Cheap backhoe purcase options or rent a mini-excavator?

[Fallon]

We are likely going to be getting a solar power system installed here this summer. It's going on the barn rather than the house & will involve a couple hundred feet of trenching for some of the cabling. I'll be able to save $1,500 or so doing the trenching myself. I need to do a few other trenching projects to run power & water out to the wife's chicken coop & put in a couple more frost free hydrants as well. Maybe 1,000 feet of trenching at the moment plus other random stuff down the road as well. I've got a Kubota L3200 & a tool(especially tractor attachment) hoarding disease in the making.

A hoe & subframe from Kubota was $7-9k (it's been a while, I forget what exactly). I've seen a few mini-excavators in decent but heavily used shape for similar money as well. Getting a mini-excavator just because they are cool would be my first preference, but despite my man toy hoarding disease, can't really justify either option & they are a bit above my budget for the forseeable future.

Realistic option 1 is $700-900 for a weeks rental of a mini-excavator (probably taking a couple days of PTO). Tracks are cool, excavators are cool, the only drawback is I wouldn't have another tool to keep at the end of the project.

Option 2, 3pt hoe. I've seen a couple on Craigslist for a couple grand (I keep an eye on Craigslist regularly & have for quite a while) & hear there are some not horible new ones avalible. The main drawback is I like the 3pt & frame on my tractor & don't want them spread across my yard in tiny pieces.

I can do some fabrication (I can TIG & have a plasma cutter) to build a subframe, but am not a mechanical engineer & don't trust myself to be able to build something that would prevent a 3pt hoe from doing all the evil things 3pt hoes do to tractors in dark allys at night.

Any recomendations for a cheap hoe with a subframe avalible that will get the job done & be usable for occasional projects down the road?

Unrealistic option #3 would be to let the installers do it for $1,500. No mini-excavator to play with or no extra toys to keep at the end of the project, not to mention coop & other trenching not getting done make this pretty much a no-go.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[blucoondawg]

I'd rent a mini, I am not quick to buy a used mini unless it's lightly used by the previous owner. I am a heavy equipment operator and see what happens to those machines with guys who don't care about the equipment running them. Many times if they are heavily used the rubber tracks are stretched to the point they won't stay on and sometimes the undercarriage is beat to heck too.
I would buy a subframe hoe before a used mini I have a Woods that I like but the mini is much faster for trenching as would be a commercial tlb.

Of course for trenching a trencher would be the fastest unless you have bad rock conditions

 

[sd455dan]

One of my friends just bought a 1990? Case 580 2 wheel drive that runs real good with about 4000 hours on it for $7000.

After checking it out and seeing the specs on this 580 machine I am considering buying it from him when he is done with it.

I was surprised with some of the specs on it- like

the 4700 lbs. fel capacity in the bucket to full height and its 12,000 lb weight.


I can't justify a new add on backhoe when a used HD Case backhoe can be bought for under 70 cents a pound.

But i may be developing a tractor/ heavy equipment addiction :laughing:


I should add that we have many large stumps that need removed , several water lines and drainage pipe to be installed and other jobs I could use the larger machine for.
A used, expensive to move and possibly maintain construction backhoe may not be the best choice for most.

 

[bdog]

I own a backhoe and if I was doing 1000' of Trench I would probably go rent a trencher.

 

[newbury]

When I was "employed" and had to take time off to do the job and still pay $900 for a $1500 job I would have just paid the $1500.

Having a backhoe is an expensive toy. The prime advantage of a backhoe on a tractor is being able to quickly move between sites where you can't trailer an excavator. Also it's good ballast.

 

[calman93611]

How deep and how wide does your trench need to be and what are the soil conditions? Rocks? A 65hp ditchwitch trencher could probably do the trenching in 1 day depending on the depth/width of trench.

 

[LD1]

I would also get a trencher if I had nothing currently.

Should be able to trench 1000' in a day unless you have lots of rocks.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I would consider buying a used mini excavator, and use it for the jobs you want to get done, then sell it when you are done. This way, you can work at your own pace.

It's a gamble, but you could end up getting your work done at no cost for the equipment, if you can sell the mini at the same price you paid for it.

 

[s219]

The backhoe dilemma is something that has probably cursed many of us. It's got a sizable initial cost and takes up storage space but might not be used frequently. On the other hand, when you need one, you need one, and many times there is no substitute. The real question is do you really need it enough to cancel out the cost and storage issues?

I remember debating this with my B2920, and then again (less so) with my L3200. Looking back over 3+ years of tractor ownership, there have been a few situations where it would have been nice to have, and a few others where it would have been nice but impractical due to space constraints -- no room to get tractor where the backhoe would have been needed (something small like a BX-25 would likely not have the latter problem). For example, when I trenched power line for my dock through the woods, I rented a trencher for about $80 and had the job done in half a day, going down 24" for direct bury wire. Tractor/backhoe would have been too big for that job and probably would have made a bigger mess and required more cleanup afterwards.

So for me, the backhoe would have been a bit of a waste over the past 3+ years. I'd still like to have one if money/space weren't constraints, but admittedly it would have been sitting in my barn for about 1195 out of the last 1200 days. Equipment like that sort of nags at me after a while. My wood chipper falls into a similar situation; it got a lot of use when I was clearing my land, but has gone unused for 2+ years now. It's cruising for a possible sale if I don't have a real need for it within the next couple years (it's a Wallenstein, and I know it will likely bring good $$, which is another incentive in the back of my head).

In your case, I'd say consider whether a trencher will do the job. They are a heck of a lot more surgical for running wiring and pipes than a backhoe (assuming soil type is not a problem), and inexpensive to rent.

 

[cycle_gator]

Soil conditions are a major consideration. I am probably a "carrier" of the tool/equipment disease as I have a tractor (Kubota L4310) with a backhoe attachment, (currently undergoing rehab to a sub frame) and a Case 580CK. I have been known to rent a mini-ex. All these because each tool has a use especially in my soil conditions. I was just digging a 6 foot deep test hole for a septic system and removed a rock that the Kubota could not lift, but the Case could, it was less than a foot below the surface. If you have soil with lots of "rock" surprises a trencher is not going to work real well. So choose your tool based on soil and site conditions (how tight are you to buildings, tress, etc.) then decide how to acquire it. I will say that the Case, a 1968, has been an adventure. I bought it for $3800, have put in about $4000 and have another $1000 or so to go, but it will dig circles around the little Woods backhoe attachment for the Kubota. Even so, the are jobs where I would chose to use the smaller machine every time. Best part, I have two machines to include in my signature line