Guys, I am thinking of purchasing one of the above. Which one is more versatile. Can the typical mini excavators excavate through relatively good consolidated earth. Thanks Snatch
You will need to focus on the type of work you expect to do to determine which would work better for you. As far as versatility, the skid steer can be asked to do a bigger variety of jobs simply due to the number of attachments available for it. There are well over 1000 different types of attachments for skid steers, each suited to do a different type of job. From rock picking to moving pallets, loading trucks to blowing snow, there isn't much a skid steer can't do. The compact excavator will excel at trenching, and can do a few other jobs as well with one of the few attachments available for it. There are brush cutters available, and augers for post holes and planting too. Demolition is a strong point to with a thumb or hydraulic hammer. It will really depend on how focused you want your work to be.
Well skid and a mini perfect combo. I think like steve said there is many jobs that each can do it's just you have to figure out what you will need it for. but one realy compliments the other.
I have both, and my skidsteer gets used about half the amount of time my excavator does. But, when I need the skidsteer, it is very valuable to me and I couldnt imagine not having it. I would look at getting an excavator, and a cheaper skidsteer for support like moving excavated materials in or out, large surface grading etc.
I would recommend renting both machines, try them out to see what is best suited for the work you're doing. Some equipment dealers will take the rental payment and put it toward the purchase of a machine if you decide to buy after renting.
Skid-steer and miniexcavator attachments Here's a story about some (not nearly all) of the attachments available for skid-steer loaders and miniexcavators. http://www.constructionequipment.com/article/CA631854.html ADios, Larry
That's a great link. You tend to get creative when you've only got a 5' bucket! I've got to make up a list now.... really like the backfill auger and the Breakout Beak.
Coastal stole my post Thats my operation...now. The mini-x clocks the hours about 4 to 1 over the skid...but the things the skid does I couldn't do without. I started out with just the skid but overall I think an excavator is more versatile...just not as agile in many tasks.
Like said above rent them both out and see which one works best for your needs & which one will work the MOST. You can always rent when you have a need for a specific machine.
I have both & the skid gets used very little compared to the excavator. If you can only buy one, a skid steer with a hoe is not a bad combination. I have dug miles of ditch & footers with the hoe my skid steer, not as fast or easy as the excavator, but it will do it.
I have both and they get used about equally. I started off with the Mini Ex but I do as much landscaping and dirt moving as I do trenching. I shop really hard when i am looking for stuff and I got both machines each with less then 1500 hrs on them for around $16,000.
Before I had a dozer or excavator I had a skid steer. Found out real fast that just a skid steer was limited as just a mini ex is limited. If you live in a booming area with lots of new home construction than just one machine could work. Find a niche and stick to it like retaining walls, concrete work, or pavers. If you live in a area that is not building alot of new homes than you have to do alot of things from trucking, excavating, dozer work, putting in lawns, drives, septics, new homes, drainage work etc. A mini ex is great for specific jobs as a skid is. I used to use a skid steer for grading but found a dozer is best. Coundn't move enough dirt fast enough. I used a mini ex for small excavating jobs but what do you do if you start to get alot of larger holes to dig. Then you need a trailer and truck to move machines around with. If I was to start all over again I would start with a dump truck, than a trailer, 16,000 lb excavator rubber track, 18,000 dozer, skid steer, and a Backhoe in that order. With this mix of machines you can do just about any job. Don't forget about all the small stuff, tampers, had tools, demo saw, chain saw etc. I though that I could do smaller jobs with just a skid steer but not enough work so had to get to a size that I was able to compete with the others. Here every landscaper, or mason has a skid steer and mini ex.
Yep, its the same way here. In order to get good work here & a decent amount of it you need to be good at what you do at what you do or offer alot of different services.
I agree with this except that if you offer alot of different services you have to be good at all services offered to compete with the company that specializes in one or two.
