I'm new to this forum, so bear with me, also new to compact excavators. But since I already have a newer L 3301 Kubota compact tractor, I am leaning towards keeping everything color coordinated. I've had a couple different small Kubota tractors for almost 20 years now, and they have done their job, no complaints so I'll stick with the brand. I like using the proper tool for the job, why I'm not interested in a backhoe attachment for my tractor, besides I always have the rear end tied up with some other attachment. I have a 40 acre piece of ground with some a wood lot, plus I am around a lot of all kinds of construction, and will no doubt pick up a little work for the thing on the side, like i have done for years with my tractors. Not a big money maker but it helps justify having fun with it at home. I already have a 10K dump bed trailer I use to haul the L 3301 around, besides other stuff, so it and my projected work needs determined the size of the machine I am shopping for, something around 6K all up weight. Since I have gotten a crash course education in the various models of minis in the last several days, it has all boiled down to the u 25s. I have several email request out to various outlets, made over the weekend, so I'll see what happens in the next couple days. One thing I have learned from being in the hoisting business (I operate a 30 ton National rider boom truck with 110' of boom for a living, my 5 th unit, one at a time) is that most of what you see on the internet is either : sold months or years ago, or junk! The other thing I have learned is these compact excavators wear, just like boom trucks, and rather then become expert in working on them, I'd rather spend more up front and get something in the low triple digits hour wise, a non rental unit is another big plus. I have a couple that LOOK pretty good, 3 to 700 hours TT, for mid 20 K dollars. I have pretty much given up on finding a cherry unit in the teens, though I am still looking, in the mid to high 20's seems to be the price range for one less then 5 years old. I'm in SE Idaho, if anybody wants to chime in on any good Kubota sources in the Western side of things I can contact to see if I can scare up a lightly used U 25, feel free. Thanks. BTW, my first use of the machine will be putting in/clearing the way for the tractor to go to work, a 1/4 mile+ path through a steep wooded hillside, I like to think my small crane developed sense (especially the sphincter sensor) will keep me out of trouble. I'll be starting on the easy part, and working my way up to the 25 degree slope, clearing 4 to 8" trees and moving rocks and small boulders as I go, learning as I go. What could go wrong?!
You have a good plan in all respects. I am in South Mississippi, so can't help......but good luck in your quest !!!!! No doubt you will find a good one.
I believe you will need a lot of time or a larger mini to clear 8" trees. Take a rental out for a day to validate your expectations if you have not done this yet.
About two years ago I started looking for a used Kubota KX91. Took some searching but found one with 234 hrs on the clock and a little warranty left. Been using it since and it has been great. Your plan sounds fine and 8" trees should not be a big deal. I have cleared at least 20 24" trees with a 7500lbs machine. Not as fast as a 30 ton machine but dig the roots then just push them over. I wanted a small machine to do less damage in the woods so it is working out well for me. So far I been extremely happy with my little Kubota and like you have several of their tractors and feel the brand is top notch. Good luck in your search!
I love my u25-3, you can tackle huge trees and boulders it just takes longer which a customer won't tolerate but when you are at home who cares. Would not go smaller than U25 for endless reasons. A big issue on paying jobs is not having the load height to fill large tippers but you should not be there anyway. I would trade that off any day to have a machine that a big SUV can tow around. 25Deg is a breeze my place is like 40Deg but you get a feel for your machine. I found plenty of second hand when i was looking but not many 2.5 to 3 tons size. Endless 1.5 ton and 3.5ton up. I am kicking my self now as i rejected alot of low hour machines as when i checked I thought they had to much wear in pins and bushings and when my new one turned up it was just the same. Very disappointed, i should not have been so fussy. Good Luck with your search.
8" is the very biggest, and they'd be dead fall, rotted. The majority are quaking aspen, 2 to 4 or 5 inches. This video is almost exactly what I'll be dealing with, but a lot more rocks in some places. I was super impressed by this, it pretty much solidified my choice of a mini excavator being the right tool for the job. Plus, so many others. I have heard back already from what is shaping up to be probably my best deal, a 2016 machine with less then 300 hours, for 27 K. The company selling it checks out as a big time "for real" heavy equipment outfit, not a used car lot.
