Mini Excavator Questions

oldafretired · Apr 17, 2017

Code54 said:
YES -best to always clean your sprocket and rollers. Less dirt/rocks/etc causes less wear. I think even Kubota recommends it in the book.

Thanks. If it's full of dirt, I'll hose it off after use. Would it help with washing to lift it with the blade and bucket so the track sags?

mike69440 · Apr 17, 2017

I spent a few hours on my old Komatsu PC75UU2 Midi excavator this weekend. Greased the old worn out thing tonight.
Some day I will clean the tracks. It is nice not having new and shiny, so I don't worry so much about stuff like that. I have a thing that looks like an ice scraper with a bend in the blade somewhere that I used to clean the tracks. I pressure wash about once a year. I was considering selling the excavator, for fear of if it breaks down, I can't afford to fix it and I've only put 100 hours on it in the last 2 years.
It is just too much fun and so darn handy, I'd know I'd miss it badly.
I neatened up the rocks along my elevated driveway thru the wetland going to our property. The I dug out the settling area by the main culvert to at least a 12' X 20' X 4' deep little pond, and cleared brush off the road edge about 10'. I'm about 1/3 finished, not counting the brush pickup to the dump pile.

Now I know why I use my nice tractor FEL grapple so little. The excavator is much better clearing and tearing out brush, even if it was dry enough to get a tractor in the swamp. I may use the tractor & grapple to haul the brush away.

oldafretired · Apr 19, 2017

This machine is a whole lot more powerful than my tractor backhoe. Even though I'm pretty much a hack using the mini ex, it just popped out several pine stumps in the 9 inch range without any digging. I was pretty surprised. It would have taken maybe 30 minutes of digging to get them out with the BH77 backhoe. I sure need to put a lot of time on it to hopefully get better with it. Hope the ripper gets here so I can tackle the bigger stumps without having to make big holes.

4570Man · Apr 19, 2017

Lifting up the tracks on a CTL makes washing the tracks a lot easier. If I had an excavator I'd lift up both ends and wedge the handles to keep the tracks moving assuming there's no safety to prevent that.

Code54 · Apr 19, 2017

Yep, the mini makes the tractor hoes look like a toy (no offense). I personally use a 12" bucket for digging stumps because I can move the dirt out of the way and go deeper (we have a lot of oaks, maples, etc and some are pretty deeply rooted.)
A 36" is great if you are wanting to move a lot of dirt quickly. I personally got a 36" ditching (no teeth) and use it for sloping hills and doing my ditches. Holds a lot of dirt and speeds things up a bit when you have to load a trailer or truck.

As for cleaning, I just lift the machine and shut it off and pressure wash out my tracks/rollers/ect... It is fairly open and easy to clean out. Before I bring it out of the woods I will lift it and spin the tracks in the air forward and back and that helps dump out some dirt and debris.

Code54 · Apr 19, 2017

4570Man said:
Lifting up the tracks on a CTL makes washing the tracks a lot easier. If I had an excavator I'd lift up both ends and wedge the handles to keep the tracks moving assuming there's no safety to prevent that.

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.....

4570Man · Apr 19, 2017

Code54 said:
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.....

Only spin the right track and exit across the left stationary track. Then spin 180 degrees and repeat the process. His new Kubota will hold itself up plenty long enough to clean the tracks. Even if it somehow comes down its not going anywhere with the blade, the boom and a non moving track on the ground.

bspeedy · Apr 24, 2017

topstoy said:
That is one heck of a starter excavator! Nice.

That's what I was thinking!

I'm very jealous of your new toy. Congrats.

oldafretired · Apr 24, 2017

Thanks guys! I'll lift the machine to clean the tracks next time. I like the tip of lifting and spinning the tracks to get rid of some of the debris. Thanks again.

oldafretired · May 5, 2017

It was the warmest and nicest day of the year so far so went and got a couple of stumps out.

mike69440 · May 5, 2017

So much easier with a U55!

Steppenwolfe · May 6, 2017

mike69440 said:
So much easier with a U55!

Or a kx-71 !
View attachment 508591

oldafretired · May 6, 2017

Steppenwolfe said:
Or a kx-71 !
View attachment 508591

Hey, you have a very clean machine! Did you just get it?

Code54 · May 6, 2017

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

oldafretired · May 6, 2017

Code54 said:
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

Good idea! Remember to post some photos of your work.

Steppenwolfe · May 9, 2017

oldafretired said:
Hey, you have a very clean machine! Did you just get it?

Yes, that was brand new, first stump... Dug this bad boy out this spring.
View attachment 508950

Code54 · May 9, 2017

oldafretired said:
Good idea! Remember to post some photos of your work.

Sounds good - maybe a while, wife has me building a few new decks. Man I miss digging holes, it is a lot more fun

mike69440 · May 11, 2017

Code54 said:
Sounds good - maybe a while, wife has me building a few new decks. Man I miss digging holes, it is a lot more fun

Can use excavator for that too.

oldafretired · May 12, 2017

Does anyone make a different design thumb than the one that comes with the mini ex that would just replace the original one and use the hydraulic cylinder already on there?

Code54 · May 12, 2017

There is a little variance out there but not a lot. They have some wide ones for brush and have seen some that are sort of hollowed out (kind of like two rippers with a bar in between) but generally they are all pretty similar. Two wide hurts it digging, and then you want them to meet up correctly with the bucket teeth also.