This little critter doesn't seem to have made it onto this forum as yet, at least according to my 418 search. I've got one, now about a month old and about 100 hours on it. Pretty handy toy being able to fold down to 710 wide. As I am a dry hire purveyor, my seat time on the thing is limited but the boys using it seem to love it. They note the HB280 hammer works very well indeed which surprises them. One guy was fresh off a 30 tonner and his observation the first day was what a toy, by the end of the week he reckoned it was a good unit. A few things to mention though - it seems keen to shed the odd bolt so i guess the words Bobcat and loctite are mostly mutually exclusive... I also advise you to keep an eye on the hoses to the drive motors, these tend to get loosened by clay buildup etc an d then you wonder why your excavator is a bit spongy to operate when its dropped its oil. I like it as a commercial proposition enough to be seriously considering a second one. Anybody else out there got one? Or used one?
I think I know what model you're talking about, Here in the UK we have two new Bobcat micro models known as the E08 and E10 they superceded the 316 which was actually a rebadged japanese 'Hanix' excavator How about a pic to confirm?? Are you really finding bolts coming loose!!
Mouse i demoed a 418 and i liked it... I think its a great machine for those tight tight areas.. I actually thought it had some power digging into the dirt
plenty to be found on the bobcat USA website. yeah it digs well for a little thing, looks like it should weigh about 400kg.
Yep it is the E10, here in the UK the E08 has cable controls.
Mini Excavator Mouse what do you use this for interior work, or tight outdoor areas. For the right job I could see how this would be useful. I attached a pic for reference.
hiya bill. I dont operate but two examples of interesting jobs its been on: a terraced backyard where access was up a set of external concrete stairs about 900mm wide. once they got up there they had to redo the pool and clean up generally. an air cavity in a shopping mall. picture a triangular void with a vertical brick wall one side, a suspended slab for a ceiling and a shale sloping bank for the third side. the shale bank terminates into a concrete spoon drain about 400mm wide They had to shotcrete the shale as it was unstable, the site has a 800mm doorway for entry. So they use the 418 to dig their way in (as the door basically opened onto the bank and you could barely walk in there) then dig their way along. the finished job will feature same said spoon drain with a concrete footpath next to it then a reinforced shotcreted shale bank. at the end of the day your choice of what you could put in there, especially the second job, was pretty limited. widening the door was very much not an option.
Hey Mouse, Thanks for the explanation, it looks very handy for the right job. Thanks for starting the thread it always good to look at new types of machinery.
misread your post and spent too long last night discovering that the 418 is not a rebadged hanix as far as i can work out. they didn't bother with bringing the e08 here re bolts coming loose, yeah but i guess the hammer might induce that a bit... or it could be the 'smooth' ride common to micros. most relevant one was the one that holds on the lever that changes from blade to track retract. minor stuff and all. no worries, bill. I should qualify that I own only one excavator, the 418, and am unlikely to own any bigger ones, that all my gear is bobcat brand for strategic reasons and that I have absolutely no idea of what the competitors offer nor will I be looking. I'm sure each brand has it good points and all
So do you run a skid steer hire company then? (dry hire purveyor means nothing to me!!)
and you live in england eh... birthplace of the english language one assumes. either a dictionary or bothering to read my signature might solve your bewilderment. ah well saved you the bother - try this
It was the 'dry' term that I have never come accross, hence the question. Plus the fact that you previously described the job sites in detail so wasn't sure if you were managing a contracting crew or surveying sites so not actually operating the machine or as it turns out hiring the machines to customers on a self drive basis. Sorry, I will keep quiet in future!!!!
ah, here dry hire is to supply the machine without operator or fuel, with daily maintennace checks to be done by the hirer. wet hire is supply of machine and operator. what do you call it over there?
Dry hire = self drive plant hire in UK Wet hire = operated plant hire in UK Here in the uk machines on dry hire are unlikely to have a daily maintenance check let alone see a grease gun so we could call it very dry hire I suppose!!!!
ditto here dont worry...