The place in Nebraska came through, we have us a deal! A 2016 U 25 s, 277 hours TT, it will be freshly serviced by their pro shop, it has a thumb, I talked them into giving me all three buckets, 9, 12, and a 16", and best of all, they will top off the fuel tank. I feel good about paying 27K for it, as in confident I am not getting totally ripped off, though I'm sure if I was willing to beat the bushes for another few weeks I could maybe do better. I have had a gutload of buying used equipment, boom trucks in my case, and a lot of the time it's worth paying a bit more upfront for something that won't immediately require time in the shop. Now I just need to decide whether to pay about 1.3-1.5 K to have it delivered, in a week or two, or jump in the old Dodge Cummins dually, hook the trailer up (both rigs in great shape, though the truck has 289,000 miles on it) and ruin this weekend by making the "scenic drive" myself. That's a Wyoming joke.
Congrats Im sure you will be happy with the machine. Great price and hours are fantastic. I know what you mean about buying some ones else s junk. Q where is your ripper and mud bucket??? Need the ripper for those roots and mud to finish all jobs. Very important to find service manual and check if the final drives have had there oil changed, and return Hydraulic filter changed on previous servicing. Be careful if you are picking up as it took me a few load binding methods to figure out the best way to stop it moving around on the tray. Don't leave us all in suspense to long before some pics of the new beast. Cheers
Yeah I'll make sure it has all the books, they are a Kubota dealer and the only owner since new, but I will double check them on the filters etc. I have a professional trucker friend who will be in Oklahoma in a couple days, and as of now coming back empty, so I may luck out on transport, not free by any means but a best possible deal plus I trust her (a she trucker, who along with her husband are owner/operators, but he's in Idaho right now) and the farm equipment guys to do it up right. My first thing will be to see what rigging points I have to work with so I can pick it up with my 30 ton boom truck, off her flatbed and into my trailer. Shouldn't be a problem, I can lift it 120' high if need be! I am already shopping for attachments, and getting educated on what's out there, wow. I'll be selling my tractor's 3 pt post hole driller, and be getting a hydraulic one for the new unit for sure. The precision and control of having it on the boom will be great. Possibly a post drive, same deal there, precision. That'd be a ripper that takes the place of the bucket? I have a ripper for the tractor, the plan is to use the mini to get it so I can get the tractor in there, then fine tune things with that. The 9" bucket will have to do for a ripper for now. By mud bucket, you mean the 36" or larger ones I've seen, with no teeth? Those do look handy, on the wish list.
yes lots of fun things you can attach but if you are handy you can make some as well. You carn't really use the 9inch as a ripper but you will understand once you try to dig a few things out. The ripper does not just rip through things in stump removal you go right under the tree like a tooth pick around the tap root. The rest of the world is metric so i have to convert back to closest imperial sizes for you. I have a 1000mm mud which is 39.5inches with replaceable blade. I would not recommend wider and i think you will find it is the most used bucket. I would recommend using tiger teeth on all your digging buckets. My buckets are 150mm(6inch),300mm(12inch)450mm(18inches)and a 600mm(24inch)toothless four way hydraulic bucket. I have bolt on side cutters witch increases the cut width by 2inches on some buckets if I choose. I chose to use the hydraulic grab bucket as i did not want to weld a thumb on my machine and when you are not using them they can be a pain.
Googling around getting an idea on what kind of attachments are out there, and saw this: It'd be pretty easy to make something similar, I like the part where he's loadng it with timbers picked up with the bucket.
Another find. If nothing else, I like the idea of a trailer ball on the blade.
Yes i have a box on my blade home made and smaller than the one in the video. I think the one in the vid is to heavy for U25. Yes i have ball on blade and 6x4 trailer. I the middle of building bigger trailer that tips. You do have tractor to pull your trailer You notice he is using his mud bucket in that vid. I seem to make things as i have a job for them. I copied this guy with a slightly smaller eye beam and works a treat. I lay alot of irrigation poly pipe on my property and i built a kind of shoe that slips over my ripper witch cuts a trench about 4 inches wide. That works a treat also done prob 20 miles with that. Another project on the go is a soil compactor. you will finish up getting a divorce if you become to addicted. I forgot to ask did you get quick hitch or mechanical hitch with the machine.?
