Mini Excavators

Aa far as ctl go I am a tak or kubota fan. You can't get in and out of anything else if the bucket is more than a couple inches off the ground. That sucks when your by yourself and trying to lift something with a chain or hooking up hydraulic lines for a grapple bucket on uneven terrain, sure it comes off without too much hassle but what's the point of ac/heat if you can't use it.

Tak and kubota also have very simple and robust track systems which means a litle rougher ride but no rubber torsion rod thing holding your tracks on the machine. If buying a used car 299 I can almost guarantee you will notice a decent camber to the tracks as a result.

The ground clearance on the tak and kubota is also much better than the rest except for asv. Asv is more of a mulching machine than a dirt mover in my opinion. My brother in laws cat bottoms out all the time and ground clearance isn't something most think about until it becomes a frequent issue.

As far as excavators I like my kubota but have only run a few taks and ihi that were rentals. I have little to compare it to but I got it for a great deal and it is doing what I ask of it. Good friend of mine just bought a new bobcat for his business last year and he loves it.
 
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YotaOnRocks said:
Aa far as ctl go I am a tak or kubota fan. You can't get in and out of anything else if the bucket is more than a couple inches off the ground. That sucks when your by yourself and trying to lift something with a chain or hooking up hydraulic lines for a grapple bucket on uneven terrain, sure it comes off without too much hassle but what's the point of ac/heat if you can't use it.

Tak and kubota also have very simple and robust track systems which means a litle rougher ride but no rubber torsion rod thing holding your tracks on the machine. If buying a used car 299 I can almost guarantee you will notice a decent camber to the tracks as a result.

The ground clearance on the tak and kubota is also much better than the rest except for asv. Asv is more of a mulching machine than a dirt mover in my opinion. My brother in laws cat bottoms out all the time and ground clearance isn't something most think about until it becomes a frequent issue.

As far as excavators I like my kubota but have only run a few taks and ihi that were rentals. I have little to compare it to but I got it for a great deal and it is doing what I ask of it. Good friend of mine just bought a new bobcat for his business last year and he loves it.
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Second everything @YotaOnRocks said about the roll up door. I'll never have a hinged door again if I can help it.

I love everything about my ASV SR80 (newer version is the Terex PT80). Roll up door, 15" ground clearance, 18" wide tracks, suspension, 80hp, 9k pounds, hi flow, 70" overall width. Awesome for mulching and pushes dirt like a champ. The rear doesn't overhang the tracks much, so it's a lot more stable on transitions and can climb much steeper terrain and the backend doesn't get hung up.

As far as excavators, I'm also a fan of the non-ZTS models. Better counterweight and narrower width. My next one will have a 4way or 6way push blade, which mostly limits you to Kubota or John Deere. But my Takeuchi TB135 is an awesome machine so I really have no need to replace it.
 
I have a Cat 289D. Love it except for the stupid front glass. The nice thing is the cab stays cleaner because if it was a flip up windshield it would stay open. I often find lifting stuff a pain in the ass because you cannot get out. I do grading and farm work with it, alone most of the time. However I still like it and would buy another. Mine has 75hp Kubota made diesel and does good. I might look into a 299 or high flow next time.

On mini ex's I have run about every brand. Owned a Komatsu, Volvo and now a Kubota KX057. The Komatsu was a good machine, never any problems and made me some pretty good money back in the day. The Volvo burned after loaning it to a cousin. Their service sucks anyway. I like my Kubota other than a few small annoyances. Probably the best mini I have run...But I am thinking of selling and looking at a CAT/Deere because I have other stuff and get better dealer support from them over Kubota.
 
The door thing confuses me. I have only run one a couple times and it was a Wacker Neuson with the door on the side. I like both machines and they did what I expected. If I had not had to buy a truck I was considering getting a min ex for all the work I have planned around here.
 
ghost said:
The door thing confuses me. I have only run one a couple times and it was a Wacker Neuson with the door on the side. I like both machines and they did what I expected. If I had not had to buy a truck I was considering getting a min ex for all the work I have planned around here.
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The door thing only applies to a skidsteer where you are getting in and out the front. The JCB Robot is interesting with its side door, but all the others are front door, and the arms/bucket travel just a couple inches in front of the door.
 
I think bobcat ctls are about the cheapest and shittiest on the market, but their excavators-- which are doosan-- are actually pretty good. All my machines are kubota but I've used both and the e55 will run circles around a kx057. Like the others have said, i too will never own a machine without a tilt up door--makes a skid steer useless for half the things i do.

All that being said, if you're looking for a 5.5 ton ex and a 75+ hp skid steer with all those attachments, you looking at 150k easy. Might as well go buy brand new
 
braxton357 said:
I think bobcat ctls are about the cheapest and shittiest on the market, but their excavators-- which are doosan-- are actually pretty good. All my machines are kubota but I've used both and the e55 will run circles around a kx057. Like the others have said, i too will never own a machine without a tilt up door--makes a skid steer useless for half the things i do.

