I am shopping 6000 lb mini excavators within a few hundred miles of me. The main brands used are JD, Kubota, Bobcat, Takeuchi and some Yanmar. The closest dealers are JD and Kubota 15 miles then it’s 45 miles for the rest. Given equal hours cost and condition of equipment what would the preferred brand be? I am shopping in the $12000 to $15000 price range. I realize this is like what is better Ford, Chevy or Dodge. I have spent sometime in different rental minis but not enough to have any brand preference.
I am in a very similar boat as you, so I've been doing a TON of research. I've only ran a Bobcat E43 before. From my research, it seems that Kubota and Takeuchi are the preferred brands. I think the JDs are solid machines, but with very expensive parts. Bobcats are loved and hated by many, but overall less well thought of i think. Yanmars are solid machines from what I've heard, but they aren't as respected, so I think you'd need to get one for a better price for it to be worth it.
I'm no expert on the subject but my experience tells me to go Takeuchi, Kubota,(whichever dealer you like the best) and then Yanmar, Deere, and no consideration for a Bobcat at all. YMMV
All the brands you mention are fine. I'm a Takeuchi guy with three of them. Your budget is quite low for a 6000lb machine. There are good deals out there, but the price is going to be more in the range of 24-32K for a descent one. Otherwise it's a high hour, grey market, or super old machine like a Takeuchi TB135 with 5000 hours on it and it looks and it looks pretty beat. I think your price is better for a 3500-4000lb used machine by Deere, Kubota, or Takeuchi.
Around here, you will never see a running mini for under 15k, if it a name brand. I mean beat to crap, barely running, leaking like a seive.
^^^^^Yep, same here (although in Canadian dollars)....so would need minimum of $29,000-35,000 to get anything worth buying. Lower than that junk & heartache and endless hours on the internet trying to source obscure parts. We did buy a cabbed Hitachi ZX 27 with 6500 hours (Summer of 2022 for a job up in Atlin) with thumb/coupler two nice buckets for $27,000. But this was from my buddy and he gave us a fair price... The only brand I don't care for is Bobcat (my opinion) as said above all the others on your list would be good candidates.
I’m a Cat chap through and through for my big kit,but was told to buy either Takeuchi or Kubota for my mini. Ended up either an old Tak and extremely happy with it 3 years on. Hired a Kubota yesterday day for a job.Was a fairly new 2.5 tonner I think. Good machine.
the 3 jap machine keep away from BC and jd not much better