While delving into the various attachments available (I weld and fabricate, so I'm mostly looking for ideas to steal), I need to remember : I have a Kubota L3301 tractor. With a box blade, scraper blade, front loader, post hole digger, snow blade, snow blower, mower deck, flail mower, PTO wood chipper, and forks. I need to be careful I don't duplicate my efforts! Yeah, I am well aware of "AA", attachment addiction. What I can see happening though, is the excavator doing the job better then the tractor implement, in some cases anyway. I can see a coordinated effort on a project by both machines, using the best advantages of both, will be pretty awesome. A tandem axle fat tired dump bed trailer is on my list, and I'll set it up for towing by my ATV, tractor, or the mini X. A linear actuator is what I'll use for the dump mechanism. No QA (quick attach, what we call it in the tractor world, being able to use any skid steer implement with a few seconds change over is great) on the boom tip, or mechanical hitch (not sure what that is), so I guess knocking out the pins etc. will be required to change buckets. That got old real quick with my old Kubota with it's backhoe attachment, but if I get all three buckets with this rig ((9,12, and 16") they will all be useless if I switch over to a QA. Good for reselling though. Just 2 to 4 days away, getting excited, watching numerous youtube mini X videos isn't helping.
Now i know why my downloads are slow, you won't get off Utube. If I was contracting every day a hydraulic quick hitch would be a must. I chose a mechanical quick hitch as per photo which are entry level and relatively cheap. You are just inserting one non greased pin each change. I consider a hitch of some sort a must as it keeps the same pin surface in the lower bushes constant and they are sealed pretty good with Orings. Not dragging greasy pins in and out and regressing all the time. I might add on heavy attachments its a nightmare to get pins in without second person or hitch. Not sure about there but in AUS there are issues with lifting eyes in general on buckets or hitches. Some manufacturers will include a lifting eye on the hitch but mine did not. I just improvised and bolted a tow hook from a vehicle to mine until i can do some thing better.
As far as I'm concerned, you can not beat the factory Kubota quick hitch. It's simple and durable and easy to make the ears for, so you play mad scientist and adapt lots of attachments. I'm not telling you what to do by any means or telling you how to spend your money, but, it would be the best "attachment" you could get to start with. Just drop one of your well greased bucket pins in the dirt a few times and you'll wish you had a quick coupler. I'm sure your dealer is ecstatic to get rid of regular pin on buckets, since nobody really wants em'. It can't hurt just to check with him on cost of the coupler and buckets....a few extra dollars spent now will be well worth it down the road....just my .02$
I wasn't aware there was a genuine mechanical quick hitch until you mentioned that and i looked on the US web site. The dealers here don't even bring a bucket in on the machines as there is so much after market Hyd and mechanical hitches and buckets available. Our buckets have the pined on style because you can swap between the Hyd and mechanical by just leaving the second pin in your buckets. Not impressed looking at the Kubota quick hitch, look how wide it is, it would be banging into the sides of narrow trenches. The Pinned ears are just two holes in a plate where you would need a profile cutter to make the quick hitch ears unless you keep buying the genuine ones. There are only two brands i can think of here that don't have standard pinned ears being wacker neuson and bob cat. I agree he needs a hitch of some sort, not even dropping the pin but one of my buckets is 137kg so would not be easy to get that first pin in. My style of hitch would go strait into the buckets he has and if he looks around they come up for about $120.
The nice thing about the Kubota coupler is that it retains the same bucket geometry as opposed to a pin grabbing coupler, and I would think on a machine that size you would want all the power you can get at the bucket. I'm not sure I follow you on the width of the coupler, it's no wider than regular bucket ears, the thumb-is actually wider than the coupler....
In the kubota site they looked wider than the pic you posted, having never seen one here and not even on Aus web site as option. Yes you would loose some power but i have not noticed. That probably only presents its self when pulling your largest dig bucket but on all your smaller ones no prob. Digging clay with a gummy bucket maybe? My buckets don't look as tall as the one in the pic so maybe the bucket manufactures are compensating for that? Ether way almost all machines here are sold with Hydraulic hitches so clearly the contractors are overlooking any power loss for speed of changes. I am guessing the sub 1.5ton machines might see a bigger proportion of mechanical hitches. The machine i had before this one had hyd hitch and you could hammer along at a fast pace changing attachments. but i also noticed when looking for second hand machines most of them were leaking oil or weeping when the hours got up so that is one less hassle i can do without. What i have noticed also on the smaller hyd hitches they seem to disregard the OEM pin spacing and you seem to get wider like the optional Hard Rock pin spacing on the quick hitch in your picture.
