Looking at renting an excavator...

[MikeS_in_GA]

So I want to....

Dig a hole for a big burn pile
Dig out about 40 stumps (8-20" diameter, cut 5-7 years ago)
Knock over 25 trees (8-24" diameter - alive)
Patch a hole in a dam (use bucket to compress the clay as I back fill)

I'll also get a tracked loader with grapple bucket and a dump trailer.

Rental place is telling me a jd120 would be fine for this.

What does tbn think?

Yeah.... I could hire it out, but I think this would be a great way to spend a week of vacation!

 

[Avery11]

Are you an experienced operator? I rented a mini for some of the same work on a smaller scale and was lucky to have a good friend who runs heavy equipment for a living. Having spent a few hours trying to learn the machine and then watching my friend make it sing and dance, I realized to go it alone would be a big waste of time and money.

More importantly, he knew the capabilities and limits of the machine and was able to run it safely.

Oh, and I would cut those live trees and dig the stumps.

Sorry if off topic. Hope you have a ball!

 

[MikeS_in_GA]

I've spent a couple days on a mini ex, some hours on a tlb, a day on a bobcat skid steer, and 350 hours on my tractor.

My brother (who will likely do a lot of the operating) had run a track loader for a couple weeks, snow plow for months, and drove a tank in the Marines. Both sides of our family has had excavators, so we have been around them, but I never got any stick time with them.

I realize the efficiency won't be there, but the $$ difference is huge! And the fun factor

I think it is easier to push them over than dig them out.

 

[pen411]

If you can wait for a good rain, pushing them over should be easy enough and the bonus is the root ball will likely come with it so you won't have to dig them out.

 

[Code54]

Yes - it is large enough. Think that is close to 27000 lbs. so it has more than enough weight for jobs. Other than the 20"+ trees your jobs are going to be fairly quick and not any effort. Work the stumps and digging jobs first to learn the machine then only start on the standing trees. I dig a lot of stumps with my mini and have done plenty that size with much smaller machines so you will have no problem.
As for learning - go for it and have fun. I am not sure how long it takes to learn an ex but it is not bad at all. You will be slower than a guy that does it everyday of course but I personally think it is fairly easy and a heck of a lot of fun.

 

[Rustyiron]

"And the fun factor"

A more truthful statement on TBN has never been made!:laughing:
If a step up in size is not too much more money, you might make up a little time over any operator inefficiency with brute force, but the 120 can do it. Your red clay will not give up those stumps so easy. Have fun man!

 

[rutwad]

YES, plenty big. That sounds like a one day job.

Patch a hole in dam, was the dam cut to drain the pond?

So I want to....

Dig a hole for a big burn pile
Dig out about 40 stumps (8-20" diameter, cut 5-7 years ago)
Knock over 25 trees (8-24" diameter - alive)
Patch a hole in a dam (use bucket to compress the clay as I back fill)

I'll also get a tracked loader with grapple bucket and a dump trailer.

Rental place is telling me a jd120 would be fine for this.

What does tbn think?

Yeah.... I could hire it out, but I think this would be a great way to spend a week of vacation!

 

[dieselcrawler]

Sounds like fun... Go for it! I dont get to run equipment much, despite the fact I work for an excavating company, so jump at any chance for seat time in almost anything.

I do agree that cutting the trees first would be better. Safer at least, if not experienced in doing it. Regardless, be careful and have fun!

 

[Birdhunter1]

On the standing trees I would dig three sides of them and then use the bucket on the excavator to push them over. Go about 8-10' high on the tree and you have alot of leverage.
On your smaller standing trees you could probably just push them over without digging around them.

 

[MikeS_in_GA]

Thanks everyone.

It's all done...

Ended up with a JD130, so that's a little bigger than we were expecting (close to 30k#). I wish I could have gotten a 40k# machine. The ground is so hard that it was difficult breaking the surface of the ground in many places. The teeth would just drag over the clay. Once you broke through, you could start digging. The worst stump, took about 3 hours. We had to dig down nearly 8 feet on 3 sides before we could get it to let loose. Did I mention how hard the ground is? lol

The hole in the dam was above the water line. We are in a very bad drought here, so the pond is low. The hole was worse than we thought, so that added some time to it.

The T-590 bobcat was a beast. I'm really thinking about getting rid of my tractor and getting a tracked loader, but I imagine the difference in price is way more than I can afford now.

My week rental ended with 39.7 hours on the ex and 37.5 hours on the bobcat. The dump trailer got very little use. Good thing that was borrowed and not rented. I think I only got 9 or 10 loads with it for the week.

We had a lot of fun and learned a lot.

oh yeah... hauling fuel with 5 gallon cans really sucks!

Now looking at a long arm machine to dredge out the pond...