Hello everyone, We live in a mountainous area that has a lot of rocks/boulders underground, the work usually entails digging them up and breaking them into smaller pieces, the main machine that is used for this kind of work(which is charged by the hour) in my area is the Caterpillar 320. I would now like to buy my own excavator and give this business a go, but most of the machinery in my area is old(model year 2000 or older), and I was wondering which excavator do you guys recommend other than the Cat 320 as from my research, model years 2008+ Hyundais, Komatsus and even Volvos are cheaper, would you recommend any or is my best bet to stick to the Cat 320? Many thanks, Roy
Hitachi
I would agree, but are similar models to a 320 (or the brand itself) supported at the OP's location.?
Tata Hitachi from India. No electronics is a plus.
Thank you for the replies guys, unfortunately we do not have Hitachi in my area, the only available options are: Cat 320D Komatsu PC200 Hyundai Robex 300LC Volvo ec240B Which would you recommend? Roy
So I think what it all would come down to his which manufacturer is best supported in your area, if Cats are prevalent, then I would imagine that they are the best supported. What I mean is availability of machine parts and ease of service/repair by independent mechanics or dealer mechanics. That’s what will allow your business to evolve, if you buy a machine that is poorly supported, your chances of growing or succeeding are slim.
That's the problem in that part of the World. There are very few (or even no) independent mechanics. Almost everything is done via dealers, or for really large customers they have their own mechaincs. For the OP with one machine he's going to be pretty well lmiited to using a dealer for his parts and service work.
Welcome to the Forums Roy! If had to choose from the list you provided it's very hard to beat a Cat D series excavator. The C and D model Cats were some of the best Cat made IMO.
If you are dealing with rock all the time I would get the biggest machine available. Rock and hammers are hard on equipment.
From the looks of that mess, something twice as big as you listed. Ed
320 size can make it through a lot of rock. But from what I see in the picture I recommend carpet bombing the entire property first might be cheaper to rent a bigger machine at least to get things started
Is a hammer attachment on whatever excavator you buy an option.? It would also be nice to have some size reference regarding just how large those rocks are in your photo, and an answer to the question how hard is that rock.? From the photos it appears quite well weathered.
Indeed, that's why I specified the brands as they are the only ones we have some parts for. Yes I should have mentioned that, we will definitely need using hammers too, from what I've gathered from all the members so far is that all of the machines I've listed are quite similar in terms of excavating or hammer capacities, so I should go for the one that has the most spare parts available is that correct?