Hi, l am in the market to buy my first small used excavator in the 5-7 ton range with a mono boom, Have a quick release head, steel tracks, buy a full set of buckets, ripper and log grab, , Also as money is allows buy a tilting head & frail mower, I was thinking of building a device that holds all the buckets, ripper and log grab, and carry it around the job as i went, when i got back to the truck lift and load & strap it down. I Have talked to so many people, that tell you that only buy this brand and not that brand. i Want a machine that has good parts avalibilty and backup, Has good hyd pump/s so that can really dig, As well as a power bulge if possable in a machine that size, Push blade, Zero swing ass end, Has good hyd pumps for climbing ability with out the use of the boom if nessasary, don't mind what brand as long as it dose its job. Thanks in advance Cheers for Now All Terrain Weed Control Andrew.
i stick with CAT, Komatsu, Hitachi and Kobelco. Good reliability and lots of parts
it like my takeuchi tb 53... weights close to 13k with thumb. Shop around, sometimes you can find deals on this size machine because they require cdl trucks to pull them around. I bought mine for 20k less because it had 70hrs on it...
some info in this thread
Yanmarin Vio
In the seven-nine ton class, it quite simple- Komatsu PC78 or Hitachi 75 or Takehuchi TB180. Now- in the 10k class- Hitachi 50, then a TK 153, then a PC 55.
cat 308ccr has everything your looking for. its powerful, parts are easy to come by and they make pretty much any attachment for it. i have also ran a pc78 and the 308 will work circles around the 78
Takeuchui is a reliable machine
takeuchi i would deffinatly look into the 175 or 180 zero swing. we bought a 175 last year and its great. its one of the few mini's that ive seen lately that have some reach. its got just over 24 feet at ground level, where the next closest i believe is 21, and 3 feet makes all the diference. plus they have great cycle times and lots of power
Which is the Best Hi papasmurf, Sounds like a Cat or takeuchi are the machines, Have not purchased a machine as of yet , As l was in a car crash and have got 10 fractures in my back with a broken collar bone and some broken ribbs as well, So l am not doing much, other than recovering, hope to be right by xmas, then buy a machine then. Thanks for the input, great. Best Regards Andrew Wylie, ATWC, Aust.
Cat sucks, get John Deere or Hitachi.
Which is Best Hi 245dlc, Cat do have very good parts back up Here in Aus, Probly better than any other equipment dealer, Over night 95% parts delivery in most cases. that is hard to beat, Not sure on the fuel consumption for the cat or the takeuchi, Kobico has very good fuel figures. Best Regards Andrew Wylie ATWC, Aust.
Good for them they have the worst production and here in Canada they're parts availability is just as good as everybody else in fact I'm told that Case here stocks more parts while Cat only stocks parts for the large machines because they don't give a hoot about the little guys.
Which is best Hi 245dlc, Fair Call, Can not ague with that. Best regards Andrew Wylie ATWC.
What about a Volvo EC55? Not sure what series you get down under, we only get the B series here and the few we have sold have been quite good. I think CJD Equipment is the agent in Oz. Give it a look.
Which is Best Hi MitchSA, Sorry to say this but volve down hear, don't a very good resale for some un know reason. Best Regards Andrew Wylie ATWC, Aust.
No worries buddy, you have to look after yourself at the end of the day. You dont want to do yourself in by loosing too much money when/if you sell the machine.
Can you get kubota machines down under? We cant kill ours, plenty of nice features, don't know about parts- we haven't need many, but the ones we did need we got ok.
lot of owner operators are running kubota. they seem to be very happy with them. i've got a cat come have a play on mine if you like. i'm in longwood.
id say hitachi ex60-2,3,5, is hard to beat , the company i work for as plant fitter have a komatsu pc78 and its performance is miserable, only has a single pump and it cannot do 2 movements together and was no better even when brand new!
Takeuchi, FR 153 FR 180 are very trick machines. less money if you go with the conventional mini excavator.
I have an Hitachi Ex60, 1991, bought it with 3000 hrs, I love it, never had a major problem, keep it maintained and she never lets me down.
The bigger ones keep decent resale value, none of the little ones do
Hitachi have the pick of that class in my opinion. If $$$ is a concern - can't go wrong with Kubota, so long as your operator isn't too 'big'.
How about Sany excavator? Sany also have many facotry in different country. How do you think it?