I can do all the jobs around the property I could want. The mini ex is slow to get from A to B, so I plan. Otherwise, I could not be happier with it.

I've used skid steers - great for "handling" stuff, and in tight quarters. If that's what you need, it's a different job, so you need the different tool!

 

[rScotty]

So what's the better second machine for a gentleman farmer who doesn't grow anything but needs to dig and move stuff?

THe question you ask is one we hear a lot. Like a lot of TBNers we find ourself doing more land maintenance and landscaping and little traditional farming. For us, lifting and digging - and especially a hoe with a thumb - are what we want.
It might be a telehandler, excavator, or skid steer.... or it might be a mid-size TLB. The TLB is the solution several of us have come up with but they aren't as well known as tractors. A TLB is a purpose built machine and made much heavier than a tractor with BH & FEL accessories. On a TLB the 3pt hitch is the accessory, not the FEL or BH.

Construction companies are well aware of TLBs, it's the common yellow "backhoe" you see on every work site.

Kubota is the only company making a homeowner type mid-size TLB, but luckily they make a good one in 3 sizes.

rScotty

 

[Xfaxman]

The compact telehandler looks like a great option if you are into house construction and need high lift.

Not into house construction, but lifted the 40' long steel trusses for a friend's 40x60x14 equipment shed:

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

The trees shown in the burn pile photos are skinny. I burn stuff like that all the time, and they burn fast, but the fat logs are harder to get rid of, and the longer they are, the harder they are to burn.

I would not want a backhoe attachment for my current machine, because people who use them say pretty unflattering things about them. A TLB would be a different story. It would have to have an SSQA, though.

I would not use an excavator to MOVE trees. The tractor works for that. My hope for an excavator or telehandler is that it would knock trees over.

I have trees near my house and shop. They will need to be taken down. I would be lucky to find someone here to do it for less than $800 per tree, even if I buck them and move them. Also, the local tree people charge extra for stumps. If I could knock trees over, I could push them away from structures. The roots would be out of the ground, so I wouldn't have to deal with removing stumps the hard way.

I think I'm going to cut some trees and then rent an excavator to see what it can do with the stumps. While I'm at it, I can have a go at the two rocks I hate the most. Even if I can't move the rocks, I could clear the dirt around them so I could use wedges and feathers to break them into manageable pieces.

 

[dfkrug]

....so I wouldn't have to deal with removing stumps the hard way.

I wonder why more folks don't either cut the stumps off flush to the ground, and/or burn them in place. Since you seem to be allowed to have burn piles where you are, can't you have multiple burn piles on top of stumps?

Too bad the old way (dynamite) is rarely allowed. In the 40s and earlier, I am told, you could buy it at your local hardware store.

 

[M59]

The trees shown in the burn pile photos are skinny. I burn stuff like that all the time, and they burn fast, but the fat logs are harder to get rid of, and the longer they are, the harder they are to burn.

I would not want a backhoe attachment for my current machine, because people who use them say pretty unflattering things about them. A TLB would be a different story. It would have to have an SSQA, though.

I would not use an excavator to MOVE trees. The tractor works for that. My hope for an excavator or telehandler is that it would knock trees over.

I have trees near my house and shop. They will need to be taken down. I would be lucky to find someone here to do it for less than $800 per tree, even if I buck them and move them. Also, the local tree people charge extra for stumps. If I could knock trees over, I could push them away from structures. The roots would be out of the ground, so I wouldn't have to deal with removing stumps the hard way.

I think I'm going to cut some trees and then rent an excavator to see what it can do with the stumps. While I'm at it, I can have a go at the two rocks I hate the most. Even if I can't move the rocks, I could clear the dirt around them so I could use wedges and feathers to break them into manageable pieces.

If you plan on breaking rock, like below pic, with wedges and feathers then plan on buying twice as many as you expect to need and have 2-3 wood splitting wedges handy to really widen the cracks since the rock splitting wedges wont create big enough seam to get hoe teeth into.
Also plan on a rotary hammer with a few spare carbide tipped bits because bits do twist off near the cutting head. You will also ned a generator to power the drill unless you have a 4/0 power cord because the 1255 draws a lot of amps. Attached pic is a 15 ton rock split into 2 ton parts and moved out of creek bed to provide for less turbulent water flow.

This was 6 hour job.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I agree. I have a jackhammer, a rotary hammer, carbide bits, and wedges.

Never thought about using wedges to open the rock up. That's fantastic advice.

 

[M59]

The trees shown in the burn pile photos are skinny. I burn stuff like that all the time, and they burn fast, but the fat logs are harder to get rid of, and the longer they are, the harder they are to burn.

I would not want a backhoe attachment for my current machine, because people who use them say pretty unflattering things about them. A TLB would be a different story. It would have to have an SSQA, though.

I would not use an excavator to MOVE trees. The tractor works for that. My hope for an excavator or telehandler is that it would knock trees over.

I have trees near my house and shop. They will need to be taken down. I would be lucky to find someone here to do it for less than $800 per tree, even if I buck them and move them. Also, the local tree people charge extra for stumps. If I could knock trees over, I could push them away from structures. The roots would be out of the ground, so I wouldn't have to deal with removing stumps the hard way.

I think I'm going to cut some trees and then rent an excavator to see what it can do with the stumps. While I'm at it, I can have a go at the two rocks I hate the most. Even if I can't move the rocks, I could clear the dirt around them so I could use wedges and feathers to break them into manageable pieces.

How many trees are you talking about? What is the largest dia at ground and the average dia of the entire group of trees. Do you know the tree species since some have roots that spread out at ground surface and others have tap root that goes almost straight down? What kind of soil are these trees in. Clay only, sand with clay, sand only. All these make a difference as to what equipment is best to remove trees.

I would caution you on trying to push over a tree any taller than 30-40 feet or larger than 8 inches in diameter. There are many youtube videos of fools who tried this with excavators and skid steers only to have tree fall back onto the machine. Squish. It is all about leverage. When pushing on a tree trunk of any height over 30-40 feet, the pushing force tends to push shallow rooted trees sideways and then the tree pivots at the point of contact and falls back onto the machine.

When I am using the M59, I will cut a tree at 4 feet above the ground and drop it in intended direction. Now I have a 4 foot high lever to use when I want to remove the stump. Some time it will uproot just by pushing the stump away from me and then pulling towards me. If not I dig and break roots that become obvious by the above action. Any tree less than 6 inches I pull out of ground with the thumb on backhoe. I have removed oak, hemlock, popular, and siberian elm up to 40 inches in dia with the M59.