Hello all, I’m retiring to the Philippines next month. I have a fair amount of dirt work to perform on our property. I’m in the market for a pc78 or similar. However I’m a long way off the beaten path and there are no dealers nearby. My question is what is the best brand/model for a manual non computerized excavator? I’m looking at a pc60-6 currently. There is also a kubota kh-170 available. Thanks!
I’d think anything pre-2007 (mechanical injection pump) and with hydraulic pilot controls, should be pretty easy to keep running with minimal special tools or expertise. I’d avoid anything with electric over hydraulic controls or common rail fuel injection.
Anyway to easily spot electric over hydro controls? Are all joystick machines setup that way? I’m assuming you mean electric joysticks controlling relays to operate the valves vs “pilot” controls where the control sticks go directly to the floor?
The machines with levers or linkage running through the floor directly to the valves would indeed be considered mechanically controlled. Most setup that way are going to be 30+ years old and would not be my first choice. Pilot control machines will have joysticks but have small hydraulic hoses running up inside the armrests to the joysticks. They are the best of both worlds, simple/reliable yet smooth and easy to operate. Electric over hydraulic machines will just have wires running to the joysticks. As far as i know all current Kubota and Takeuchi machines still use hydraulic pilot controls, although the engines are now computer controlled on all the larger machines (over 25hp.) Late 1990’s/early 2000’s, Kubota, Takeuchi, Hitachi or Komatsu would be my first choices. I’d find the nicest/newest one you can in that year range that fits your budget.
Thank you for the clarification and recommendation! Those machines are available and that’s where I’ll target my search.
Mind if I ask a follow up question to this topic? I actually came to this forum to ask about pilot controls vs electric-over-hydraulic, this seems like a good spot. I've been running various small minis for years, but was recently on a job with new Cat excavators, and I just could not get along with them. I'm wondering if it's the electric-over-hydraulic feel that's bothering me? There was just some amount of tactile feedback in the joysticks that I wasn't getting. I got a hundred or so hours of seat time which normally would be well past plenty to adapt, but I still had good days and bad days on those, felt like i had to hyperfocus on the bucket to make it work well. I'm sure if I was running them full time I'd get used to it, but I could never get to the normal second-nature feeling. At the cleanup stage I rented an old clapped out bobcat E20, which I hadn't ran for over a year, and within minutes felt 100% dialed. Not trying to bash Cat at all, just curious about the tech. Second question: is it fair to assume that any machine with thumb switches for auxiliary and boom offset is electric over hydraulic? Or are some a hybrid with electric thumb switches but pilot controls for the joysticks? Thanks a bunch. Thinking about buying my own machine next year so want to learn as much as I can.
I've owned 5 backhoes, my son owned one, all before have been mechanical linkage controlling hydraulic valves. I've found all linkage controlled hoes to be clunky. Much older John Deere with closed center valves were markedly more smooth operating. Latest machine with pilot controls is incredibly controllable! I'm not sure if electric over hydraulic is the same as pilot controls. Open center hydraulics supply pressure from one end of the valve bank. First valve gets priority, others only get some through the feathering grooves in the spools. In my experience I am using four spools at once, I'm lifting, crowding, curling, & swinging simultaneously. Stop any function, more oil is supplied to others, swing takes off like a rocket. Case backhoes pre pilot controls were a problem! Case once offered flow restrictors for swing hydraulics to reduce the sudden swings. You won't have that in pilot controls.
As a follow up, I’ve been able to find a few full manual machines, a Kubota KH-170 and a Hitachi Uho 25. Most other machines are newer. There is a bunch of pc60-6/7’s available. What are everyone’s thoughts on those?
Look for a Kubota KX161-2 or even a straight dash 3, NOT a Super Series. I wouldn’t be afraid of Superseries ones but they had the “Inteli Panel” the straight dash threes had ac and auto idle but no CPU.
I’ve been shopping for months and the kubotas are few and far between, I can only buy what they buy at auction and import. The pc60-7 is by far the most common ex here tied with a pc200. I also find pc60-6 models regularly.
I guess my question is, is it worth buying an older manual machine with the floor controls and rods that I may not be able to get parts for, or go with a newer more popular machine with joysticks? How computerized is the 60-7? How about the 60-6?