Mini Excavator Questions

[Code54]

Can use excavator for that too.

I did you it to remove the old deck and was planning on using it to set my elevated beams so I'm on board with that!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Code54]

With all this talk and photos you all are making me want to get mine out. Haven't used it in a few weeks and now want to go dig up a tree or something! LOL

Figured it was too wet to work on the deck today so I got the mini out and dropped a dead tree by the shop. Stump was a bit over 8' and the darn hole is a good 5-6' deep on the high side.....

 

[mike69440]

No dought in NH this year.

I got the little tractor stuck try to turn over the garden, Yanked it out with the L39. It will be weeks before it is dry enough to plant. A real mess.

I wouldn't dare going in the cow paddock with anything that did not float.

6" of wet snow in Warren NH last night, while Tuesday it is supposed to be in the 90's! Hello, May flys! Too wet to consider painting or working on the Gazebo.

Excavator has been parked down my driveway for 2 weeks now. I was cleaning out brush and stumps off the road as far as I could reach, but it is so muddy it is like stiring pudding. I want to haul away the brush with the L39's grapple, but it is so muddy, I end up sliding over the embankment where I dump.

No red neck tan this year so far, but great weather for pulling stmups as the ground is soft. Just do not get stuck.

 

[Code54]

Having the same problem here - can't get over the hill to stick the stump in the valley. Everything is greasy here due to all the rain. Hopefully it will dry up soon so you can get out there and get your work done!

 

[oldafretired]

Figured it was too wet to work on the deck today so I got the mini out and dropped a dead tree by the shop. Stump was a bit over 8' and the darn hole is a good 5-6' deep on the high side.....

Wow! Did you push it over without having to do any digging?

Finally got work started on the new home for the mini ex.

 

[Code54]

No Sir - did have to dig the three sides about 4 or 5' down on two sides and 6' on the other. Think I had about 40 minutes in it total but I was being extra careful due to my shop being 25' away!

 

[oldafretired]

No Sir - did have to dig the three sides about 4 or 5' down on two sides and 6' on the other. Think I had about 40 minutes in it total but I was being extra careful due to my shop being 25' away!

Were you using your 12" bucket? I got one of those recently and it works well without having to dig a giant hole in cases where a ripper won't do so well with trees that have big rootballs.

 

[kthompson]

No offense but I have to say that is NOT a good idea. Mostly you step on the track to exit and mount the mini ex and especially if you have it lifted for cleaning. Plus while it is up if they hydraulics slowly leak down (they often do) it could get real interesting if the tracks are running due to the wedge.....

I agree with your concern. No problem till something happens to complete the link. Hose on washer catches in the moving track, dogs runs into you knocking you into the moving track, worse you step away to answer a phone or to refuel the washer and a child or someone else shows up and is caught by the moving track.

Surely you have someone who can sit in the cab and run the track for you a few minutes.

 

[oldafretired]

What size ditching/grading bucket would be good for a u55? Is a 42" bucket too big?

 

[Code54]

What size ditching/grading bucket would be good for a u55? Is a 42" bucket too big?

That would no problem. I use a 36" on a KX91 (around 7500lbs) I have the heavy duty one ( almost 600lbs) and full of wet clay at full extension it is a little much but a machine your size would have no issues with it or even a 48". Just remember that sometime the wide bucket is too big for the angle or area you are in and it makes it harder to grade with it than a slightly smaller bucketload

 

[oldafretired]

Thanks! I guess the 42 will work OK then. A mini ex sure does make it a lot easier to get stumps out. Been taking out a bunch of stumps lately.

 

[mike69440]

Re: Mini Excavator Questions, Will my excavator pick and place this?

Once I set the foundation blocks in an elevated, (less than 3' tall) round stone garden, I plan on pick and placing this gazebo http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/374740-my-wife-wants-gazebo-help.html?highlight= with my excavator by running a threaded rod down the center of the roof Simpson center connector, lifting with a strap around on the 2 X 10 Center plate under the floor rafters. Sort of a giant X-mass tree ornament.

I hope I have the lift height with the boom, as the gazebo is over 12' tall, plus the 3' to set it on the blocks. Going to be a short chocked chain I figure.

The pictures are of some work I finally did cleaning up the junk growing in around our drive, moving some rocks and keeping the battery charged up. For the little I use it ,the wife says sell, it but then I wouldn't have it when i need it. Note the obligatory "See me using a grapple pictures"

 

[mike69440]

Re: Mini Excavator Questions, Handy to have

I did a lift test, no problems, but it is a good reach to the center of the stone garden and the garden is raised about +30"

 

[mike69440]

Re: Mini Excavator Questions, Handy to have

Real Handy!

 

[BarnStangz]

Did OP ever get a mini ex? Add me to the happy Kubota list. I've had my U35 for almost 2 years and it is a VERY handy machine!

 

[gtrippleb]

Did OP ever get a mini ex?

I was wondering the same thing. I picked up a JD 50D with a cab a few weeks ago and have been clearing a few acres digging up stumps.

 

[mike69440]

I don't dig often, but when I do I prefer excavators.

 

[flienlow]

Did OP ever get a mini ex? Add me to the happy Kubota list. I've had my U35 for almost 2 years and it is a VERY handy machine!

I have a BX25 (which I bought first) and also a U25 I recently purchased. I have no idea how I ever got along without the U25. I tell folks the bx is like using a hand saw with a miter box, and the U25 is like using a compound slide miter saw in comparison.

 

[Otgaugres]

New to the forum...just read this thread with interest. I'm running a Bobcat E42 that I purchased earlier this summer. For me, it was between the Bobcat and Kubota KX040-4. I think I would have been happy with either, but my Bobcat dealer made the difference. So far, so good. Mine is pretty much loaded with the extendable arm, which isn't something I was looking for, but my dealer gave me a brand new demo which was equippeds such, then offered 1/2 off on that option price. The demo never left my property. . After having it, it would be hard not to have it. You always seem to need a little extra reach. I got a 24" digging bucket, a 52" grading bucket, grapple, and frost ripper. The frost ripper is great for stumps...I've dug out a ton this summer. It seems a lot easier on the machine than doing it with the bucket or grapple.

 

[oldafretired]

Did OP ever get a mini ex? Add me to the happy Kubota list. I've had my U35 for almost 2 years and it is a VERY handy machine!

I was wondering the same thing. I picked up a JD 50D with a cab a few weeks ago and have been clearing a few acres digging up stumps.

Yup, got a U55 back in April. I think it got lost in all the posts since this thread is so long.