Show us your Arb Diggers please.

[Matthew Storrs]

29 minutes ago, Stephen Blair said:

Aye the escape hatch is a laugh!

  I’m 44 and feel broken and weak but I can wrestle the 3 tonner buckets in and out a van if need be, the demo grab is 120kg that takes a bit of manouvering or a scaffy pole if there’s 1 lying around.

 Ideally I want to do away with 3 tonner so I can sell my jeep.

  I do a fare bit of work that I need 4x4 for and the 3 tonner can wrestle much bigger stuff, a months work just came in for it today that I wouldn’t want to put a new machine on digging trenches through boulder country.

  

I don’t want to put you off the 1.8t it’s a good size for many like Doobin say  Particularly if doing a fair bit of residential. But buying my new 1.8t last year was a big mistake for me, it’s sat in the barn doing a paltry 280hrs in a year. The 3 tonner I put 700hrs on last year. I say this as I think you might be in similar terrain/country to me. About 8” of topsoil and then some monster boulders just below the surface. Then the added reach and dump height- I just find them vastly more capable machines, I also find I’m less tired after a days work on the 3 tonner- the little one rocks about and I’m more tensed up in it to counter it. This is a typical encounter on most jobs, it’s 7ft long and about a ton. The 1.8t would be on its knees trying to dig it out and wrestle it around.

 

 

[Stephen Blair]

How much do you want for your 1.8t machine?

[Matthew Storrs]

10 hours ago, Stephen Blair said:

How much do you want for your 1.8t machine?

i wasn’t really planning on selling it as reckon I loose too much money on it as it’s still newish- was going to wait for a few years and try and get some more use out of it, they don’t depreciate too much as they get older.

[doobin]

13 hours ago, Stephen Blair said:

 Ideally I want to do away with 3 tonner so I can sell my jeep.

  I do a fare bit of work that I need 4x4 for and the 3 tonner can wrestle much bigger stuff, a months work just came in for it today that I wouldn’t want to put a new machine on digging trenches through boulder country.

  

Aren't those two statements incompatiable? Or have I read it wrong?

[Matthew Storrs]

Christmas pressie arrived for me today. Old but mighty tidy.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Matthew Storrs

[dig-dug-dan]

35 minutes ago, Matthew Storrs said:

Christmas pressie arrived for me today. Old but mighty tidy.

Oooh! Very nice. Age/hours price?

[doobin]

Perfect size for your work mate. How will you shift it about?

 

Did you get the grapple with it?

Edited December 23, 2019 by doobin

[Matthew Storrs]

2 hours ago, dig-dug-dan said:

Oooh! Very nice. Age/hours price?

It’s a 2001. 2 owner ops/drivers from new.  I bought it a month ago but It had more play then I’d like in the slew bearing so I had a new one put in. The rest of it is pretty tight and engine is a peach. It has done 4400 hrs, undercarriage is in excellent condition which really sold it for me with those tracks on it. It’s nice that at this age it’s not going to lose much money so reckon if I keep it a few years and then can trade in for something newer if I find it works out to be the best size for me. It cost £12500+vat with the new bearing fitted,  fully serviced and includes 4 buckets and the grab.

[Stephen Blair]

Nice machine, I bought the wee Yanmar and collected today 

[Matthew Storrs]

46 minutes ago, doobin said:

Perfect size for your work mate. How will you shift it about?

 

Did you get the grapple with it?

Yes got grapple but will be fitting a hydraulic thumb to it as well (if I can fit all the brackets on!) thumbs are perfect for building stone face banks as it’s a constant need for both grab and bucket. Will use a lorry for the most part for further jobs, it does just fit into my Herbst dump loader trailer though.