I agree 1000% with everything jmac said. This is exactly the situation I presently find myself in. Last year my work was split about 50/50 between skidsteer and mini-ex. Since I only own a skid, I had to rent a mini-ex. This year I was trying to focus more towards jobs for the skid (to improve my profit margin), but I can't seem to find enough work. My heart says to "tough it out, and better days will come", but my wallet says it's time to get out... Think about the services you want to offer, and the market you're in. This should drive your decision about what to buy. Goin' out and lookin' at iron is the fun part, but once you own it, it needs to work for you, and be putting money in your pocket. Joe
Well thanks Joe, that doesn't happen every day ya know! I learn from hard nocks, had no one to tell me what to do or how to do it. I started from scratch. The most important lesson is that no matter what: it is hard to start a new company. Sorry to hear you are considering packing it in. You have two choices really. One is to quit and sell your stuff. Two is invest more money in advertising, equipment etc. to try and get to a level that will pay the overhead. I was going thru a slow down in July but April and June had more work than I could do and then July came along and nothing. Had to run my dump truck for a few days (trucking for someone else sucks) just to keep some money coming in. Then the phone rang and walaa work. How bad do you want to hang on and how much can you get into debt doing it? Tough question only you can answer. It is a very big investment in the dirt moving business and getting bigger. I know guys that have gone and put up every thing to stall afloat just to get past the slow times. Even the biggest companies have slow times.
I think a skid steer and a mini ex have probably equally important roles in my operation. I added a 160 excavator last year and it has worked out very well. The 465 is large enough to move the material around the holes when its needed. I have my foot in the door on the large jobs and I still do all the smaller work with my 12K mini and smaller skid steer that I built my business doing. The key is diversification. It smooths out the slow times. With a good skid steer you can be as diverse as you have money to buy attachments. A mini is also priceless if your in that smaller market. The days of making a living on just a skid steer have been over for a long time (exceptions being some type of specialty application). You have to be able to provide a complete service and to do that you have to be able to dig. There is no getting around that.
Both of these machines work hand to hand together.If you do alot of residential excavation say like a house extension in a back yard alot of the times you can not get a truck in to load excess material after backfill and final grade with a mini excavator. Unless you pull and keep flipping the dirt or push with the blade and this is not good for drive motor or track longevity.My company has both types of machines.If you can not afford to buy both machines weigh out each ones advantages to suit your needs for the time being. Also to take into consideration Track type loaders have many advantages and do amazing stuff that a rubber tire skid steer can't.:usa
Mr. Cutterhead Probationary Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Surrey Posts: 1 New attachment for bobcats and skidsteers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey Guys, Love my job and just got a new toy to add to your machines. Little cutterhead mills hard ground for trenching, planting, light demolition. We have 14 other similar units sold worldwide for mini excavators up to 130 ton units. Very successful in mining and construction. This is the first unit to address the 25 - 38 lpm (6.6 - 10 gpm) market. If this is inappropreiate for a forum, please forgive as I have never used one before. Just thought you may be as interested in new toys as I am. All the best. Work safe.
If it were me, I would do my best to get both if at all possible, even if it meant that I may have to go with older models of both. Just as everyone has said, a skid steer is limited but that is only because of the size of them, and you will use an excavator more, but you will most likely need to do things to support the excavator that it just isn't set up to do either. So I would suggest trying to go with older equipment in order to get both.
I own both..... A Bobcat 334 excavator and one each Bobcat S150 and T200 Couldnt stand to be without any of them. The excavator is the money maker. The skid loaders are the support machines. Skid loaders are more versatile because of all the attachments that can be used on them but they arent made for trenchwork and I do a boatload of that..... Yes, you can put a backhoe attacment on a skid but dont show up and figure you are going to get anywhere near the same kind of money for it I do with an excavator. I think they are pretty limited on depth and so slow..... Maybe they have changed since I last checked on them but I didnt like the idea of having to change seats to move the machine, lotta wasted time. I do a lot of septic tanks and laterals and all the time I would be moving from skid seat to hoe seat would be a joke..... Depending on soil type my average lateral length is 300-400 feet. Thats a bunch of seat changes! The add on hoes just never really caught on around here..... Good advice givenabout maybe getting into some older equipment so you can have both..... Paul
You might consider an AG tractor if you are limited to one machine. I did that years ago. Jack of all trades if you aren't in a hurry. I got a mini excavator, and now it sees the most use, and am looking to buy the matching skid steer, as the Ag machine is not too maneuverable, or fast. Ag machines can put nearly anything on the back, and you still have the front end loader, so it's like having two machines. Very practical if you are working on your own dime.