All that being said, if you're looking for a 5.5 ton ex and a 75+ hp skid steer with all those attachments, you looking at 150k easy. Might as well go buy brand new
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when we looked at buying some new equipment for work last year "most" of the brands were willing to make a package deal and do 0% for 72 months.
 
This has your name all over it @Croatan_Kid, just moved it this morning. e55 1100 hours.
20210723_093101.jpg
 
Except it's missing all of the glass and AC :D

@jeepinmatt Bobcats have an angle blade options on their mini excavators too.

I probably won't be buying new, as cool as that would be. We'll see how it works out though. I'm just doing homework at the moment.
 
Mostly just hot and sweaty...
 
I don't know how much you watch the used market, but its high as hell, you are just as good off to take them up on their 0% as you are to save 10k buying a 5 year old machine. Just say yolo and stop by the dealer tomorrow morning, also assuming they have anything in stock
 
They have an E50 open cab in New Bern, but it's possible they have an E55 like I want in Wilson. I won't be buying anything until next year at the earliest anyway.

I've been seeing sub 2000 hr machines for anywhere from 42 to 55-ish. New ones are over 70k. I found a pre-emissions machine with 160 hrs on it for 60. It's basically new, let's be honest. Plus, when buying from an individual, I won't have to pay sales tax. I'm going to ask the salesman anyway, just to see though.

As for options...I'm looking at enclosed cab, heat/AC, high end display, radio, hydraulic x-change, non-adjustable hydraulic thumb, and...well...that might be it. I haven't dove in deep enough to know the options package number off the top of my head yet, but it's sort of a "buy once, cry once" sorta deal. The 6 way blade isn't a deal breaker, but I do think it'd be handy for backfilling stump holes. Honestly, that was the majority of my side hustle with my last one.

I frequent Machinery Trader. They have a really nice website, but if there are others I should check out, yall let me know. I will totally take a six to twelve hour road trip for a good deal. I bought my last one in Waynesville, Georgia. The seller was an awesome dude AND he recommended a straight up hole-in-the-wall bbq joint ran by this old black guy...in a reconfigured house...and I had, no shit, the BEST fried porkchops that I've ever had in my life!
 
Croatan_Kid said:
They have an E50 open cab in New Bern, but it's possible they have an E55 like I want in Wilson. I won't be buying anything until next year at the earliest anyway.

I've been seeing sub 2000 hr machines for anywhere from 42 to 55-ish. New ones are over 70k. I found a pre-emissions machine with 160 hrs on it for 60. It's basically new, let's be honest. Plus, when buying from an individual, I won't have to pay sales tax. I'm going to ask the salesman anyway, just to see though.

As for options...I'm looking at enclosed cab, heat/AC, high end display, radio, hydraulic x-change, non-adjustable hydraulic thumb, and...well...that might be it. I haven't dove in deep enough to know the options package number off the top of my head yet, but it's sort of a "buy once, cry once" sorta deal. The 6 way blade isn't a deal breaker, but I do think it'd be handy for backfilling stump holes. Honestly, that was the majority of my side hustle with my last one.

I frequent Machinery Trader. They have a really nice website, but if there are others I should check out, yall let me know. I will totally take a six to twelve hour road trip for a good deal. I bought my last one in Waynesville, Georgia. The seller was an awesome dude AND he recommended a straight up hole-in-the-wall bbq joint ran by this old black guy...in a reconfigured house...and I had, no shit, the BEST fried porkchops that I've ever had in my life!
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Give me the money and Iā€™ll buy it for you. Iā€™m stationed here but maintain Michigan as Home of Record. Just like when I bought my tractor here on the farm I didnā€™t pay sales tax cause it was an ā€œout of state purchaseā€ :cool:
 
Following this thread pretty close. I'm strongly considering buying a mini excavator in the near future to expand my business capabilities. I've had several jobs already where I could easily have made more money if I had the equipment.
 
Deere or cat parts might be a little higher but I seriously doubt youā€™ll have to buy many. Iā€™ve run Kubota, bobcat, gehl, there is nothing wrong with them they just donā€™t seem to be as smooth or have the power for the same size machine
 
I will say...from what I've seen with my past experiences and looking now, CAT excavators are all over the place. It's like, I want a 12k machine. CAT has like 48 models that will fit the bill. Tooooo many options. Plus, they're all zero tail swing, from what I can see. I'm pretty much set on a Bobcat E55 for the mini ex and, as of now, CAT for the skid. I ran in to one of my former college machinist instructors and, as luck would have it, he has an E55! Even their (CAT) skid steers have sooo many models and sub models, but less than their mini exes. I do, at least, know that I want some version of a 299 with high flow and the forestry package.

