I am a plumbing contractor was several Case 580's but here lately it seems like I'm Renting mini excavators so I'm thinking about buying one I'm considering a E32 Bobcat or a Deere 35D Can get a 2013 Bobcat E35 (compact model) with 170 hrs in like new condition for $29,000 What do you guys think From the rentals the Deere seems to have less digging force
I rented a 17d for a farm job, trenched about 250' through 6' of pure rocky, gravel hell! But that Deere impressed the heck out of me. Can't speak on the bobcat but at the trade show we were at recently bobcat had an extendable stick option on the e32 which looked really, really handy. That price seems really good though in our neck of the woods that would run $35,000 or so.
Hi Jeff J, I live in Australia and have a current (2014) Bobcat E35, and have had a Hitachi ZX35 (same as a JD35), the Bobcat out-digs the Hitachi hands down due to the extra HP. I cant comment on the Bobcat E32, our last few series of Hitachi's (ZX35 & 30's) in Australia have had slew bearing issue's, not all but some (mine did). If you go back a few months in the threads on this forum (compact excavators) you will see a big thread I wrote about Bobcat, Hitachi and Takeuchi as a bit of a comparison having owned all three of them now. I am also a plumbing and drainage contractor here as well, the 3.5ton machines seem to be just the right size for our jobs, yes the 5's have the power advantage but we just find there a touch too wide for getting around sites, that's why the E35 has been fantastic, it just has that extra power that others don't have.
Out this way the JD seems to have a better resale than the bobcat and everything else being equal, guys are getting more hours with less down time out of the JD's. The E32 is a bit narrower which may be handy in getting into tighter spaces. It's not a 0 tail swing though.
For 29k! Wow. Canopy or Cab? 170 hrs would have exposed any glaring bugs. Up north, we pay a 50% premium over your prices...so sad.
Mustang 350Z with remote bucket quick coupler
I would buy that E35 at 29K. Great machine and thats a killer price...the E35 is a very capable mini. Much better than the deere machine you are considering in my opinion. The newer E series Bobcats are very good. I owned an operated an E50 for two years and I'm sorry I sold it....