Mini Excavator?

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JeffHK454

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Anybody own one , what’s your brand of choice and why? I’m in the market for a lightly used 4 ton machine for my properties upkeep along with some subcontractor work and I’m done with renting.

I‘ve got Bobcat, JD , Cat and Kubota within 30 minutes of my house so support for those brands is very convenient and Takeuchi is about a hour away so its in the running also. I’ve ran IHI , Bobcat and Tak and they all got the job done but with comparable hours on all three machines the Takeuchi seemed to have stood up to rental abuse the best.

Aux. flow is important because a mulching head is something I’ll be using regularly along with a hyd. thumb.
 
Personally id go kubota and not look back


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]
 
Here too.

I know a lot of guys with Kubota’s. Some construction and some land owners.

Every one is very pleased with Orange. I as well am super pleased with my RTV-X 1120D


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]
 
I’ve added a couple Yanmars to the fleet this summer after I sold the 349, as bitter sweet as it was. Their ViO 35 is a sweet little digging machine, though I’ve been pretty unimpressed with how they handle running a hammer, so I can’t imagine they’d do very well with a mulcher. Thumbs usually don’t ask too much for auxiliary flow. The 55 I have is much more impressive, and the SV100 is a really slick little machine running a hoepack.

When I was first going into business John Deere’s 50D was what everybody who was running a mulcher/flail mower was running because of how high the auxiliary flows were. I’m not a fan of Bobcat’s E series mini excavators. It seems like the fronts are really, really heavy and they want to fall on their face with a full bucket. Cat minis have the opposite problem, they’re gutless and have a hard enough time getting a full bucket. I haven’t run a new Kubota, but their reputation is as a stout digging machine. I think Takeuchi machines are indestructible, lots of them in rental yards and even worse concrete guys running them.
 
I’ve added a couple Yanmars to the fleet this summer after I sold the 349, as bitter sweet as it was. Their ViO 35 is a sweet little digging machine, though I’ve been pretty unimpressed with how they handle running a hammer, so I can’t imagine they’d do very well with a mulcher. Thumbs usually don’t ask too much for auxiliary flow. The 55 I have is much more impressive, and the SV100 is a really slick little machine running a hoepack.

When I was first going into business John Deere’s 50D was what everybody who was running a mulcher/flail mower was running because of how high the auxiliary flows were. I’m not a fan of Bobcat’s E series mini excavators. It seems like the fronts are really, really heavy and they want to fall on their face with a full bucket. Cat minis have the opposite problem, they’re gutless and have a hard enough time getting a full bucket. I haven’t run a new Kubota, but their reputation is as a stout digging machine. I think Takeuchi machines are indestructible, lots of them in rental yards and even worse concrete guys running them.
The Yanmar is definitely on my list also but there just aren’t a lot in the used market , they have a great reputation for being smooth and durable. From my research the Vio35 and TaK240 have the best aux. flow at 17.5 gpm in the 8K machines, the drum mulching head I was looking at is a 12-30 gpm unit. I’ve also heard that the Bobcats are nose heavy and that could kill reach range with a 650 lb. attachment unless a heavier counterweight could be added.

I have compact Kubota FEL and have abused it for years and it never misses a beat so the U35-4 is high on my list , a 4-way backfill blade seems like a useful option.
 
The Yanmar is definitely on my list also but there just aren’t a lot in the used market , they have a great reputation for being smooth and durable. From my research the Vio35 and TaK240 have the best aux. flow at 17.5 gpm in the 8K machines, the drum mulching head I was looking at is a 12-30 gpm unit. I’ve also heard that the Bobcats are nose heavy and that could kill reach range with a 650 lb. attachment unless a heavier counterweight could be added.

I have compact Kubota FEL and have abused it for years and it never misses a beat so the U35-4 is high on my list , a 4-way backfill blade seems like a useful option.

If you’ll come down the 100 miles or so to Louisville, Construction Machinery Company has a nice ViO 35 with a thumb, multifuction auxiliary hydraulics and an angle blade if you can live with it being open station. CMC is a damn good dealer as well. I’ve dealt with them on Link-Belt purchases and rental for a long time.

CMC ViO 35
 
If you’ll come down the 100 miles or so to Louisville, Construction Machinery Company has a nice ViO 35 with a thumb, multifuction auxiliary hydraulics and an angle blade if you can live with it being open station. CMC is a damn good dealer as well. I’ve dealt with them on Link-Belt purchases and rental for a long time.

CMC ViO 35
That’s a super nice machine but about 8-10K out of my price range, with the cost of the brush head I can’t swing a mini that pricey.
 
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