Best mini digger?

[JLA Arborists]

other thought with going for 1.5 tonners is my folks are retiring and selling the farm so I'm potentially losing my yard so worst case scenario I could get a 1.5 tonners and trailer on the drive at home, thanks for the advice folks.

 

 

Could you not have a talk with parents to sign a field to you so at least you keep some space

 

As for diggers I have been looking at a k003-3 as a micro digger or kx36-3 with cabin as a 1.5.

Or if I upgrade to a 3.5t tow vehicle I'd have a cabin kx61-3 it comes in a just under 3.5t with trailer.

[csservices]

Could you not have a talk with parents to sign a field to you so at least you keep some space

 

As for diggers I have been looking at a k003-3 as a micro digger or kx36-3 with cabin as a 1.5.

Or if I upgrade to a 3.5t tow vehicle I'd have a cabin kx61-3 it comes in a just under 3.5t with trailer.

 

 

That ones been talked round and round til I'm blue in the face and I'm no further forward, as regards diggers think I'm off for a look round at the weekend, there's bugger all local to here in the budget though, so maybe doing some mileage.

[LGP Eddie]

Just seen that Ross at Sandhill Plant has got a new batch in which includes a cabbed TB016 and a lovely Kx61 Kubota. Money seems right enough on both.

If my word is worth anything, he sold my last two machines for me and is 100% recommended.

 

I can't do links on the phone so you'll have to Google it.

 

 

 

 

Eddie.

[Old Mill Tree Care]

That ones been talked round and round til I'm blue in the face and I'm no further forward, as regards diggers think I'm off for a look round at the weekend, there's bugger all local to here in the budget though, so maybe doing some mileage.

 

 

From what you've said so far and the replies from Eddie, it seems to me that the money from your tractor sale and the rest on finance will get you the perfect machine with money earning attachments.

You said you've got plenty of work booked in so getting the right machine first time will pay dividends.

There's nothing worse than making so with less than perfect tools and watching potential profit slipping away.

[Matthew Storrs]

Just seen that Ross at Sandhill Plant has got a new batch in which includes a cabbed TB016 and a lovely Kx61 Kubota. Money seems right enough on both.

If my word is worth anything, he sold my last two machines for me and is 100% recommended.

 

I can't do links on the phone so you'll have to Google it.

 

 

 

 

Eddie.

 

That kx61 does look tidy, To the OP- I notice you offer fencing, so i assume you will run a post knocker attachment of it? Just from my experiance of using post knockers on them, you have to use the blade to level the machine and thus level the knocker mast. The takeuchi blade on the TB016 lifts the machine up nice and high so you can still get the machine level on some pretty steep ground (with the blade down hill of course). I nearly purchased a Kubota kx61 in the past but the blade (being close in) didn't lift the machine nearly as high so was harder to get the mast as upright, this put me off the machine actually as i do alot of fencing with diggers.

 

Obviously you could get a side tilt put on the Knocker in which case the blade becomes irrelevant- but probably becomes a bit weighty for a 1.5t machine.

[Matthew Storrs]

Another follow on note from my above post, and i say this as i assume you do a fair bit of fencing too, a 2.5-2.8t will handle a post knocker with a 180kg-200kg hammer on it. A 1.5t by comparison feels on its limit with a post knocker with a 100kg hammer. big diffeance really, trouble is with the larger machine I have to transport the post knocker seperately as it becomes over weigth to have it all on the trailer. Faff for 1 day type jobs if your on your own. I usually have 2 of us one transporting the digger and the other trailer with the post knocker and materials, so no differance than standard to tractor and postknocker/truck and trailer setup really.

 

If you don't do fencing just tell me to shutup!

[IVECOKID]

New & Used Construction Machinery Equipment & Parts Suppliers in UK - Cautrac

 

 

 

Ste

[richy_B]

Another follow on note from my above post, and i say this as i assume you do a fair bit of fencing too, a 2.5-2.8t will handle a post knocker with a 180kg-200kg hammer on it. A 1.5t by comparison feels on its limit with a post knocker with a 100kg hammer. big diffeance really, trouble is with the larger machine I have to transport the post knocker seperately as it becomes over weigth to have it all on the trailer. Faff for 1 day type jobs if your on your own. I usually have 2 of us one transporting the digger and the other trailer with the post knocker and materials, so no differance than standard to tractor and postknocker/truck and trailer setup really.

 

If you don't do fencing just tell me to shutup!

 

Not to side track but have you used a 100kg / 1.5tonner post ram set up? Be interested to hear if its any use. Obviously not big strainers but i did wonder about one for 65mm tree stakes. I have my mini digger with an auger torque auger and have found this very useful for planting standards (i think we discussed the auger before i bought it / i deleted my inbox) but i wondered about partnering it with a small post ram. I only have to do 60 posts in a day roughly but I've found doing them by hand held ram is a right work out and drilling pilot holes with the auger was too much faffing around.

[Matthew Storrs]

Not to side track but have you used a 100kg / 1.5tonner post ram set up? Be interested to hear if its any use. Obviously not big strainers but i did wonder about one for 65mm tree stakes. I have my mini digger with an auger torque auger and have found this very useful for planting standards (i think we discussed the auger before i bought it / i deleted my inbox) but i wondered about partnering it with a small post ram. I only have to do 60 posts in a day roughly but I've found doing them by hand held ram is a right work out and drilling pilot holes with the auger was too much faffing around.

 

Yes mate, Started my buisness on the back of a takeuchi tb016 and postknocker, it had an 85kg weight and then i put a 110kg weight on it, which was about as heavy as i would have wanted to go (i work on some quite steep ground at times. Mine was one i converted from one that went on a compact tractor, I did try a Protech P10 but didn't get on with it at all. If you have an auger anyway you can always predrill all the strainer holes with a 4" bit then knock them in.

Once the strainers are in I then tended to strain a line wire at waist height for the intermediate stakes, stab all the stakes in and then when i'm in the cab i just pulled the stake untill it was touching the line whilst knocking them in, did a really tidy job and could do it quicker than a full spec tractor mounted model, Strainers were quite a bit slower though unless predrilled.

 

I'l try and find the pic i had of it.

[Matthew Storrs]

With an assistant we had 600 meters of intermediates as 3m centers knocked in in 4 hours, so 50 stakes an hour and using the top line wire all the stakes were in straight as a di, does depend on ground conditions though.