I got some pictures of the machine (AFTER sending the money off, I just trust Nebraskans I guess, I've had other very good experiences with the breed) and it appears to be very cherry. No ripped seat and just a few minor scratches on the counterweight. And, I just realized, I already have a can of Kubota Orange spray paint, for the tractor. I'm going to sit tight on any bucket changes until the need for a different setup makes it obvious what I need. I take it the mechanical hitch requries you to jump out and pull a pin or something, as part of the process? Kind of like my tractor's skid steer like QA maybe, where you need to get out and flip down two levers, then curl, and the attachment falls right off. That would be more then adequate for me I think, and still beat the pins having to get hammered out thing. I have my rigging points figured out for lifting it off the truck (it's important to not delay the trucker, time is money to those guys and I want to make it quick). 2 choked slings on each side of the rear ROPS rack, and 2 slings of the same length going to the holes in the side of the front blade, with two short lengths of chain with grab hook to extend those front slings just right so it remains level as I pick it. This is my day job, running the crane....and I am confident (but I'll look close anyway) that the ROPS is attached well enough to take about half the weight of the machine, and then some. i'll the crane setup with the required rigging hanging on the hook, so the trucker can just pull in under me, by the time he unsecures the mini I'll have it rigged and ready to lift. Then I'll walk it down the street a 100 yards to my crane yard (too much stuff in the way for the trucker to pull in there) and see if I can dig out a large tree stump, after first digging clear around it. If nothing else I'll create a ditch around it, flood it with water, and then use the 54,000 lb. crane's front tow hooks to tug it loose. Fun stuff!
I'm spending this snowy day (spring time in Idaho up high) going back through some old posts, and saw this: HeavyEquipmentForums Being brand new to the continuous rotation any excavator has, I realized I had not considered the house position when rigging it lifting. I guess I consider the "front", the end with the blade, doesn't matter I guess. A three point bridle arrangement like used in this post, if my U25 has a similar place to rig to, will be even simpler.
I can send you the manual and they say clearly not to lift at those points. it is a three point lift from each side of the blade and one at the top of the boom
Machine looks brand new. Can't really see the bucket and pin arrangement in the pic. I see they have removed the original hyd quick couplers and just fitted a nipple there. Thats a pain.
Thanks much 007! When I do pick it, with my adjustable chain rigging on the one end adjusted to get it nice and level, the end going to the designated lifting point on the boom that is, before I set it down I'll measure out things and get a local rigging shop to make me up a bridle. I'll have the three 3/8" cables (way strong enough) at the top terminating to a oval lift ring, designed just for such a purpose, I already have some. Then the one load ring goes onto my crane's load hook, better practice then putting 3 cables in there, and more professional looking also. That bridle will be kept and used JUST for picking the miniX. I did the same with my older Kubota tractor, and need to do the same with the new one at some point.
They are calling for a minimum of 12.5mm(1/2inch) aren't they?
Yes and no. in a vertical use, and assuming all three are equeally (and that very well may not be the case, probably not equeal) loaded, they are good for 8400 lbs. But about 10% must be deducted for the angle they would be used on (just working from memory there) so that gets it down to 7560 lbs. working load limit, still a ton over working load. Actual breaking strength of the 3/8' cable is around 12,000 lbs., Then again.... wire rope is cheap, a great bargain, the difference between 1/2 and 3/8 rope is maybe the price of a case of beer. I'll try and remember to price it out both ways.
I would not like to see my new pride and joy swinging in the breeze on 3/8 cable. From an insurance or public liability aspect if any thing happened and the manufacturer was calling for 1/2 inch and you chose not to it would all come back on you. I see in there documentation they were looking for a 6X safety margin. This one makes me feel sick every time i watch it. How you could do this to a brand new little cat.
Lucky someone didn't get killed! Stupidity at its best...
I fail to see the relevance of that video. They obviously did not protect the lifting slings from sharp edges, and/or used under rated slings, probably both. I can't believe they had an operator in the seat! BTW, I am a fully insured and certified crane operator (18 years now, over 14,000 hours accident free) and hold a rigging authorization. I've also been a pilot for 45 years, and one way or another I trust my life, and others, to wire rope (used and rigged correctly, and inspected often) about every day, and it has "never left me down." Using whatever size rope, I would never lift the mini over people anyway, that's just standard procedure. I'm sure Kubota would also prefer I wear a hard hat when running their machine, and gloves and safety glasses and steel toed boots, I just get a little tired of the nanny state mentality! Having vented all that, I'll buy a 1/2" bridle, just to cover my ass, lets move on. We could spend all day looking at vids of cranes dropping excavators! I just got a text from the trucker, on the road now, he just realized that when he parked at his home base last night, he removed the keys for the U25. He neglected to grab them on the way out the door when he hit the road very early in the morning, so his wife is sending them next day FEDEX. This probably means rather then start it up and walk it off his trailer tonight, I will need to lift it off, oh well! He is mortified, but I've lived without a mini X this long, another day won't kill me.
