Looking to buy a Mini-X. Your experience and opinions, please

[Bigfoot62]

. . . Use it for 5-7 years, and you won’t have any trouble selling a well taken care of low hour machine at a good price. It’s what everyone is searching for.....

Right. That's what I'M looking for!

Yeah, I'm thinking hard about the Deere 50G. 0% for 36 months and two year warranty.

 

[farm boy00]

Heres my thoughts.

If it's where you need the cab/air conditioning and hydraulic thumb go for it.
Sounds like you have around 30k cash. Put that as a down payment and your bill should be dramatically decreased where it really won't bother you. Just make sure that you can pay off the contract early WITHOUT penalties.



Not trying to insult but you sound a little bit older and it's not like when your young like me (18) that you can tough it out as easy. My father (53) is in the same situation for air conditioning in a truck. It's getting hard on him without it and I can deal with no air conditioning still.
Whatever you buy, you will be dealing with for a long time and will never be happy with your purchase if it's not comfortable.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Farm Boy,
I appreciate your input.
Yes, I'm getting "long in the tooth." Late 50's

 

[JimP]

I looked for a used mini excavator for over a year. I looked at a lot of high hour machines that had been worked hard. I finally found a 3100 hr Volvo ECR88 at a Volvo dealer so I knew it had fleet maintenance and full records. I had to add a thumb and chose a Geith thumb to interface with the Geith coupler and bucket. So far I have used it 300 hours with normal maintenance and only 1 unplanned hose replacement. Take your time looking for the machine you want.

A mechanical thumb only meets the bucket at one point making it difficult to use. Try to get a bucket pin mounted thumb or even better a progressive link thumb. Both will have a better range of motion and ease of use compared to a stick mounted hydraulic thumb. I'm not sure why anyone worries about machine hydraulic flow when using a hydraulic thumb. The machine is not moving when using a thumb except possibly some small stick or bucket curl and the thumb movement uses very little flow. Once the object is clamped no flow is needed. There should be plenty of hydraulic flow available when using a thumb.

Be realistic about what you want to pick up. The load capacity over the front with blade down is different from the load capacity with blade up is different from load capacity over the side and these are all different with load way out versus load in.

Cabs add expense, complexity and glass to break. They also get VERY warm in the sun. Make sure the AC is working 100% if you are getting a cab machine. But they protect the controls and shelter the user from cold, rain, heat, dust, insects, etc. I usually run with the door and windows open but being able to button up is worth it to me.

Dealer support is important in a new machine for the warranty. If you're doing your own work check out access. Mini excavators are packed pretty tight and some are harder to service and work on than others.

Sorry for the long reply. Jim

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Yeah, I'm thinking hard about the Deere 50G. 0% for 36 months and two year warranty.

The Deere 50G likely uses some of the same filters as your JD tractors. My Deere 27D uses the same oil filter as my JD 5425. Not a big deal, but keeping it in the family can simplify sourcing parts and service. Deere excavators are made by Hitachi, with Yanmar engines, so they are really the best anyway .
My 27D is Tier III and 6 HP more than the 26G that replaced it. It had 14 hrs on it and that saved me $8 grand over a brand new one.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Jim,
Thanks for the long (and thoughtful) reply.
You brought up some good points.

And, whether I go cab or open station, it's gonna be a hydraulic thumb with a bucket pin mount.

Access is pretty good on the Deere 50G.

Access on the Takeuchi is really good. Click on the Serviceability tab. Or check out this YouTube video.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Heywood,
I don't think that the 50G shares any filters with the 3 green machines on my farm, but that's OK.
Yeah, the one that I'm looking at has about 400 hours and is $12K cheaper than new, but still comes with the new warranty and 0% for 36 months financing

 

[CADplans]

I stopped and looked at a couple of them today,,
in the past, I found that cabbed compact tractors acted more top heavy than an open station equivalent,,

The mini excavators looked like they would have the same issue, with all that weight above the center of the machine.

So ,,, do the cabbed machines seem top heavy??

 

[Bigfoot62]

. . . So ,,, do the cabbed machines seem top heavy??

Not really. A cab on the Deere adds only 300#. Cab on the Takeuchi adds only 500#.

 

[Seven Gables]

I'm also a farmer and was in the market for a 6tonish mini ex about 11/2 yrs ago. I have 3 fwd loader tractors but never an excavator. Did a lot of research and ended up buying a new Volvo ec60e which is a full conventional tail machine . Being on the farm I wasn't to concerned with zero tail swing . This machine weighs just shy of 13000 lbs . The counter weight only 960 lbs, all it needs because of the conventional tail swing design. You get 12000lbs of working equipment and only 960 of dead weight. This is why if you've got the room I really believe the conventional is the better value. Lots bigger cab, much easier to get at to service because of the uncramped design, better lift capacity both front and over the side. I've now got 475 hrs on it and it has been excellent. Mostly I've used it for takeing out old cherry tree stumps, few hundred. I have the thumb and long arm which I would highly recommend. Also has the hyd quick change for the bucket and other attachments. The machine really surprises me what it can lift and do in general. I would suggest for your uses the 6 ton not 5 ton would be better, the machines seem smaller when you get them in the field. Whatever brand you buy it's awful nice to have the dealer reasonably close by. I shopped around and got a real buy on this unit and couldn't be happier. Machinery trader is an exc resource for pricing comparisons. Anyhoo that's my 2 cents.