Hello, I have a home building and development company. We currently use a 335 and e42 mini-x. We also have a 773G skid steer and a 943 CAT. It has been surprising over the years all of the things we have been able to do with these pieces of equipment. When we have larger site improvement to do, we usually bring in a site work sub-contractor who has the bigger pieces. We are doing more single families now and also have a a townhome development to put in. I am thinking about getting a larger used excavator. We are thinking something in the 20,000 - 30,000 lb size. I basically need it to be able to dig basements with at least a 36" bucket and be capable of lifting and placing manhole sections, inlet boxes and other concrete structures typically found in site work. I am not looking for the latest and greatest, more like economical and reliable. It is not a machine we will run every single day. Could get used a week or two straight and then sit for a few weeks. I have a single axle L8000 that I probably could move it with. Wouldn't break any speed records for sure, but a lot of our work is less than 10 miles apart. I am hoping to stay in the $50,000-ish range and was looking for suggestions on the manufacturer and exact piece that anyone would recommend used. I have looked a bit at Case CX130D, but I have only really just begin gathering info. Thanks!
Being a site work contractor myself who mainly does commercial work but occasionally does residential projects a 20-30K lb machine is too small IMO. On the latest job we are finishing up our 3215FL was too small for some of the structures and vaults we needed to set. A 30K machine is going to struggle with a 54" base and I doubt it would set a 60" base. We run across 54 and 60" bases often due to the larger size pipes the engineers are designing for passive detention. For example 2- 36" RCP's coming in on a tight angle will require a larger base for the manhole. In the $50K price range you can get a similar condition and hour 50-60K lb machine as a 20-30K lb machine for the same price. Personally I wouldn't limit my size machine to what you have currently to move it. We pay a local lowboy service to move our equipment as it's much cheaper than owning a 50T lowboy. Just my $.02 YMMV.