It got here right before midnite Saturday, and I've been working it hard since! It's like new, and to my surprise DOES have the quick change bucket fitting, that really made my day. So I have a 9, 12 and 16". The 9 for sure will be used trenching, the 16 is on right now, I'm not too sure how often the 12 will be used. I'll post a few pictures and detail my experience so far climbing hills and working side slopes.
I have about 10 hours on it now, and I find it hard to believe it only has 20 HP! I am very happy with my choice of this size of machine, it has way more digging power then I expected, and the small size is really handy for where I'm operating. I made two small mods right away: The first was finding the location of the transport beeper that sounds CONTINUOUSLY when it is in motion. Then a switch was installed under the drivers seat (but in plain view and easily reached,) and labeled TRANPORT BEEPER ON/OFF. If and when I'm on a actual jobsite with others, it will of course be on, on a quiet Sunday morning on my own property and working it by myself, it stays off. I also put a coat hook on the ROPS, a minor but handy detail. It has one pretty large storage compartment under the seat, lockable no less, then a smaller one once you flip the seat up, and a third "unofficial" one on top the battery (sealed type, with a plastic cover over it) that'd be good for a spare pair of gloves or something. I got warmed up, keeping in mind I didn't know which lever did what, by loading a slash pile into the dump trailer, that thumb sure is handy. Then I had to snake it through an obstacle course first thing, and at one point I couldn't believe Kubota didn't make the track handles work so that pushing them forward moved you forward, instead of backwards, then I spun around 180 degrees and figured out they had it right, I'm still laughing about that. Many times I had to use the hand clippers to trim off an overhanging tree branch, and I quickly learned to pull the lever up that kills the controls before doing so, after I once accidentally hit the rotation lever NOT doing so, I will not forget that lesson. By the time I had worked my way up about 150 yards of trail building, pulling big rocks in tight quarters, I started to have a pretty good handle on it. I've rented backhoes a few times, but years ago, and never an excavator. Nothing wrong with learning on the job, with no other people or things endangered anyway, and maybe being a crane/boom truck operator helps a bit? I do know once I worked my way up the 18 degree slope, I had figured out being level, like on a crane, was imperative, at least to have full capacity. I missed having a level bubble, and plan to get one. I am used to being level when slewing my crane around and even when the front tires are 3' in the air, the machine is stable IF set up level. Working the mini unlevel was OK until I slewed a bit, then the loss of stability was instantly felt, though I never had any close calls, it was obvious what was going on and how to prevent it. I also have a Kubota mid sized tractor, a L3301, and as planned, after roughing in the trail with the mini, the tractor's scraper blade was the right tool to buff it out a bit. Having both these machines makes me feel like Superman, like I can do about anything, but the mini's 360 degree operation and track drive does make the tractor seem a bit awkward. Tomorrow I'll be picking rocks and boulders out along the trail that I stockpiled along side it, now that I can get both machines in there I'll use the mini's thumb to load the tractor bucket, to shuttle them a ways, where I am using them as fill. I bought this machine from Nebraska Equipment Inc., and they were a pleasure to deal with, highly recommended. I can't believe I made it this far along in life WITHOUT a mini excavator, what an incredibly handy machine, I am one happy camper.
Nice looking machine. On the point of lifting, I've lifted a lot of minis and midis, and every one of them is the same. Lift the boom and the blade right up, there should be one, maybe 2 lifting eyes on top of the boom, and a lifting eye either end of the blade. I like simple rigging, so I use 2 synthetic slings 2m long on the blade, and then don't need to muck around with shortening chains, just a 4 leg set and we're away!
Also on the video, just a point of interest. The port operation diggers here (mainly cat 312s) are fitted with a single lift point on top of the boom. They are repeatedly lifted in and out of ship holds, so they are all set up this way for simplicity
Yes I see two holes in the gusset on the boom, and the blade has the same, so easy enough. The first time I pick it, I'll use my adjustable chain rigging, then I can measure what is needed for a specific bridle, I rarely use chain (and only chain approved for overhead lifting) but when the load needs to be adjusted, it's handy. Mostly slings and round slings these days. According to my 30 ton's load chart, I can lift it 110' high, but only with a 25' radius, or I can put it 45-50' away from the center of rotation, and 70' high. I still am not sure if the need will arise often or at all, I'll pass the word around to my contractors I do crane work for and see what happens. Lot's of mini's around, a few light cranes, no one with both, until now! It will be another tool in the box.....
