So I am in the market for a compact excavator, maybe

[kleetus]

I have a ton of work that I need an excavator for, I was going to rent one and pay for some one to build a few rock walls, but it ends up costing about half as much as an excavator.
I own a 270 acre ranch so there is no shortage of stuff to do with it. I own a Kubota L4240 but dont have a bucket for the back. From what the sales guy told me they are pricey and you lose the ability to use the PTO with out changing things over.

so my question is for $50-$60k can I get into something big enough to lift 3 footish rocks and dig up oak stumps etc, and general farm work.
I was considering something along the lines of a Kubota Kx033-4 or the 40-4, but I am open to other options. We have a Kubota and Peterson Cat local, was going to stop in a chat with them.

but am I living in a pipe dream that I can get enough of tool for the price? oh and it was the wifes idea to buy it.. i was going all the numbers for renting when she said "why dont you just buy one?"
not sure why I am asking after getting the green light..... just want to see if im bein crazy

thanks

 

[Have tractor did travel]

Kleetus, My Kubota with back hoe is 32 hp., so somewhat smaller than yours. My excavator is 45 hp, which is a little larger than what you are considering. I've got 150 acres, so about 1/2 of what you have.

1. I use the backhoe about every 3 days. It can do most everything the excavator can do - just takes longer.

2. Since buying the excavator, I've torn down 2 buildings (from a safe distance) both with concrete block walls, and excavated a 6' wide by 30' trench that was pushing in the wall of a bank barn - so not that much. Primarily why I purchased the excavator is to power a forestry mulcher, which I haven't gotten to doing - yet.

I've not pulled oak tree stumps (your specific question). Locust tree stumps, with a stump diameter of 6", the Kubota cannot do in a timely fashion. The excavator rips them out with little dirt work around the stump. A 3 foot rock - Rock weighs about 60 lbs for a sphere about the size of a man's head. So I'm guessing 900 lbs. The issue for me would be getting it into the bucket. If the 3' rock is relatively flat, then the bucket and gripper would pick that up easily. But so would the Kubota if it had a gripper. The weight of a relatively flat 3' rock is not so consequential.

I paid $27K for the used Yanmar, about 6 months ago, with 2300 hours thereon, so about 1/2 of what you are considering. As I drive around the farm, I use the Kubota whenever I see something needing doing. Due to slowness, and initial (and replacement) cost, I have a specific job in mind before I get the excavator out of the barn. For example, I've got a couple of dead trees leaning on other trees. I have in mind to pull them out by the roots, to allow the tree to fall to the earth, for safe cutting into burnable size shorts. And of course, there is the three miles of fence to be cleared with the mulcher.

Hope this does you some good.

 

[kleetus]

2-3 foot for the rocks. just giving the rough size since I dont know how to estimate rock weight. I know my tractor can handle them when I have a counterweight on so they are around a ton. just getting them in the loader bucket is a pain and ends up messing up the ground. the rocks also are coming from around my place, there are large rock fields where the wheat farms have piles them and the lava fields are visible in spots. thats one of the benefits, if I buy the excavator I can dig up the rocks over a period of time and not worry about stacking up rental bills, rather than buying a boatload of rocks

the main project is 2 natural rock walls around my newly built log home, one wall is 6 feet high 2 steps up and about 120 feet long, the other is a half circle about 120 feet in diameter arcing, so its not a small project. but there are french drains to be dug and "shallow water habitats" to be made. the oaks are scrub oaks so they get these 3 footish root balls, the soil is shallow so there is much root structure.

I know its stupid.. but I am strongly against buying used. I know all the arguments. I like new.
But from what your saying I see im not crazy for wanting one nor am I out of the ball park for budget, so thank you.

 

[dirttoys]

I have a 3.5 ton tak. I am all used all day so not much help with new price. A hoe on my 3 ton skid has more pure power than my x. That said, I run the x all the time, and the skid when I have to. Haven't put the hoe on since I bought the x. I can lift 3 - 4 foot thick limestone about twice as wide as it is deep. About 2,700 lbs close to the machine, I can flop up slightly bigger and carry them on the blade.

New or used, break out force, then reach, then lift capacity is how I would choose.

The damn things are expensive, I got blessed to get mine 5 years old with 1,200 hours for $30k, now I feel like I stole it.

I don't see your location, but, the cute little 1-2 ton machines are very handy in tight spots and black dirt. I you have clay/rocks, go as big as you can trailer, or the weather will completely dictate when you can work, and you will find an amazing amount of stuff you just can't do.

If time permits, I will get some pics of the rock I move around to give you an idea.

Best,

ed

 

[kleetus]

I live in Central Oregon, the soil is Wamic Loam... and shallow, tons of rocks. we call it moondust in the summer but when it packs its hard as a rock

 

[4570Man]

I have a KX040. It’s a great machine but it’s a little small for moving 3 foot rocks. It’s not my idea of good for clearing either although it will get the job done. It’s WAY better than a tractor backhoe if that’s the baseline for comparison. Overall I think you’d be happier with a bigger excavator.

 

[4570Man]

I did this little clearing job with my KX040.

