I hope this not a double post, if so I apologize in advance. I have a small farm and I am considering an Cat mini ex. My dealer has recommended a 302.7, I worry it might be too small. My land is all shale, most breaks easy however some pieces can be tuff to break. I need to run water lines and electric out to garden beds and animals. I am looking to dig out a foundation for a greenhouse 5 foot deep and backfill will pipe and stone. Down the road I will need to add a septic tank and sand mound. Lastly, I need to cut into a shale hill to create a roads. My Cat guy seems to think I can do all this with the 302.7 and a hammer if I get into trouble. would this seem reasonable or am I fooling my self into thinking a mini can tackle those jobs?
I would go bigger. We have a farm in Pa that has real rocky soil. We have a takeuchi TB 135 and a Bobcat 337. The Takeuchi does ok but it is so much nicer using the bigger 337. If you get something to small you'll always be trying to do bigger things with it. A 3.5 ton machine would be a better choice for you.
Are you considering buying the machine or renting it?
Sounds way too small to me. And I'd consider a different brand if its used or you plan on keeping it a long time. Those little Cat's are a PAIN to work on.
I would go to the bigger one. Just to make sure you can do bigger and lots of works with it.
I would be buying new, I am kind or partial to cat as my dealer has been really good to me. When I bought my skid steer I shopped the bobcat dealers, and they just were not as competitive on price and were a bit of a pain to deal with. I did a little web shopping trying to compare brands, and it's really hard to make and apples to apples comparison as every brand does things a little different. Is it unrealistic do this type of work with a mini ex? I am leaning going the next size up, if I got to go much bigger its probably cheaper to farm the out.
Yair . . . . Solarmike . It is not unrealistic to that type of work with a crowbar and a shovel! Cheers
I just got a john deere 60g and love it I rented a cat 305 for 2 months . The 60g is super strong for its size
I am not sure if I follow, are you suggesting that if I can be done with a crow bar, that a mini ex will handle it. I am just trying to decide if it will do the work, you don't see mini out here very much. Mosty, excavators a have the big machines, and that's why they charge 30,000 grand to dig a basement. Most farmers use a backhoe on a utility tractor. I use a skid steer around the property so I don't have a tractor.
Yair . . . Exactly. You are not contracting if it takes a bit longer its no big deal. You will always find situations where you want some thing bigger. Remember horsepower and weight does not determine what you can do . . . it just determines the speed at which you can do it, hence my original quote. Cheers
You guys who are knocking the capabilities of a 2.7 ton machine can't possibly have ever used one. Yes, it's smaller than a 5 ton machine, but then again, so is the price tag. And no, there is absolutely no way you'd want to try to replace a 302.7 with a shovel and crow bar (it's like telling someone to crawl somewhere instead of taking the train). With that said, price out the 3.5 ton machine as well and see how it compares in terms of price/productivity. Personally, I would go with the biggest machine that makes sense for the work that you're doing. You can get an unbelievable amount of work done with a 2.7 ton machine, it just doesn't go as fast as a 5 ton machine.
They dropped off the demo machine today, however I have not gotten to dig with it yet. i visited the deere dealer to look at their units, seems nice however it's been two days and I have not gotten a quote. I called the tackachi dealer that's near by, however I am not in his territory so I would have to go some dealer hours away. I don't want to travel over two hours to get to my dealer. I am a little disappointed my demo unit does not have a thumb, as I wanted to test it out.
Hi Solarmike I have 2012 Bobcat E32 long arm, approx 2.7ton. I love it. Yes it has thumb. I could not imagine having a machine without one. Tons of power and still threads into 5foot opening. It still fits on a 7ton float behind 3/4 truck. That being said a 12 to 20 ton machine could dance circles around my mini in all the projects you talked about. Yes mini ex or a guy with shovel could do the jobs but not for very many hrs. 3000 hrs on a mini ex is a lot of hrs but that nothing on full sized Ex. I bought a used 120 sized machine with thumb and aux hydraulic ports for hammer. It did have more 7000 hrs but got for less than $ 20 000. 2 years later no major repairs still going strong.
I have CAT 303.5, 305, 308, 2 - 320s, and 330 excavators. The 305 would be an optimum machine for the work and future work you are going to perform. The 305E I have can still be loaded on a trailer behind a pickup truck and taken anywhere. My dealer in SC is phenomenal in their support.
More questions: are you going to do other work off your farm so that ease of transport is a concern? Are you going to keep the machine long term or sell it as soon as your projects are finished? Do you think the salesman would recommend this same sized machine to a contractor for the type of work you are planning on doing? If the machine is staying on the farm and resale value is a concern, I think you might consider a good used, mid time machine that is larger, even up to a 120 size as Pondo said. I don't know what a new 302.7 with a breaker goes for, but am guessing you would have your pick of a lot of decent used machines for the same or less money. If you are careful, patient, and have a mechanic check out before you buy, you may get every penny back out of the used machine when you go to sell. (a machine depreciates a lot less between say 6000 hours and 6300 hours, than between 0 hours and 300 hours) Hard ground and hammers take a toll on any machine. If your new mini shows the wear and tear when you go to sell, you might take a pretty good hit.