Here's one we lifted around 2 years ago for a demo job. It was a 5 ton machine, from memory, and as you can see we used 2 equal length chains. One straight to the boom, and another to 2 round slings which were shackled to the blade. The soft slings had the added benefit of not scratching the counterweight. The chains would have been 13mm from memory, which have a WLL of 6700kg per leg, and the round slings are 3000kg per leg. So plenty of capacity, even accounting for the included angle. It's up to you, of course, but I don't know that a single purpose bridle would be that beneficial
Mine came with switch on control panel from factory to stop beeper, yours not have?? 60mm bubble on king pin is handy some times. With the absence of a tilting bucket you better get used to not working on the level if you are going to match grade with your bucket. You can make some corner extensions for your blade to bring you up better if you are working on horrendous slopes like me. What control pattern have you settled on? Just a word of warning for a newbie on this machine there is a small hand grab welded to the roll bar on the left as you enter cab. You tend to grab the roll bar and rotate out of the cab when getting out especially on slopes as your foot is looking for top of track. Your hand slips some times and your already committed and your hand goes between roll bar and handle. Very nasty, breaks your wrist. Once you have had a few close calls you will become very aware of trap.
I guess I'm spoiled by having 4 outriggers on the crane, and always being able to get perfectly level. Often though, I have to use extra dunnage under the pads, so I don't run out of outrigger travel. So far I have not felt the need to throw some blocking under the blade, it has more travel then I first thought, but that is my backup plan. Another day, 4 hours anyway, of trying to outsmart rocks in the trail I'm building, some quite large (3' wide and almost as deep) and embedded. I still can't believe just 20 HP does the work this thing does. My old/first Kubota tractor also had about the same HP, and a backhoe attachment, but the mini weighs about 3 times as much and sure does a LOT more work, without even grunting. Today I raked the high side of the upsloped trail, and sniffed out the big rocks, using the thumb to move them, later they will be used as a border. All the ones I could manhandle, after I backed the mini out of the way, I threw in the loader bucket of the K tractor and dumped some distance away. It's been great fun using both machines, making the the best of their abilities. Some functions overlap, some the tractor clearly excells at, (scraping, for one) overall though the mini is a lot more fun to operate. I'm not sure what control pattern I'm using, the one it came set up with! I started out with it anyway, and it all fell into place. I do understand it's easily changeable, but the one I'm using seems familiar to me from my backhoe time, bottom line is I have it figured out now, and don't want to rock the boat by changing it right now. I could see that handle thing happening like you mention, I'll watch for it, a broken wrist would ruin the fun.
did you find the beeper switch behind the throttle lever?? I have to tell you i would not be on the side of a big hill with dunnage under my blade. My blade extensions attach to the blade and dig in holding me in place. Yes I am very happy with mine also. I ran the U35-3 before this and it was a more capable machine but it would chomp through 20-30 litres of fuel each day and you had to wear ear muffs. The U25 is going through 16-20 litres each day and purrs like a sewing machine, no ear muffs. Yes you know you have big rocks when you can only roll them. The knob on my pattern selector comes loose and you go into nowhere land some times. I used both patterns for a time but i found not from a personal preference but from a mechanical point of view the machine was better at grading using this pattern. Probably going to spark outrage from some people on this site saying that. Will explain why i say that if your interested. By the way what RPMs are you running your machine?
