Put about 40 hours on it now and couldn't be happier, it is so similar to my old 153 just a lot bigger and more capable and continues to impress me. I seriously think it would give a 120 a run for it's money digging a basement if you were loading trucks, I got a 48" bucket that's about .75/yard and can load a truck in 15 buckets, it's a big bucket for it but it handles it well. The side to side boom helps so much loading trucks with being able to lift higher with no slow down like a regular swing boom. One big difference I notice is with how much heavier the machine is, lifting over the drives in soft ground or loose backfill it'll tip way easier then the 153 so find myself going blade side much more. Scaled it and with the 48" bucket it's right at 20,000lbs. My only gripes are the greasing fittings, I thought my 153 had a lot, this thing has a million more it's got 5 just on the main pin alone, it's got to have 25 total I absolutely hate greasing it it takes forever. The other is something my old machine also didn't have and you'd think by 2020 Takeuchi would have put a decent cupholder in their machine, had to order one on amazon again because the crappy slide out one on the floor is absolutely terrible. But if that's the worst of my issues I can't complain. It's got a small leak in one of the lines at the base of the boom that probably won't be fun to fix but aside from that has been flawless. Made an adapter to use skidsteer attachments that's working great so far, put some screw piles in with it today. Got the wrong fittings to hook up to the main aux so had to use the one for the thumb but still drilled well with 15 gpm. View attachment IMG_1635.jpeg
.75y is a good sized bucket. I have a swing boom on a Deere 50d and would much prefer a ‘right’ side pinned boom. As you say much better lift height; balance.
The FR series from Taki are pretty impressive, but damn they have a lot of grease fittings. If you don't own an electric grease gun before owning an FR, you will after.