Should i pursue this Excavator.

[mike69440]

I still have a sticky travel spool, but at least the machine moves, and I 've been using it like a little dozer. It has just enough oomph to spin its tracks.
A winter project is to remove the $3,000 3 function spool valve and very carefully disassemble it completely so I can lap the spool and flush out the internals.

I smashed the light on the boom into a tree today. Minor all things considering, but there goes at least another C-note.

Some things I learned about excavators. You need at least a 12-15 ton machine to do any real work, and even those machines struggle with any tree worth its bark. 18,000 lbs is not enough. It will pick up a rock the size that barely can be grabbed with the bucket and thumb, but doing such heavy work with a small machine, is tough on the mechanicals.

The near zero turn radius machines are nice to get into tight areas, but if not for the front blade, not that stable. Also the machine is difficult to access components for service. The older Komatsu's are rear tough to work on. 10 Lbs of stuff in a 5 pound bag. Not real well laid out and very cramped.

The receiver on the hitch is sure handy.
Handy as duct tape.

 

[mike69440]

Should I pursue this Excavator?

I have just less than 100 hrs on the PC75UU-2E since I became its owner. Total hours are just under 4700.
Buying a machine like this is like buying a yacht you think you got a decent deal on. Then every time you take it out you hit a storm and damage or break something. You find out just how much it takes to keep it afloat.

This month I burned $94 in diesel. Broke my watch cleaning up the undercarriage, ($35), I got too aggressive crowding the bucket against the thumb while the oil was cold and broke a relief valve ($200).

This machine is not for the faint of heart.

I did not even notice when I must have either hit something or swung something into the lower bodywork tin and mangled the front right corner.

I now understand why it cost so much to hire out work.

I guess what bothers me the most is that I still am hiring out. It came down to both not having the variety of equipment necessary to be productive and not having the time.
The L39 and PC75UU2-E can do a lot, but to move the dirt and rock that was moved this year required 2 addtional excavators, a Terex off road articulated truck, 2 site dump trucks, 2 weeks of dozer work, an ASV RC60 to run circles around the L39, a CAT vibrating roller and a Michigan loader and my little Kubota B7200 and neighbors L3400 for clean up.

Depending on my cash situation after the house is built, I may have to sell the excavator, but not until I get the heavy duty landscaping 90% done. The PC75UU2-E is twice as strong as the hoe on the L39, 4X as fast, with more reach. I would miss it and the dozer blade also.

A 7.5 metric ton excavator ( 18,000 lbs) kills itself trying to do stuff a 12-15 metric ton machine should be doing. In hindsight, I should have gotten a small 12-15 metric ton machine excavator with the intention of selling it after doing the heavy work vs. the giant mini I bought.

I've attached some shot of widening the exit from our 1000' road built thru swamp and woods. (I kept clear of the wetland flags.)

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the update. It's always very informative to hear first hand how owning a piece of equipment works out.

Eddie

 

[mike69440]

Some more Photo's of the road widening. By the end of the day, I had the road a lot nicer than these morning pictures.

 

[mike69440]

Last of the road widening picture and a few pictures to where the road leads, & my wife playing with her horsy.

I parked the excavator last week where one track settled into slightly soft ground, then froze. The machine had a tough time pulling the track off the frozen ground.

I think parking on some 1-1/2" crushed stone is the best place to leave it in this freezing weather. It is supposed to drop to 5-10 F tonight.

3 days without breaking something, I guess I am loosing my touch?

 

[mike69440]

It is nice on a cold day to have heat and a cab. I'm getting old. After 4-5 hours, I'm tired.

Here is a shot of where I quit on the driveway widening and another at the drive entrance where I finally got around to picking up an old rock wall and moving it to the edge of the road. I made a drainage ditch also. I'm not finished with this.

Note the offest boom feature. It is handy.

My wife says she builds nicer walls with the Kubota. Ok, she is right, but I helped build her wall and she was playing with her horse while I was building this.

Another $75 in fuel this weekend.