 

[Seven Gables]

With the amount of work you’ve got planned I’d say you’d be wise to buy your own. Like 4570 I think a little bigger machine for the jobs you’ve described would be much better, 5-6 ton class. Realistically though in today’s prices for new you’d have to add about another 20k to your 60k. I bought my 6t Volvo new end of 2017 knowing I had a lot of work to do . Now have little over 1200hrs on it , no regrets. Pretty sure I could get as much or more than I paid 5years ago. Have you got a building of some sort to keep it stored inside?

 

[Seven Gables]

Few photos

 

[4570Man]

With the amount of work you’ve got planned I’d say you’d be wise to buy your own. Like 4570 I think a little bigger machine for the jobs you’ve described would be much better, 5-6 ton class. Realistically though in today’s prices for new you’d have to add about another 20k to your 60k. I bought my 6t Volvo new end of 2017 knowing I had a lot of work to do . Now have little over 1200hrs on it , no regrets. Pretty sure I could get as much or more than I paid 5years ago. Have you got a building of some sort to keep it stored inside?

Here’s what I bought for my a little bit bigger machine. I have a little over 50 cents a pound in those pieces so the value to work done ratio is good there.

 

[amhicks21]

At work we build a ton of boulder egresses on new construction with a PC30 Komatsu or more recently a Bobcat E35 both with thumbs. If you're talking legitimate 3ft rocks in all dimensions then you definitely need a bigger machine. If you're talking 3ft in the widest and only ones that'll be on the bottom row you may be OK with what you're looking at. It seems for most jobs that the size of the excavator isn't going to determine whether or not you can but just how long it'll take. You may need a 10 ton plus excavator to move a few rocks around, but what then? every other task couldve most likely been done with something smaller and 20 grand cheaper. What kind of walls are we talking relative to these?

 

[bullbreaker]

The new small JD stuff are Wacker Nueson Wacker Neuson will build compact excavators for John Deere

Just like alot of the older big JD stuff was Hitachi . If I was going "new " I would look at Yanmar / Bota / Komatsu not nessacerily in that order . The old IHI excavators / compact track loaders were good solid units . Now there are called " KATO " . Really good units but not many dealer networks out there .

 

[kleetus]

At work we build a ton of boulder egresses on new construction with a PC30 Komatsu or more recently a Bobcat E35 both with thumbs. If you're talking legitimate 3ft rocks in all dimensions then you definitely need a bigger machine. If you're talking 3ft in the widest and only ones that'll be on the bottom row you may be OK with what you're looking at. It seems for most jobs that the size of the excavator isn't going to determine whether or not you can but just how long it'll take. You may need a 10 ton plus excavator to move a few rocks around, but what then? every other task couldve most likely been done with something smaller and 20 grand cheaper. What kind of walls are we talking relative to these?
View attachment 740537
View attachment 740538

yes that top pic is about the size of the rocks.. there are a couple monsters but not worried about them.

I went to the local kubota dealer and looked at the KX040-4 and was pretty impressed, someone else posted pics of theirs here doing land clearing like I will. Will most likely pull the trigger on it friday when im back in town.

edit to reply to another: yes i keep all my equipment inside, the RTV even gets heated garage privileges..

 

[amhicks21]

Sounds to me that you're making a good choice with the KX040-4. Its nice that its just small enough to be transported on a 14k trailer. Also, those machines really don't depreciate so if you get done with everything and find you just aren't using it and want to sell, you'll be out less money than you would have from renting. I'm actually pretty impressed that it'll pick up a 3600lb barrier block.

 

[kleetus]

Sounds to me that you're making a good choice with the KX040-4. Its nice that its just small enough to be transported on a 14k trailer. Also, those machines really don't depreciate so if you get done with everything and find you just aren't using it and want to sell, you'll be out less money than you would have from renting. I'm actually pretty impressed that it'll pick up a 3600lb barrier block.

yeah seeing that barrier block lifted is what sold me. my current trailer is a 14500 so spose that would have been a limitation. I did make sure the 44 was under weight 1st though

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I have a kx040 and its a very capable machine. Use it around the farm a little but its mainly for my new construction plumbing biz. I really want a bigger machine, kx057, but until I change some stuff around I have to stay with this, or the u48-5 if they ever come in. Never seen such a shortage of equipment on dealer lots.

 

[4570Man]

I have a kx040 and its a very capable machine. Use it around the farm a little but its mainly for my new construction plumbing biz. I really want a bigger machine, kx057, but until I change some stuff around I have to stay with this, or the u48-5 if they ever come in. Never seen such a shortage of equipment on dealer lots.

I don’t exactly like the haul bill but here’s how I scratched the itch for something bigger than my 40.

 

[groundcover]

I don’t exactly like the haul bill but here’s how I scratched the itch for something bigger than my 40. View attachment 741258

Every time I see a machine that size go by on a low deck I tell my wife , that's a perfect size homeowner machine !

 

[laurencen]

sure would like a machine that size, the mini E32 is OK but not when it comes to doing larger projects, just takes too darn long

 

[4570Man]

sure would like a machine that size, the mini E32 is OK but not when it comes to doing larger projects, just takes too darn long

I have a KX-040 but there’s no way I was going to dig 25 acres of stumps with it. The 40 would have to work 15 minutes on a stump that the cat will pull in one lick. The cat is old and tired and my 40 is fairly new but I actually have more money in the 40. After I pulled a few stumps with the 320 my only regret was not buying a 330 instead lol.