Need Your Advice!

rcesare

I've been in the asphalt repair business for 4 years now and I'm looking to buy a small excavator to expand. I want to sell myself as a small job guy.(Fence post holes,mini-excavation and restricted acces work) I went to see a John Deere 17d,Cat 301.8,kubota kx41 and finally the Yanmar Vio17. I like the Yanmar best because it is a true Zero swing and it is $4000 to $6000 cheaper than all the others. Both the Yanmar Vio17 and the John Deere 17D have the same engine (Yanmar 3TNV70). The Vio17 has a 3 year guarantee. Comes in at only 37.4" wide when tracks are in and has the highest dumping height. However I'm concerned with it's digging depth at only 7'3" and I can't get a straight answer on how to compare auger performance between machines

Unless anyone has advice that would make me reconsider. I'm pretty sure I want the Vio17(along with a 16" excavation bucket,30" ditch bucket,hydraulic thumb and hydraulic auger attachment with a 6",8" and 9" bit. And not to mention a quick attachment.)

All advice is welcome

Thank you
Roger

IHI55j

Make sure you get one thats digging depth is deep enough so you can waterproof basments if you decide around here there is decent money in it also we do alot of yard drains and work with 4" pipe we use a 12" bucket and a 18" for sewer repairs and waterproofing you might be better gitting a 12" and 18" rather than a 16" but thats just from the work we do.

Redneckpete

Consider Terex. They are big in Europe, and have been selling re branded machines in North America for years. Chances are if you own a New Holland, Ingersoll Rand or one of the bigger Bobcat excavators you are actually operating a Terex. They are far better then the Bobcat built mini-exs.

Terex is right now really aggressively pushing their expansion into North America, so you can likely get a top notch price from them.

I own three Terex built excavators, not one of them says "Terex" on the machine, but I'm very happy with every one of them. I own a 1.5T, 5T and an 8T Terex excavator.

Pete

rcesare

I will definately look into digging depth further and as far is Terex is concerned, I will be at a dealership in morning.

Again, thank you for replying to my post.

Roger

rcesare

How deep are you talking about? What is the minimum/maximum digging depth required for foundation waterfroofing or repairs?

Roger

Redneckpete

Auger performance is a function of auxiliary hydraulic oil flow. More flow equals more speed and power to the auger, plain and simple.

Terex has a bypass valve that allows you do direct the flow of two of the three hydraulic pumps to auxiliary. All other machines only direct one of three, or one of two pumps to auxiliary. This makes a big difference in performance.

I've converted my 1.5T terex to the bobcat quick attach system, and use a Bobcat brand auger and breaker. Nothing is required to do this but pull two pins and fit on the bobcat plate. The aux. hydraulics also need the couplers converted to the bobcat style flat faced couplers. Metric to imperial conversion couplers are required for this and they will set you back a couple hundred bucks.

I did that because Bobcat attachments are easy to rent and are available everywhere. I'm very happy I did this.

I may sound like a Terex salesmen which is ironic because the local Terex salesmen was ready to kill me when I just bought a Bobcat rebranded machine. He can get my next sale, I believe in the brand.

Pete

Alan Mesmer

Sorry but in my opinion 1 machine can't do it all. I specialize in the type of business you are looking at. I am partial to Kubota. Since you want to do restricted access then you are probably pigeon holed to the KX41 sized machine. Foundation work would require a kx91 up or a lot of benching yourself down so you can reach and that can be done if necessary but is not efficient. I ended up with 2 machines a Kubota ultra mini k008 for very light work and a Kubota KX121-3. I have a Kubota dealer 5 miles from my house though and in the few instances that I have needed parts they are available very quickly from this dealer. Make sure you give the Kubota machines a fair look too.
Good luck!
Alan

woodchuck2

I too am partial to Kubota although i run a Sumitomo. As far as Yanmar goes they are a good machine. IMO you should go with at least an 8k lb machine. They are small but can do alot of work for their size. I can pull stumps, load trucks, still dig 11' down for foundation work and still tow it behind my D-Max. My Sumitomo is about 76" wide, zero turn, can dig up to 11', raise to 14', has an offset boom, and can still pick up 2k lbs. My next machine will be a Kubota since the dealer is fairly close and they have a great reputation. Next choice after that would be a Cat or a Deere.

rcesare

I think you are absolutely right about 1 machine not being able to do it it all. The whole idea behind starting with a small machine like a Kx41 or the yanmar vio17 is that I believe there is a demand in my area for fence post hole digging in small yards(city). My brother-in-law has been in the landscaping business for 20+ years and has a Cat 302.5 and would give me the small access jobs he can't do with his machine. I own a Ford F-550 dump truck which has a limited hauling capacity of about 5 tons and a towing capacity of 18000lbs. I feel that if I buy a bigger machine to get the bigger jobs I would have to invest in a bigger truck (10 or 12 wheeler). I don't want to get jobs that would require a bigger team. I want to keep dong jobs that require less than 5 men including myself.

KEEP THE COMMENTS COMING BOYS!!!(tHEY ARE VERY HELPFULL)

guyute65045

I tow a KX121 with my F550 with no problems, you can get away with a 10k machine and a light tilt bed trailer and stay under GVW with that set up. I agree with others, the 40 size is fairly limiting, but you can always rent for larger jobs. I run just the kubota right now, and rent the 150 size hoe when I need it. But in hindsight I wish I had done it the other way around, buy the bigger machine first and then get a smaller machine. It is a PITA to wait on the rental sometimes, and I find myself doing things out of order just to get the most out of the rental, not too cost effective.
Cheers,
John