Mini X vs. Skid Steer vs. Tractor backhoe

[mikester]

Rent.

I've recently rented a small 15 ton Doosan unit. Cat's meow. Essentially got a brand new low hour machine that was very quiet, fuel efficient and decent power for tackling decent sized roots in your range. I wouldn't go any smaller because it's a waste of your time and money.

The Doosan was had all electronic controls and hyper fast hydraulics. I really liked that machine. I wouldn't recommend that machine to an inexperienced/unskilled operator as you would break something or kill someone real fast.

Also look into hiring a guy with a 25-30 ton unit. Last time I did that and got a machine and operator for $200/hr and no headaches.

Pulling roots is very hard work for any machine. Not worth wrecking my machine to yank roots. You will absolutely destroy you CUT trying to dig out large roots.

FYI a root ball that takes me 30 minutes to dig with my M59 TLB takes about 5-10 minutes with that 15 ton machine and under 1 minute with a 30 ton machine.

I wouldn't even attempt digging a bunch of large roots with a 35HP (S)CUT.

 

[Torvy]

That Solis H24 appears to be the Tonya Harding of tractors: small, but a beast! I’ve also been looking at used Bransons. I have the impression that Kubota makes a more solid machine and that’s what you’re ‘overpaying’ for.

Comparing the Kubota and the Branson, Kubota is under built. But, they are better than a Solis.

If you have a good TYM dealer nearby, get one of the Branson units.

 

[Torvy]

Rent.

I've recently rented a small 15 ton Doosan unit. Cat's meow. Essentially got a brand new low hour machine that was very quiet, fuel efficient and decent power for tackling decent sized roots in your range. I wouldn't go any smaller because it's a waste of your time and money.

The Doosan was had all electronic controls and hyper fast hydraulics. I really liked that machine. I wouldn't recommend that machine to an inexperienced/unskilled operator as you would break something or kill someone real fast.

Also look into hiring a guy with a 25-30 ton unit. Last time I did that and got a machine and operator for $200/hr and no headaches.

Pulling roots is very hard work for any machine. Not worth wrecking my machine to yank roots. You will absolutely destroy you CUT trying to dig out large roots.

FYI a root ball that takes me 30 minutes to dig with my M59 TLB takes about 5-10 minutes with that 15 ton machine and under 1 minute with a 30 ton machine.

I wouldn't even attempt digging a bunch of large roots with a 35HP (S)CUT.

For those who don't know, Doosan is Bobcat.

 

[kenhar]

If you have 24" to 30" stumps to get rid of, anything "mini", you're spinning your wheels. If your budget is $20,000, you can get a used track loader (20,000# to 30,000#) with a 4 in 1 bucket for 10 to 20 grand. Do your clearing, level your ground, sell it. Better yet, hire someone with the right equipment to do it. Then buy your mini whatever to play with.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

If you have a rental place nearby, rent a few different candidates, and see what you like to operate, and what is how effective at what you’re doing. Once you have it narrowed down, figure out what suits you, and how long it will take to pay off, doing huge work you are doing versus the cost of buying.

Unless you are doing a lot of backhoe/excavator work, or are really far away from somewhere you can rent, the renting will almost always be less expensive.

The local rental yard, is owned buy the largest two contractors in the area, and the rental fleet consists of the equipment they aren’t currently using on paying contracts. That is how they can afford to own the equipment.

 

[DieselBound]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you buy something there's no law that says that you have to keep it. MANY people buy a piece of equipment for projects and then resell when done with those projects.

Not sure what the trees are like there but trees here have roots that spread out (no real tap roots). I've used smaller excavators to remove some pretty big stumps: biggest I've used is about 19k lbs.

As some have brought up, what is to happen once the stumps are removed? I'm fortunate in that I have places to "toss" stumps: sometimes, especially if they're too big to relocate, I bury them.

Equipment that one is likely to rent is construction grade, MUCH beefier than a farm tractor.

Plan out your project and rent for that work: or hire out. For longer-term operations, and once you're familiar with what will be normal activities, BUY.

 

[MattB4]

Just had a few old stumps removed on Monday by a friend that has a near new E60 Bobcat Ex. (~13,000lbs) here in my area of the Ozarks. The largest was about a 16 inch, with a 12 inch right next to it, old lightning killed white oak. He really fought to get it out of the dry rocky soil. Was not sure that it would come but after a 1/2 hour he managed to get first the 12 inch and than the 16 incher out.