i would go for both also! But if you can't afford both at the moment, then you just have to decide witch one would have more usage? you can't comare those machines, they are still copletly different, built for different pourpouses... Ok you can buy a digger attachment for your skid steer, but it's like using a mini excavator for moving dirt = not so effective :ban i don't know about the States, but here in finland the S-T digging attachments are a thing of the past, totaly over run by miniexcavators... But the digger attachment has one benefit! it digs deeper and with better force! but thats it, the fact of that you can't turn around makes it alot worse, and if you can fit the skid steer with digger, then a 5 ton miniexcavator will also fit, and it REALLY spanks the digger anytime! buy something usefull the competiton doesn't have! then you will have a lot of work I think that before buying equipment and investing money, you should know what you are doing and what posibilities you have! othervise you are jumping of a cliff, without knowing whats under you might make it...
Go for the mini excavator first! You will use it a lot more then you think. The skidsteer is very handy but not quite as practical in some situations.. Once you get the excavator start saving for a skidsteer because the combo can be very handy to have.
If it is one or the other I would pick the skid steer. A mini is seldom a stand alone machine in my opinion. It would depend much on your type of operation though as to which would be more important. A 7500 pound mini is easy to rent most everywhere as is a skid steer.
the first machine I bought was a 35 size mini and I did alot with that machine I have a mini and a skid now, but if I had to ditch one it would be the skid. If you do mostly trenching and steep work,get the mini, if you do more grading and loading get the skid.
I'm curious, wouldn't a backhoe like a case 580 serve both purposes? Or it it just too big for some jobs that the skid steer and mini ex can do?
I have a mini ex with a normal digging bucket and a large ditching bucket for loading, grading and transporting material. this works really well for me since I don't need a skidsteer on most jobs. just use the mini for it. The bucket isn't as big as a skidsteers but not having to haul 2 pieces of equipment to every job sure is nice.
but if you have to move 50 tonnes of material 25m, which is not much on most jobs. then it really sucks to carry with the excavator... in places where you can "throw" material with the bucket (short distances) it's effective to use the excavator. but if you do your jobs on a hourly rate and do not have employees, then it's a good way to employ your self for a longer time, as long as the customer pays. a 7 series bobcat carry the same amount of dirt as a 10 ton excavator... we use both machines, but i would go for the excavator first any time!
JCB 1CX versatility Hi all. What about one of these Regards AusDave
I all depends on the amount of money you want to spend. If you got plenty of it then get both because you can certainly use them depending on what you got to do. But if you are limited on the funds and want to best of two world I would go with the skid steer vs the excavator. With the skid steer you can dig a ditch, or a hole and do it quicker. I only have a skid steer (Bobcat T200) and if I need to lay pipe I just rent a mini X.
My vote is if only one go with a 35 size mini with a hydraulic thumb. That combo is on every job I do and racks up the hours. I have been taking down trees and using the Mini to help push the trees certain ways and feed the chipper. Even used the Mini this winter clearing sidewalks ( I had a flat cutting edge welded to old teeth to dig footings to get ice off of the sidewalks in an apt complex). Was laying 8" ductile iron pipe and used the mini where we were crossing other utilities and to bring the pipe and valves to the large trackhoe and to backfill and level for the trench compactor. To me it is the swiss army knife of excavating.
I'd say I'd have to agree with coastal. I have both too, and most of the time I'll use my mini x, but the skidsteer is no doubt a vital support unit.
