Excavator

[SD51555]

I guess part of my question is what hour range I should be looking for. I am definitely looking for reliability as repairs are a pain to organize when you live on the other side of the country. On the other hand, I will probably put less than 100 hrs per year on it. would something in the 2000-3000 hour range make more sense? On the sizing, I feel like bigger is better for most of the things I would be doing, but I was wondering if anybody would have gone smaller due to difficulty getting around in a wooded setting. That 80 is on the large size for a mini.

When it comes to owning one, keep in mind, either you have to haul it in for repairs, or someone has to come out and fix it. Both options cost time and money. Figure on at least a $500 trip charge just to get a field tech to come look at it. If he's got to make multiple trips, each one is gonna be $500 one way or another. This is how dealers make their money, labor markup. Also figure in $150-$250/hr for on-site labor rates.

When it comes to used equipment, I'd buy from a reputable dealer. The good ones will sell a trashed machine they took in trade on the auction. If good machine passes trade inspection in good shape, they'll fix it up and put their name on it. This is also where the dealer may have work order history on it too, and better yet, know the customer to know how well they treat their machines. Some go to auction automatically, and some get fought over by employees at the dealership because they know the first customer had solid operators and maintenance practices.

Having seen more machines the past year, I'd put a Cat 308 as about the perfect habitat excavator. It's big enough to grab a 50' oak tree in one piece, small enough to maneuver around your atv trails without turning them into landing strips. You're not gonna dig a gigantic pond with a 308, and you're not gonna be able to handle 5 foot DBH cottonwoods, but for everything else, I think it'd be perfect.

 

[deepsleep]

When it comes to owning one, keep in mind, either you have to haul it in for repairs, or someone has to come out and fix it. Both options cost time and money. Figure on at least a $500 trip charge just to get a field tech to come look at it. If he's got to make multiple trips, each one is gonna be $500 one way or another. This is how dealers make their money, labor markup. Also figure in $150-$250/hr for on-site labor rates.

When it comes to used equipment, I'd buy from a reputable dealer. The good ones will sell a trashed machine they took in trade on the auction. If good machine passes trade inspection in good shape, they'll fix it up and put their name on it. This is also where the dealer may have work order history on it too, and better yet, know the customer to know how well they treat their machines. Some go to auction automatically, and some get fought over by employees at the dealership because they know the first customer had solid operators and maintenance practices.

Having seen more machines the past year, I'd put a Cat 308 as about the perfect habitat excavator. It's big enough to grab a 50' oak tree in one piece, small enough to maneuver around your atv trails without turning them into landing strips. You're not gonna dig a gigantic pond with a 308, and you're not gonna be able to handle 5 foot DBH cottonwoods, but for everything else, I think it'd be perfect.

This is great info. On the repair charges, that's just another reason renting would be cheaper for a guy like me. I recognize that this is a luxury recreational item and not something I'll be using to make money. That being said, I bought a used Kubota tractor several years back, and it hasn't had a single problem. Not saying this would be the same, but I'm getting the idea that these things are pretty darn reliable.

Great advice on finding a dealer with one. I think it would be worth paying a few bucks extra to have a someone who knows these machines going through and putting their stamp on it. I also have a fear of buying one with a lien on it and this helps minimize that risk.

I've heard great things about the Cats, but they are pretty pricey. From a size standpoint, the 308 is similar to the Kubota Kx080. The interesting thing about the 308 is there are a ton of them for sale with >4000 hours on them so I'm assuming they are very popular for construction. Would I be better off buying one with, say, 3000 hours on it, or a Kubuta with 1500 hours on it? It is encouraging to see some with >10,000 hours on them. I am not so worried about the cost of repairs, but rather downtime at an inconvenient time. For anyone with experience, can the Cat dealers generally get things fixed quickly? I'm guessing they can get stuff done with a mobile mechanic very quickly for a (very large) price.

 

[jsasker007]

On excavators the swing bearing the what will cost you the most if you have to replace that. If you rotate in a circle with a lot of weight and you feel any slipping,jumping or catching in certain spots of the rotation it might have a swing bearing that's getting close to needing replacement. This bearing bearing needs to be greased in 4 different positions of the 360 degree swing. Every 90 degrees to get the grease in properly. Don't know if I explained that very well or not. The points on the drive gears should not being worn down to nubs or you'll feel lots of slipping when not driving in a straight line of travel.

 

[deepsleep]

On excavators the swing bearing the what will cost you the most if you have to replace that. If you rotate in a circle with a lot of weight and you feel any slipping,jumping or catching in certain spots of the rotation it might have a swing bearing that's getting close to needing replacement. This bearing bearing needs to be greased in 4 different positions of the 360 degree swing. Every 90 degrees to get the grease in properly. Don't know if I explained that very well or not. The points on the drive gears should not being worn down to nubs or you'll feel lots of slipping when not driving in a straight line of travel.

I should just hire you as my purchasing agent! This is why I’ll probably go for a lower hour machine. I have no idea what to look for mechanically. I guess the other question is how big do repair bills get on this size machine? Is it a thousand here, thousand there or can you get hit with 20k on major stuff?

 

[jsasker007]

I should just hire you as my purchasing agent! This is why I’ll probably go for a lower hour machine. I have no idea what to look for mechanically. I guess the other question is how big do repair bills get on this size machine? Is it a thousand here, thousand there or can you get hit with 20k on major stuff?

I had a d3 komatsu dozer that I had them redo the undercarriage on about 10 years ago and it cost me around 10k for them to do that. That's about all that machine was worth really. Coin flip when it gets to bigger repairs. Renting equipment eliminates huge repair bills also but a machine in decent shape can pay for itself too if you can find enough projects for it. Last time I rented a mini excavator I think the agreement was about $1,000 per week which was them figuring 40 hours of use. I used up 40 hours and still had 3 more days to have it so I called the guy and told him I already used up my hours and he told me not to worry about the hours, just use it for the week. I thought that was pretty decent of him. You can do a lot in a week once you get the hang of operating the machine. jmo

 

[SD51555]

I had a d3 komatsu dozer that I had them redo the undercarriage on about 10 years ago and it cost me around 10k for them to do that. That's about all that machine was worth really. Coin flip when it gets to bigger repairs. Renting equipment eliminates huge repair bills also but a machine in decent shape can pay for itself too if you can find enough projects for it. Last time I rented a mini excavator I think the agreement was about $1,000 per week which was them figuring 40 hours of use. I used up 40 hours and still had 3 more days to have it so I called the guy and told him I already used up my hours and he told me not to worry about the hours, just use it for the week. I thought that was pretty decent of him. You can do a lot in a week once you get the hang of operating the machine. jmo

Yep.

I start digging with an E-50 bobcat Wednesday night next week for 5 days. I cannot wait.


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