It took over an hour and a half to pull 9 stumps ranging from a 6 inch Hickory to the big 16 inch. If the OP's land is similar to my area of the Ozarks stumping is no easy task. Since I stood by with my skid steer to remove the stumps once he dug them up it would take longer if more than just digging them up and moving on to the next one did.

 

[DieselBound]

That doesn't necessarily sound like a lot of time. For me, dealing with the stumps after digging them up and then cleaning up is what takes the real time.

 

[txbonds]

I somewhat went through a similar scenario on our 60+ acres. I built some internal roads where trees had been planted fence to fence. The ground is a mix of sand in some places to clay in others. The trees are all southern yellow pine. I put in close to 2 miles of roads using a John Deere 310K and a lot of time and patients. Took me about 6 months of weekend work to get it done using the approach of pushing trees over and digging up the stumps. The yellow pines develop a long central tap root but these were still small enough to deal with. On the bigger, older trees, you might have to dig a 10+ foot deep ring around the tap root to get them up out of solid clay. Then its a long ordeal to ever get that hole to refill and stay solid. LOL

Anyway, I just literally got rid of the backhoe and picked up a Kubota KX71-3S excavator. Small 3 ton unit but perfect for lighter weight chores around ponds, drainage ditches and the like. Plus, I can get to places with its 6,300 lbs that the 14,500 lb backhoe couldn't.

I put about 400 hours on that backhoe over the course of 3 to 4 years. Had I rented it, there is no telling what those hours would have cost. I now combine the smaller excavator with a larger tractor for the loader and the two currently meet my needs. If truth be told, I may eventually look to go slightly larger on the excavator to something around 4 to 5 tons for stability and ability to use a flail mower on it. I also want a cab, but the 3 ton one is currently working fine. As someone mentioned above, you can always buy something for the job and then sell it to change to something different if needed. Good luck.

Backhoe leaving

The little 25hp excavator with the 70hp tractor/loader

Roads cleared and grubbed with that backhoe

Drainage work alongside road where the backhoe was too heavy to access. It's own weight would make it sink but the little excavator glides right over the top without issue.

 

[M59]

My environment is the southern Ozarks. Lots of wooded rocky shale, hills, compound slopes… total of 4 acres, 1.1 of which is usable land.

Needs:
(1) I have trees and stumps to clear around the 4 acres, mostly 12” - 30” trunks. Over the last 8 years, I’ve probably cut 150 trees, leaving stump after stump behind. I figure I have about that many trees more to go to get to view that I want.

(2) Dig trenches for retaining walls. Walls will be in the 6’ height range… total length around the yard I expect to be about 250’.

(3) Grading and leveling places for shop and lawn/recreation spots.

Do I buy a tractor and rent a mini x or skid steer?

I cant add much to the topic other than the following
You have 4 acres and probably 150 tree stumps plus another 150 after cutting the last of needed trees.
What I haven't heard is how many of those tree stumps must come out out since the future house or other construction ( yard ) need to occupy that space. Once the tree is cut then the stump is not obstructing your view and will eventually rot. Grind the ones down that are really annoying and beyond the house/ building / yard construction area.

For $40K your not going to get much for a tractor (need at least a 60 hp TLB ) or a an excavator ( need at least a 20K Lb machine ) in today's market and you don't have enough work to justifying buying and holding or even reselling.

Mark the areas where stumps need to come out due to construction. Decide where the stump and cut tree pile is going to be be because they don't disappear overnight. Hire a operator with excavator to stump and move debris. Let the ground settle for a year before digging foundation wall trenches, particularly where stumps removed, for your building otherwise you will end up with subsidence, cracked foundation and walls out of plumb and cracks in sheetrock.

Have contractor do the rough grade and level.

I'm not understanding the reason for the 6' retaining walls unless that is to create yard space. Based on 6' high retaining walls the amount of soil/ dirt to fill in behind those 6' walls is possible hundreds if not thousands of yards based on 250 linear feet of walls. There is no $40K spend for equipment purchase or rental, unless you hire out the job, that is going to move that kind of soil from one point to another.

Bottom line. You've got yourself a multi year project.

Planning will get this done in the least amount of time for the least cost.

The above is based on my experience with a significantly modified 11K Lb M59 running the KX series of excavator tools, including a root ripper and thumb, on the hoe. I would NOT attempt to do what you are asking to do with this machine ( original cost in 2017 of $40K ) and another 30-40K in attachment tools. Cleared acres of land and lots of trees and build 1/4 mile of gravel road over a 200 foot elevation change and bridges with this machine.