What can your Mini excavator do?

[crazyal]

Another place a TLB has it hands down on a trackhoe is trenching steep grades. My neighbor has a smaller JCB that I started using but the pucker factor trying to trench for the water line from the well to my house was too much for me.

With my 580k I simply start at the top and work my way down. I use the hoe as an anchor to lower myself down to the next spot to dig. Once in position I use the front bucket to level myself as much as possible and dig more trench. I doubt the hoe would have rolled over but the TLB is much more stable.

Since you already have a TLB I think a mini-hoe would be your best option. Kind of a best of both worlds. I would get one with a blade and I would get the largest weight you feel comfortable towing.

 

[Builder]

Another place a TLB has it hands down on a trackhoe is trenching steep grades. My neighbor has a smaller JCB that I started using but the pucker factor trying to trench for the water line from the well to my house was too much for me.

With my 580k I simply start at the top and work my way down. I use the hoe as an anchor to lower myself down to the next spot to dig. Once in position I use the front bucket to level myself as much as possible and dig more trench. I doubt the hoe would have rolled over but the TLB is much more stable.

Since you already have a TLB I think a mini-hoe would be your best option. Kind of a best of both worlds. I would get one with a blade and I would get the largest weight you feel comfortable towing.

....and that's exactly what I did. I have the hoe for the stuff the ex can't do and the mini ex for the stuff the hoe can't do. To say the ex is far superior to the B/H and the other "sucks" or disparrage it in some way is immature and shows lack of experience. A mini ex needs to be coupled with a skid steer to cover all the bases of the backhoe anyway.

After my backhoe wears out (almost 6,500 hours on it now) I am changing to a tracked skid steer and a 12-14K ex.

 

[slowzuki]

I'll add soil type is important, we have very soft soil in the spring and wet parts of summer. TLB's just can't operate in these conditions, and as things dry up they sure make a mess trying to get work done.

The size mini ex the poster is talking about can continue to work through these seasons and not completely destroy everything it drives on.

We hired a guy with a 580 to do some work for us, he had to row the boat every time he got stuck leaving monster ruts and sink holes. We had to hire a dozer to come clean up. The next time back I paid to float his 7 ton mini in, what a difference. Just because it could move in the mud it out dug the 580 3 to 1.

To be fair though, I had a pair of mfwd tractors there to shuttle crushed rock for him. His large excavator could have grabed from the truck and swung it over, but the small one doesn't have that kind of reach.

 

[Builder]

When you say a "580", I assume no 4WD?. No 2WD backhoe is worth a spit in mud.
Mine is 4WD with posi front/rear axles. I can pretty much go anywhere I want. A 580 SuperM + 4WD also has locking rear & ltd slip front axle.
The Yanmar ex we're currently using has less clearance under the frame than my B/H. I have ~24" clearance under my B/H.

I think part of my disagreement with the more strident anti-B/H guys here is I have a B/H with 4 full size tires, 4 wheel steer, and posi fr/rr axles. That makes this backhoe a much better mudder than a "typical" backhoe. It's why New Holland & JCB make them, to give the Ex's more competition in the slop and rough stuff.

I completely agree a ex is better in tight spots and pure trenching, but don't like them on hillsides as described above or where one machine must dig, load, grade and transport material on a jobsite.

 

[slowzuki]

This was a 4wd 580 but we did have some work by a 2wd as well. The 4wd is fine until the mat of vegetation breaks. The excavator can work on a weaker layer of vegetation and longer before breaking it. Here when the soil is super saturated, once a wheeled vehicle breaks through, if you can't reach it from a solid surface, you have to get an excavator in to rescue it. Not something you'd use with a mini but with mats or logging slash the tracked machine can walk through pretty crazy stuff.

Backhoes don't like operating in logging slash at all.

 

[20 20]

That's exactly what I mean, you can use both "ends" of the TLB to lift it and cross over immovable objects like boulders.

You can do the same thing with an excavator, so why does this example keep comming back :drool: :drool: :drool:

 

[20 20]

I'd like to know what the comparison would be on weight disbursement/ground pressure, excavator compared to wheeled backhoe SAME weight???? Then lets talk shop on which machine will go further in muck. Again Builder I am not knocking your machine, YOU ARE CORRECT it is a better all around machine. I also understand we are not comparing machines of equal weight nor hp, which inturn is like comparing a VW rabbit to a dumptruck.

