Midi excavators

[basil]

have any of you got 5.5 ton or 6 ton machines you are using ? i have quite a lot of scrub clearnace and coppicing to do this winter and was looking at getting a 5.5 ton hyundai maybee that i could fit a grapple with rotator on.any views experinces pictures that may help. i am reluctant to go for a bigger machine as size may be an issue in the coppice sites.

thanks

will

[clueless]

i'm in the same boat i have a komatsu pc100 (which is pretty much a 120 but a little shorter.) which i am looking to shift for a 5 ton zero swing but everything is so bloody expensive still because of the export market (expecially round your way). 7tonners seem to be better value for money but they are a bit more difficult to shift than 5 tonners.

 

zero swing is the big thing for me especially in coppiced areas.

 

a couple of good (i use that term loosely!) videos on youtube i found one day after thinking what a great idea i had, someone had already done it. This is only with a 3ton machine though it looks like, which i would say would be a bit small. but at least with a 3 tonner you can stil get a bit of hire work with it.

 

[ame]

[/ame]

[Robert_S]

That small digger with grab and trailer looks well handy, im really impressed with that

[Justme]

How will you move it? To big for trailer or 7.5 tonner. Would have to be tractor & trailer or a HGV 18 ton job. Could get costly to move it.

 

Oh & on the hiring out not many cars / vans / 4x4's can tow 3.5ton any more so your looking at a 2 ton mini digger by the time the trailer & buckets are added up.

 

I have put a tow hitch on my 3 1/2 ton one. Its really manoverable. The down side to zero tail swing is that they cant hold as much weight at full reach as the same tonnage non zero swing can. Also stability when at 90 deg is less too & even worse if you can swing the boom independant of the cab.

Edited October 19, 2009 by Justme

[josharb87]

thats brilliant!

[Tree Man Tom]

As ever, Mr Ed is your man for this kinda thing...

[Buzz]

What's your budget ?

 

What is the exact task you are going to use it for ?

 

How are you going to move it ?

 

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I used a 7.5 tonner on scrub clearance work for racking material up ready for a telehandler o shift to a fire, it wasn't very effective.

[Buzz]

Computer playing up, --

 

It really does depend on the excat nature of the task, you might be better off with a tractor with forks and a beak if it's just for moving material about.

 

Give us some more info and we can help more...

[basil]

moving it is not a prob i have accesse to a chieftan to go behind valmet.budget around 9-10 k for machine. uses basicaly what i cant do with valmet/loader and botex already. one job on the edge of a marsh we would use it for burning at a fire site where we are winching to. no good for tractor/loader. in the coppice sites for grading/ stacking timber in winter for spring extraction .re-grading tracks, oh and a bit of digging.

[Mr Ed]

I have a hitachi EX135ur. 14.2 tonnes gross, with total zero tailswing. Later hitachis are close tail not zero.

On the lift thing, I have found mine to be no more tippy than a conventional machine, different machines seem to behave differently - a Brand new PC130 komatsu we had was dreadfully tippy, whereas a JS130 JCB was great.

 

I think if your doing serious scrub work, the machine I have is a small as I would want to go. Many times me and Matt have wished we had a full size 220 for site clearance, but I can move my Hitachi with my 8 wheeler, whereas a 20 tonner always requires a low loader.

 

I also have a full size dozer blade on mine, that comes in very usefull.

 

Will, If you have a picture or better discription of the work, I can soon tell you what will work.

I can also come down and do a few days for you with our machine if you want, If it fits, then you know what to buy.