Mine does not have a built in beeper defeat switch. I did get a separate install sheet on installing the beeper, seems it was done by the dealer, as an option I believe, which at least made it easier to figure out how to (when the situation warrants) defeat it. So far, I have been able to get level enough (at least it felt level enough), using the blade only, I was thinking if working up hill, blade behind me, and needing a bit more blade down to level things up a bit, throwing some dunnage/cribbing under it would be one way. Again (and here's where my hoisting experience could bite me in the a**, I am used to doing so when setting up. One big difference of course, now that I think about it, is the crane isn't getting pulled forward or back by the digging action, all loads are, hopefully anyway, plumb, or exerting no forward or backwards pull. I used to be a big time ultralight aircraft builder/dealer/seller/ trainer, and some of my worst customers and students were long time conventional pilots, I had to work around their prior experience, some of it good, some of it not applicable, same thing here with me getting lined out on this digging machine! Got a picture of your blade extensions? So far my uphill (18 degrees anyway, with no side slope, and only minor slewing required) work has been working my way uphill, the next part I will be working my way down..... I'm in mode A, that's how it came, and for some reason, it immediately felt right to me, and how I am now used to it. If I need to grade much I'll use the tractor scraper blade. I'd like to say to say I studied the operator manual carefully and took notes before getting into the seat for the first time, but I'd be lying. It arrived around midnite, and I fumbled my way through walking it off the trailer, the next morning, due to having a few days off work (rare) and an urgent need to get my project underway before things dry out and fire season arrives, I immediately got to work. RPM's? I have no idea, but just enough to not lug it down and not too much to feel like I'm racing it. I have not looked. I checked out the big boulder i moved again, it was fully 3' across, but only about 2' deep, but I was able to cleanly pick it. The few times I've picked boulders with my crane have taught me that boulders, even similar appearing ones, can vary vastly in weight, a geologist could explain this, from heavy, to really heavy. Fuel consumption seems to be similar to my 20 HP old Kubota, as in almost perpetual motionish, at times it almost seems like it's producing fuel. Let's just say "not much", no numbers yet, assuming the dealer topped off the tank as I asked, I'll figure it out in a while, but it's already obvious that it's so low it's almost irrevelant! My new L3301 K tractor on the other hand, actually consumes fuel, probably twice as much as my older one, sounds like your U 35 was more like that. Yeah, the lack of noise the U25 makes is great, (and all the more surprising the power it has) I am thinking of installing a docking station for my Siruis sat radio, along with a couple weather resistant speakers on the ROPS, I wouldn't be without my Sirius in the crane as it keeps me entertained and informed, and from falling asleep.
Yeh all sounds good you will get the hang of it as time goes by. I operate mode B but what ever floats your boat. Yes you are correct the machine will settle alot when you are digging on a slope because you only have the ends of the tracks and the blade in contact with the soil. The grading i mentioned was not the sort you are taking about no big deal. Don't want to get into a pissing contest with rocks but check these monsters out. I pulled all of them out of a bank behind my place with the U25 a few months back and dragged/rolled them to where they are now. The one with the coke can is 130cm across. No idea what weight but not even the U35 would have been able to lift those suckers. If you are careful so as not to abuse your machine its amazing the tasks you can tackle. This is what you use your ripper for as it acts like a pry-bar and you just lever them out of the ground. If you try this with your small bucket you are just going to rip the teeth off the bucket. I used to have Hyd breaker on the U35 but now just the ripper and petrol jack hammer has to suffice. I don't want to put hammer on my 25 as they are cruel on your machine. Some of the new ones are low vibration but not if i can help it. By the way if you are attacking big boulders your small bucket is the strongest as you can bend the floor of the wider buckets.
I had my first occasion to travel and work across a soft mushy area of ground, due to a seasonal spring that will soon dry up as the snow higher up melts. I DIDN'T get stuck, not even close, as this is my first tracked piece of equipment of any kind, it is pretty amazing what they can do versus wheels and tires. I also have been using the dozer blade for the first few times, and am again impressed with how well and how much it can push. I've also been playing around with various amounts of side shift (?) versus rotating the house, to get the boom where I want it, to remain as stab le as possible when working on some side slopes. My thinking has been; try and keep the counter weight mostly on the opposite side of the "weak" side, it's working out well and i continue to have a blast running the thing. With more time on it now, I have also gotten a better sense for it's stability overall, and this is where my crane experience works against me. The "bad feeling" of being out of level while rotating, would make me stop and relevel my crane, no big deal with this thing it seems.
I took a break from my trail building to off load this 500 pound HVAC commercial unit I got for free (from a day crane job I was doing, it was a working unit just too small) that I installed for my shop a couple years ago. But, I quickly realized the shop air and AC was a bad combo, (using the inside shop air for it's intake) I was going through filters like crazy. So I am replacing it with a large swamp cooler, which will blow in a constant supply of fresh outside air, much better. I passed on using my Kubota tractor for the job, the forks wouldn't go high enough, and besides the mini is more fun to operate. I gently and carefully tugged it off the platform, almost to it's tipping point, and then before it fell clear, shock loading and no doubt swinging into the boom, I unhooked, moved the mini clear, and climbed up and tipped it off by hand. This is a funny way to do it for a crane guy, but my 30 ton stays in town in the valley, not on the mountain side where I live, and it's going to the recycler anyway. I am realizing more and more how handy a mini X is, between it and the tractor I can do a lot.