I have had back hoes stuck up to thier axles it was a pain in the *** to get them out. At the same time I have drove into the same spot with an ex, dug then pulled myself out. The back hoe was great for all around work, BUT no matter what BH is being operated it can not swing 360degrees this alone can make a big difference if time space and agility are needed.

Builder there is a guy up in the great white north, Alaska {on heavyequipment forum} that uses his mini ex for everything from logging to snowplowing, just thought you'd be interested.

 

[20 20]

I know I was not going to post again on this thread but some of the **** flinging accross my screen is annoying me

 

[20 20]

This one is for you Builder it sets all the facts straight, solves all our differences, listen to the song carefull.


YouTube - Kids DVD on Trucks - Excavator


:laughing: :laughing: {just a joke}


SERIOUS COMPARISON; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8RrGfYigQc I didn't pay so much attention to the operators performing the jobs{operators can vary on performance} as I did the end of the video showing comparisons. Also take notice as to the sizes of the machine, weight and hp, I think this video sums up a lot of differences here. Again NOT KNOCKING the BH as an all around machine, just trying to compare on a fair level.

 

[Builder]

Are you over or under 15 yrs old?

 

[slowzuki]

A backhoe can cross wider trenches safer than a mini escavator. I don't think I'd even try with a mini, seems like asking for trouble.

I'm not sure what you're saying about boulders though, I don't think I've ever seen a mini try to pick its way through boulders without just moving them.

You can do the same thing with an excavator, so why does this example keep comming back :drool: :drool: :drool:

 

[20 20]

Are you over or under 15 yrs old?

Didn't notice the laughing or {just a joke}? Or are you just mad because of the more serious video that shows a real comparison not just a bunch of____opinions?
Yes I'm well into my 40's.

 

[Builder]

Didn't notice the laughing or {just a joke}? Or are you just mad because of the more serious video that shows a real comparison not just a bunch of____opinions?
Yes I'm well into my 40's.

OK, sure fooled me.

Maybe I should sell the backhoe and get a skid steer so that way I can justify 2 machines can outwork one.

Kinda the same logic as my DMAX not being as powerful as a modified 6L. :laughing:

 

[20 20]

I thought you allready said you were going to do that

After my backhoe wears out (almost 6,500 hours on it now) I am changing to a tracked skid steer and a 12-14K ex.

6500hrs aint much as long as you've maintained her good. I figure the old hein werner I had must have been well into the 20k+hrs. I really enjoyed running that beast, not sure what worked harder me or the machine . I'd of put money back into it, if it had not had so many issue's{bought it that way}.

 

[Builder]

A backhoe can cross wider trenches safer than a mini escavator. I don't think I'd even try with a mini, seems like asking for trouble.

I'm not sure what you're saying about boulders though, I don't think I've ever seen a mini try to pick its way through boulders without just moving them.

Here's me building a 5' high boulder retaining wall with my "Walmart Cruiser". I don't think a mini ex could move the bigger base boulders without taking too much time, effort or destroying the machine. Too heavy and far from where they were dumped. I can lift ~7,000lbs in my FEL and they weighed all of that.

 

[20 20]

Thanks for sharing the pictures, that's a nice lookin piece of equipment, strong as an ox for sure. Everytime I dig on our property I run into rocks like that and bigger can make for a lot of work. I only have small machines now so ingenuity comes into play a lot.

 

[Duffster]

Can a backhoe do this? :laughing:

YouTube - Liebherr

 

[Builder]

Can a backhoe do this? :laughing:

I guess I'd be impressed too if I was 14 yrs old. :laughing:

Back to the topic: The reality of the situation is this: Given one machine a backhoe can do a wider array of jobs than a similar ex. If the Ex is accompanied with a skid steer, then they have an advantage over the B/H.

If you own a business, you know that to operate 2 machines at once, you need 2 operators. You also introduce the problem of having 2 engines, 2 pumps and double the maintenance headaches.

 

[Duffster]

I guess I'd be impressed too if I was 14 yrs old.

So predictable.

 

[Builder]

So predictable.

off topic.