mini excavator stability?

Ken45101 · Feb 22, 2009

I've been thinking about getting a mini excavator for use around the farm. I do not have any experience with excavators although I have a Kubota B21 TLB that I've put several hundred hours onto.

One of my planned uses is for building trails through our wooded hillsides and doing trail maintenance. Another use would be clearing the mudslides we have along our driveway. One of my concerns is stability. Are the units top heavy? I'm often nervous with the B21, worrying about it tipping over.

Right now I'm thinking about either a Deere 35D or a Kubota KX91. Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken

Robert_in_NY · Feb 22, 2009

If you don't use your head you can tip any machine over. Excavators generally will let you know well before it tips that what your doing isn't smart. If you try to lift too much with the dipper the excavator will tip till the dipper sets back down. I have ran 1 ton minis and 5 ton minis and have never worried about tipping one of them and never have felt close to tipping. Excavators are great machines for working hillsides because of their stability and traction.

curtisfarmer · Feb 22, 2009

MiniXs are great for stablility, especially with the blade down and over the front lifting. Over the side you will feel when you might have a problem for sure, but believe me, you will let go of what you are handling before you go over. You will be more than impressed I think with the KX91, but I feel you should get the KX121 as it is much more machine and only slightly more $. I have 1 and I love the thing. You will be amazed how you ever lived without one. Get a grading bucket for high capacity moving jobs such as mud, stone, topsoil and other high volume jobs. Good luck.

Eagleview · Feb 22, 2009

I would suggest you get one with steel tracks for steep and rough country as you will find the rubber tracks will come off frequently . Loose dirt will spill into the sprocket rail in the rubber tracks and cause the sprockets to climb out . Rubber pads on steel tracks are the best , they will stay on and give good traction , even walking over green saplings on a hillside will not cause them to slip .

jetsons · Feb 22, 2009

My kx 91-2 has been an excellent machine, if I had a choice now I would go with one size bigger, kx 121 but all in all my 91 does everything I need it to do. What amazes me is that I can run it on about a gallon an hour and it is so quiet. I almost lost a track once in rocks but I saw it in time and simply reversed and tightened the tracks a little and havent had a problem since.. hope this helps

LBrown59 · Feb 22, 2009

Robert_in_NY said:
If you don't use your head you can tip any machine over. Excavators generally will let you know well before it tips that what your doing isn't smart. If you try to lift too much with the dipper the excavator will tip till the dipper sets back down. I have ran 1 ton minis and 5 ton minis and have never worried about tipping one of them and never have felt close to tipping. Excavators are great machines for working hillsides because of their stability and traction.

curtisfarmer said:
MiniXs are great for stablility, especially with the blade down and over the front lifting. Over the side you will feel when you might have a problem for sure, but believe me, you will let go of what you are handling before you go over. You will be more than impressed I think with the KX91, but I feel you should get the KX121 as it is much more machine and only slightly more $. I have 1 and I love the thing. You will be amazed how you ever lived without one. Get a grading bucket for high capacity moving jobs such as mud, stone, topsoil and other high volume jobs. Good luck.

Robert_in_NY · Feb 22, 2009

LBrown59 said:

That is a skid steer, not a mini excavators. They are completely different machines and act completely different. It is fairly easy to tip a skid steer.

curtisfarmer · Feb 22, 2009

I have never even come close to tipping over, but I am not ashamed to say I have bounced my forehead off the glass at least 2X grapping something like a stump and breaking free only to violently smash around in the cab. All minXs have blades and with that down the stability is great, albeit 75% +/- reduced over the side. Some may say more. My KX121-3 is like a robot with a great operator like myself ( can you here the self-backslapping??!!) and sure is unbeatable in terms of flexibility, productiveness, and capability. Iwant a mower head so bad, but cannot justify the $. I have 3 bush hogs already. Grading bucket is the 2nd best thing for a miniX after the thumb. Never had steel tracks, but rubber is certainly best for anything other than severe duty applications. The longer the track is better, wait till you feel your back. Oh, and 0 turn excavtors have reduced capability to compensate for the counter weight being moved inward towards the center of gravity. Must miniXs that are not 0 turn are very close to it (like Kubota) and have much more lifting and breakout power than the 0's.