Not my idea, I think I read about it here in an earlier post, but I made a grading bucket out of my 12". My unit came with a 9" (highly desired by me for trenching conduit and water lines) a 12", and the 16". I figured the 12" would get little use, and though I don't know what it was worth on the used market, I'm sure it wasn't enough to offset the cost of a new grading bucket. Plus I needed it it NOW, this took all of half an hour. I had the angle, and didn't even have to cut it to length, it's 32". I won't use it for digging at all, just for moving around fluffed up dirt, so far so good, just welded to the teeth so I guess I didn't destroy the bucket I have a bank behind an outbuilding, and over the last few years I have been carving into the back whenever I need some dirt (NO rocks), eventually I will probably extend the outbuilding into the area, so a win/win. I needed some clean fill for my trail making, and the mini quickly carved out enough for my purposes. But of course the bucket teeth left it roughed up, the home made grading bucket buffed it out nicely. It will also be good for cleaning out a footing excavation, cleaning out the fluff, though I can't scoop it up I can at least sweep it all to end and then change buckets. In doing this I made my first bucket quick change, and didn't of course read how to do it. Easy enough,, and the second time even easier, a good enough system speed wise for my purposes.
Tag teaming with both Kubota rigs, though I'm liking the excavator more then the tractor these days. It seems more like a real piece of equipment and less like a hobby tractor. Heavier built overall, though the tractor does all that i ask of it so no real complaints with it either.
Got 'er hangared! Sooner or later with me, it always comes around to airplanes...... I realized I had room for it, and when the 12' dump bed trailer is in there, on the left, the bucket will rest in the bed. I really like how compact these things are, my backhoe attachment for my old Kubota tractor took up about the same amount of floor space. I'm not sure if it's permited here to link to another site? But this video deserves a look.
Just lifted a 3.5 class machine, and took a pic to show you. Lifted with a 4 leg chain bridle (4th chain was hooked out of the way back to the ring) with the leg on the boom shortened with a clutch by about 6ft.
That looks good, nice and level, real pretty. I have not had a chance yet to get the 30 ton National and the U25 together yet. I keep the U25 at home so far and the crane stays down in the valley in my crane yard there. It's not a casual thing to drive it up here, plus the trailer I had hoped to use to haul the 25 (12'dump bed) is not optimum for the purpose I've decided. So I am trying to make up my mind as to buy or build a trailer, or I just may decide the dumper is optimum enough and just use it. But sooner or later I'll get the two together and whether I need to or not, it's going flying! If for no other reason then to get some pictures for my new business card "BEATS A SHOVEL EXCAVATION", an off shoot of my crane service. For when you can't get anything in where the digging needs to be, and a shovel is looking like the only way. A niche market, and nothing I expect to make a living off of, but another way to get a job or two for the crane now and then.
I had an idea the other day, to use the mini to off load my 1200 lb. (I think) two part jib off my National 1300 series boom truck. With 110' of main boom, I rarely, as in maybe once a year, need it. It only gives me more height, not more radius, so short of radio tower work and grain elevators, I don't need it on all the time. It's about 11' off the ground, that can't help the rigs cornering and center of gravity going down the highway, not to mention pulling the hills and mountains I drive all the time. Plus I am barely legal on my rear tandems, 33,380 lbs., (and only if I offload 500 lbs of normally carried dunnage/pads) 34,000 is the limit before it costs me a lot more in over weight fees. I am planning to built up a raised off loading dock, using pre fabricated concrete traffic barriers and dirt from my home property (free, plus it needs to move anyway), so the mini is not reaching so high, more eyeball to eyeball with the jib. More thinking is involved before I do anything, plus I need to make some time.
Got it airborne with the 30 ton National, which I had at home for an oil change, good for putting it about 45 to 50' from the center of rotation, and over 100' high. For other U25s owners who want to fly it......, 2 12' slings for the blade, and a custom made (inexpensive though) 85" long wire rope for the boom makes it fly about perfect. The rigging shown is just what I had handy.
Great shot.
I got my little add on project, to an existing pole barn outbuilding, finished up right before the first snow hit. I've been having fun with that whole zero swing thing as this picture shows. I gained some more level parking space on my mountain site, with all the dirt I had to take out of the hillside for the add on. I had to move it all about 80' away, so I used my 12' dump bed trailer, towed with the Kubtoa tractor, to shuttle it to the dump site. You'd think after running my boom truck all day the last thing I'd want to do is run more equipment on my off time, wrong, I really enjoy running the mini!