Mini-excavator auxilary flow

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MattB

The Tree Hugging Tree Cutter
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I could go to the dealer but...I want to walk in there knowing what I'm looking for.

I'm looking at the Takeuchi TB250 11,000lb mini-ex. It's sized to work in backyards, I can haul it with my pickup and it has by far the highest auxiliary flow in it's size class. About 26 gpm compared to about 18 gpm from most other manufacturers. At some point in the future I want to run a hydraulic saw grapple and it needs as much flow as possible.

Ive looked at the machines in the yard and they all seem to have just two lines running out to the end of the boom, one controls the bucket the other runs to a thumb.

I think I'm going to need three lines for a grapple saw. One to open/close the grapple, a second to rotate and a third high flow to the saw.

The question is...when I read about auxiliary lines, is that a third line or is it the second line to the thumb? Would I need a more extensive custom line put in to run the saw?

Thanks
 
For standard setup you need 6 lines- a supply and return for each function.
Can be done in 4 lines, all the returns on a common line.... all depends on how the setup is valved.

The only way you could get by with 2 lines is having a solenoid bank at the grapple head that diverts the oil to the right function. That may be how it's setup too. What brand is the grapple?

If I were plumbing this from scratch that is how I would do it. Alot easier and cheaper to running wiring to open and close a solenoid vs hydro valves and hoses.

I ran a 250 Taka for a while. it was "meh". Kind of slow and didn't have much dig power. I also ran a 280 and it was much better and not much bigger--- I towed both with a 3/4 ton diesel truck and a 12k trailer.
I don't know on the aux flow between them though, and not sure your application... either one wouldn't work all that good in the woods, but would be fine in a homeowners yard.

We use a Hitachi EX200 for woods use. It has extra weights on it and it's really about the smallest machine that can be useful for grubbing and road building. It's about 47,000lbs.

Hope that helps. Not trying to poo on your idea by any means.
 
It's all good. Bigger excavators are great if you've got em.

Anything bigger than 11,000lbs is pushing my trailer to the limit and probably wouldn't fit in many of the tight back yards we work in. We don't do logging, but we need to move big short chunks of stuff we rope down.

A 47k machine would be sweet, but then you need a lowboy and a peterbilt, and you're in the DOT program and, and, and...

Thanks for the thoughts on the solenoid. Wouldn't that mean you need an electric hook up?

I've had my eye on a Hultdin's grapple saw for bucking my big rounds and loading my truck and trailer. Might dig some small ponds but mostly urban tree stuff.
 
It's all good. Bigger excavators are great if you've got em.

Anything bigger than 11,000lbs is pushing my trailer to the limit and probably wouldn't fit in many of the tight back yards we work in. We don't do logging, but we need to move big short chunks of stuff we rope down.

A 47k machine would be sweet, but then you need a lowboy and a peterbilt, and you're in the DOT program and, and, and...

Thanks for the thoughts on the solenoid. Wouldn't that mean you need an electric hook up?

I've had my eye on a Hultdin's grapple saw for bucking my big rounds and loading my truck and trailer. Might dig some small ponds but mostly urban tree stuff.

Did you ever end up running something like this? I'd love to have a trailerable mini excavator with high flow especially if I could run a mulcher on it.
 
I ran a Deere 50D with a flail mower for a while. It ran it well, it was good for ROW & trail maintenance. It was run off the primary auxiliaries and the thumb circuit was run off a secondary set. I’ve found that thumbs don’t really ask a whole lot of an auxiliary setup, but hammers and mowers do.

Admittedly, this was several years ago and I’ve since gotten out of that type of work where I can, but most 11-12,000 lb minis can run an appropriately sized flail mower pretty well. The Takeuchi machines never really impressed me, I distinctly remember liking JD/Hitachi machines best for mowing, then Bobcat, then everything else. Yanmar is my current favorite for digging.
 

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