I know this is an older post, but I too would say I use my mini X more than my compact track loader. If you have a tractor with a FEL, I would definitely say go with the mini-x and later, if you can, pick up a skid steer. For digging and moving dirt where I can't get a dump truck, using my mini-x and 100 hp tractor with a 1 yard FEL bucket on it makes for pretty quick work.
Buy a JCB 1CX, or I think its a JCB 208 in the US. It is about 2,8 tonnes with a loader bucket on the front and a back hoe on the rear and it is a skid steer. I have one a great machine if you can get it cheap. And you only need to tow on machine.
Yup, different machines on different sides of the pond. Keeps it confusing.
I have been around skid steers since 1972, and never even saw a 4-in-1 combination bucket on a skid-steer on any job site. For site clean-up--rocks, broken blocks, dirt clods, bushes, etc., it was most common to have to push against something to pick these up, have a laborer or two pick up and toss that stuff in to the skid-steer bucket, or worse, jump on and off the machine to do that yourself. My Bobcat dealer loaned me ("demo'd") a combo bucket to me, and after about 3 minutes I knew I had to have one-- $ 2,800 or whatever it was suddenly seemed cheap. I can slick a work site up without ever leaving the seat. As a pure grapple, a small 4-in-1 is not a substitute for a true grapple bucket. I have one of those, too. The 4-in-1 will grab and pull up fence posts, bushes, and small trees. I have ripped out hundreds of feet of farm fence in what seems like a few minutes with the combo--open, grab, pull, and continue down the line. Never get off the machine. Like the guys say, it depends on what you are doing. For small construction site lift-and-carry, you need a skid steer--you can't lift and carry with a mini-ex. Get a standard tooth bucket for digging and a smooth-edge 4-in-1. If you are around tree limbs and brush piles, get a grapple bucket, too. With the proper technique, you can grab and carry huge piles of tree limbs in a single swipe. The grapple bucket allows my Bobcat 773 to drag huge trees around, in minutes--grab the tree by the butt or stump, lift it a few inches (and never mind if the rear tires come the ground), and back up. Instant log skidder. On the farm, we have installed a mile or so of water line. I have a 36" x 6" trencher for the skid. It's good for my soil type, and I can stand it more or less straight down and carve out square holes to set valve boxes. We hired a tractor-loader-backhoe to dig through the rocky areas and to install the larger culverts in the creeks and ditches. The main attraction of the mini-ex's is their versatility, size and weight. The smaller ones can ride on a 10,000 or 12,000 lb trailer behind a 3/4 ton pickup. But their size is a disadvantage, too. That's why some of the guys put more hours on them--for bigger jobs the bigger backhoes are 5x faster. The jobs we thought of using (renting) the mini-x, we were far ahead to hire the backhoe man and pay him by the hour.
You need to figure out which would come in most handy and fully utilized before you purchase... you can always rent the other
I just purchased a JCB 1cx/208s and seems great to me. It has both, loader in front and backhoe in the rear, great visibility all around. My 2 cents Vic Guayama, PR
I like the post about renting both machines and seeing which you may actually "need" more... I really considered getting a mini-excavator but the more I thought about it the less I really could find much of a personal use... I dont use my machines for business purposes... it steered me away from the purchase and onto better options...
We use the skid steer a lot for than our X, I guess it boils down to what kind of excavating you would be doing, like most of the guys have said it is "what work will YOU be doing" we have an MT55 with a great trencher that is an absolute monster. Again but does have to have the back up of a good skid steer to move dirt and grade back. Loved the post about the dump truck and trailer, we have been getting rid of a lot of our smaller trucks and opting for '07 and never F650 4 door dump trucks with a nice contrail trailer to tow our machines nothing like have all the tools you need on one rig.
Hello I have a Venieri backhoe that I use instead of an excavator and a skid steer. Here are some pics. MJT
I have one of each , simply because you need one of each...the mini excavator gets used more but the skidsteer does jobs the mini X can't...it's not a matter of one or the other in ImHO ....if that were the case one wouldn't exist....follow ? Get a nice backhoe for a decent shot at the best of both worlds...