I swear, it's like they have a 305. 305.2, 305E2, 305E2-R2D2, 305.3, 305.5, 305 Ā¾, 305 ā…”, 305(2-1+6), 305(aĀ²+bĀ²/2), 305 ā…š, 305ā“, and a 305.7. I'm like....yall....PLEASE get your shit together!

However, with all of that said, I'd consider a CAT mini ex before a Deere. I'm basically not even looking at Deere/Hitachi equipment. If I were a big time farmer, sure, let's go green....but for what I'm going to do, there's other stuff that I like more.
 
CAT has a 306 which has some tail overhang which all 6 metric ton units will have. But its $80k starting price new. 305.5 is 5.5 metric tons which is a 12k lb machine
 
I've done some looking as some ASV machines. While they look like solid units, all of the videos I've seen show them to be very unbalanced. Even the big, 120hp model would literally fall (forward) on its face with a mulching head on it. One guy even said he'd pretty much get sea sick running it for a day. šŸ˜‚

The Cat appeared to have better weight distribution.

Just observances thus far in the research process.
 
Have the opposite issue with my 279d, it wants to flip over backwards anytime I go up a decent hill. Also, Have to back it up the trailer it's so back heavy it wants to roll. Here's a little video I found when researching this past winter. Ultimately I went with the 279d because it had low hours, 1 owner, high flow with all the options for under $40k.


 
Croatan_Kid said:
I've done some looking as some ASV machines. While they look like solid units, all of the videos I've seen show them to be very unbalanced. Even the big, 120hp model would literally fall (forward) on its face with a mulching head on it. One guy even said he'd pretty much get sea sick running it for a day. šŸ˜‚

The Cat appeared to have better weight distribution.

Just observances thus far in the research process.
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It's true that they have a different weight distribution, but I don't find mine tippy or unstable at all. It definitely is more agile and better at climbing hills and crawling out of ditches. I think a lot of the "tippy" perception comes from the torsion axle suspension, which allows the front to dip, but also smooths out the ride and helps climb obstacles. The only real negative I've found on the front suspension is if I have the 6way dozer blade on the front, it has a tendency to let the blade dig in too much when it grabs. Seems to be worst with clay, not nearly as noticeable with loamy soils. I put about 30hrs on mine in the past month clearing fencelines, and I loved every minute of it except when a log popped over the front and busted a fitting. I think ASV is one of the brands where there are a shit ton of haters who've never actually owned one, and those who own them mostly love them.
 
CarolinaHD said:
Have the opposite issue with my 279d, it wants to flip over backwards anytime I go up a decent hill. Also, Have to back it up the trailer it's so back heavy it wants to roll. Here's a little video I found when researching this past winter. Ultimately I went with the 279d because it had low hours, 1 owner, high flow with all the options for under $40k.


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I'm sure that video is not without bias, but the ASV undercarriage truly is fantastic for traction and stability. The main reason it doesn't dig in is because the track is longer and the back of the machine is better supported. I think the ASV weight distribution is about 50/50 whereas others are 60/40 or greater. But part of that is simply because the track is longer and further back, which means there is less see-saw action taking weight off the front. Just like the others, it has an engine in the rear, cab in the middle, and arms on the front, so that part really doesn't change. The change is in the undercarriage layout.
 
This is the video I was talking about. It's all flat here. The biggest incline will likely be going up the ramps on my trailer šŸ˜‚

Go to 5:30-6:45 and then right around 9:00. He's got both machines.



Seems pretty unbiased. Says he loves ot, but hates it...but it has more power. Makes sense to me. Closest dealer appears for be 4Ā½ hrs away in Waxhaw.

It looks like the pivot point is straight above the sprocket on the ASV and all the way at the rear on the Cat.
 
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Is it just me, or did they purposely film at that angle so you couldn't see the LH track when the guy basically tried to turn left/uphill while on that slope? Seems a little bias, but I'm quite sure they don't do well in those conditions.

My biggest issue around here would be too much rain and working around mud. I've seen a local guy that had a pretty sweet winch bumper on the back of a 299D2 with a 16.5k Warn in it. Seems like a pretty good idea.

I did do some quick looking on undercarriage parts. The CAT stuff is considerably cheaper...errm...less expensive, rather. Same website, ASV RT120 tracks are 4000 bucks for two and a Cat 299D2 comes in around 2300. Rollers, sprockets, and idlers are cheaper too. Now...I do understand that the ASV has a MASSIVE 20" wide track, but damn.

Also, yes, I do plan to get a big ass skid steer. The eventual plan is to work for myself. The idea is to have the equipment paid for beforehand, start an LLC, lease the equipment from...well...me, and then basically pay me for my equipment :D Obviously, I'd rent myself my own equipment at a good rate unless I'm an ass to me. At least, I'm pretty sure I can do that with the proper paperwork. I could have misunderstood my buddy.
 
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