First few months of ownership

[L47TLBwannabe]

So this past spring I bought my first piece of equipment a Kioti CK3510HST unlike many people here I bought it to start a business. I had nearly bought a used Kubota L45 last year with a full cab but chickened out as I wasn't sure if I could make payments through the long cold dark winter (I've been kicking myself ever since). So this spring I decided almost on the spot I was going to change that except for the backhoe bit. I looked at a Kubota L2501 and a L3901 and asked about the L47 for curiosity's sake. I had also looked at a couple New Holland tractors but in the end I went a little further down the road and tried out the Kioti that I know own. One of my reasons for turning down the backhoe attachment was how much more liability insurance was going to cost and because I don't really like how much flex there is in the Kioti backhoe sub frame. However I did buy the tractor with a loader which I have used on many jobs now, a box scraper, rotary mower, rototiller, and a 24" stump grinder. I also got the tractor with a full cab with heat and a/c mostly for protection against our nasty winters here. I've had a number of interesting jobs through the heat of the summer doing jobs like rototilling a dirt bike track as well mowing around it, spreading topsoil in people's yards, digging out a subgrade for a driveway, and some stump grinding. I also pulled a float in a parade for my neighbors/friends. lol So hopefully next year will be a little busier as my name gets around and I can grow the business and get myself in to my own mid-size excavator.

 

[Diggin It]

One of my reasons for turning down the backhoe attachment was how much more liability insurance was going to cost ...

OK, now I'm curious.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Easy to explain. Most commercial insurance policies go up dramatically if you include excavation and/or trench work in your business. Having a backhoe implies both are on the menu.

 

[Thomas]

Glad your plan coming together :thumbsup: as they say slow and steady wins the race.

 

[CobyRupert]

Congrats and good luck!

Now 20 questions:

How do you like the 24" stump grinder? Any features that are a "must" or a "wish you had"?
What kind?
How much $ (Canadian)?
What and how do you charge for stump removal?

 

[oosik]

A fine piece of equipment.

 

[nyone]

I was once told once you own a mini ex you will never be with out one...its true. I find more jobs for this thing but mostly my own.

I have a 3,500lb mini ex and it takes a while but becids the digging depth theres really not one job that it couldnt complete. I dug out an existing 30x40ft foundation this past summer.

 

[L47TLBwannabe]

Congrats and good luck!

Now 20 questions:

How do you like the 24" stump grinder? Any features that are a "must" or a "wish you had"?
What kind?
How much $ (Canadian)?
What and how do you charge for stump removal?

The stump grinder seems to be well built, I wish I had gotten the external hydraulic controls as you can get a pretty sore neck running it so what I do is sit on the tractor seat backwards on my knees as much fun as that is. So I think what I'm going to do when I have the chance is buy a set of hydraulic valves and get the related hoses made up so I can run it standing outside the tractor, I would mount the spools or valves on the right side so I can have the door open and back the tractor up as I chew through the stump. I've tried it out a little bit on my first stump grinding job as I had 6 large Chinese elm stumps to grind out so I tried it by running the remote's from the right side but visibility is poor doing it like that. So if I could stand just off side of the stump grinder frame that should work quite a bit better. The stump grinder I have is a Baumalight 3P24 its rated to cut something like 8" below ground level but in some situations like with bigger trees I shovel off the sawdust and wood chips and I can drop the frame in to the resulting hole and take it down a little further if I have to. I do wish I had a bigger engine like a 4 cylinder engine about 45-55 h.p. as I feel that would give a bit better performance. I usually charge by the stump but that's also based on the size, tree species, soft wood or hard wood. I do have to say however that the Kioti tractor works quite well for this as its light and very maneuverable and the loader is nice for backfilling after.

BaumaLight - Stump Blaster

 

[L47TLBwannabe]

I was once told once you own a mini ex you will never be with out one...its true. I find more jobs for this thing but mostly my own.

I have a 3,500lb mini ex and it takes a while but becids the digging depth theres really not one job that it couldnt complete. I dug out an existing 30x40ft foundation this past summer.

Yeah I run excavators for a living and took a course that allowed me to get my septic installers license. I haven't done any yet, but my boss is going to train me when we do get a call to install a system. I recently hired out my services and experience as an operator to dig around a house under construction so new weeping tile and water proofing could be installed. It involved digging around a deep burial septic tank but when I recommended an 8 tonne excavator with a smooth edge bucket for digging around any septic lines and a gas line they sent an abused Kubota KX-080-4S with a four foot tilt style ditching bucket that had no 'hold' if you put any weight on one side of the other so that made the job interesting and made for more hand digging. But I had wanted to run one of these Kubota 8 tonners for some time now so this was a good opportunity and I hadn't used an angle blade on a mini or midi size machine yet so I made some use of it when I was backfilling and loading out a pile of concrete rubble. Some that I found interesting was that it had two auxiliary hydraulic circuits and that was from factory so when I do get one some day it'll be that much simpler to plumb in a tilt-rotator.