LGP Eddie

Offer is always there, plenty have made the trip and gone off to buy all manner of setups that suit their circumstances. Best of luck and put some pictures up on here please as you have an interesting setup there. Eddie.

I'll put this 5cx video up as we're all showing a bit of love for the Backhoe at present, and whatever is said the versatility of them is unreal. You will see a selector grab and Jaw Bucket piped up on it, but I have a friend with the actual pipework fitted to a 3cx if your dealer is stuck. I'll get a picture sent down of a 4cx with Tiltrotator, some bit of kit! [ame] [/ame] Eddie.

Mate, you are more than welcome and no need for kit envy. I'm just as happy on a 25 year old JCB 814 as my daily kit. I know the Tilty job inside out, and hate to see people spend money on solutions that are sold to them just to clinch a deal. Get yourself over and take a look, can I tempt you with a go on the Liebherr! As for God with a machine, always someone better and my last shift will be the day I stop learning in this job! Callum is brilliant, he really will go far in the attachment industry. Eddie.

Forgot to add, JCB do the pipework for a tilt bucket/thumb now I'm certain, but you may be surprised that it's the Backhoe you should possibly be considering the Tiltrotator on? A few have gone this route and the benefits are considerable. Eddie.

Go the Tilt Bucket until you replace the machine is the best advice I can give you, as you really have gone quite a way down the road with attachments already and you will need to press reset to go again most effectively down the Tilty route. Call Callum at Highland Hammers for the best price out there on a Geith Tilt bucket and tell him Eddie told you to call. He is really top guy for attachments and service is fantastic. You are most welcome to come and see my Kubota and have a play, I have pretty much most attachments you'll be looking for and I can talk you through the various options. It'll be the best bit of diesel you will buy, but breakfast is on you! Eddie.

You're not alone, I've seen some top class operators make a complete fool of themselves on my Kubota Kx008 when I had it. I was lucky to have cut my teeth on a Pel Job Eb12 1.5 tonner, and this had the levers out in front. It's just a bit of a freak, as operators can operate them no issues with side mounted servo's but throw in that excavator control pattern on levers in front of them and the wheel literally falls off! If you want to see someone struggle, put them on a Backhoe with traditional sticks out in front, on an excavator pattern, it will blow their mind! Eddie.

Don't get me started!!! A thread on the CE Forum, had someone with one of the latest JCB saying his front bucket and back actor don't work simultaneously anymore?? If only we had camera phones back then, as I did nearly nine years straight on front line Backhoe duties, and basically had to leave to get off them! Money no object I'd have a mint 1990 Turbo+ Grey Cab Sitemaster with front mudguards sitting outside! JCB were really top of the pile then. Eddie.

I have a good friend with a fantastic 2.7 tonne machine and 13 tonne Hookloader setup. I keep telling him to go the Backhoe route and add a nice used example to his armoury, as you really can pick up some serious versatility for not stupid money if you keep away from the JCB kit. He can handle a Backhoe too, which many of his generation can't, and as Matthew rightly said they are a lot of power in a versatile package. These caught my eye? JCB T.C. Harrison Eddie.

Close to the factory here, this was Owner Operator city, with dozens of guys having them back in the day, many now seeing out their time with a pick up or 7.5 tonner with mini in tow. JCB be have been having a real push to get people back into the Backhoe, but the ease of operation has seen the mini/midi really take most of their core work, but when you need a Backhoe nothing else will do. It takes a very skilled man to operate a Backhoe properly, and manufacturers resorted to putting in excavator type controls to attract the mini digger generation onto them. Ask an true Backhoe man, and he'll almost certainly prefer the old style sticks instead of the servo levers, and the jack leg controls between the sticks. Mr Bamford got that right first time with the x pattern, and once mastered it all just flows together. The Midi Duck is on the rise, and this is where the market will go I'm certain? Expect a multitude of trailers and loader type buckets for carrying materials or attachments to go with them. Eddie.

I think if they can just get it right, plus ease their way through the towing legislation to allow the carrying of attachments only whilst travelling to/from sites in a suitable trailer, this really could see the return of your local Owner Operator type guys who were bread and butter JCB 3cx type men. Everyone used to know the local guy with the JCB who would just nip in and do the job, but the advent of the Mini/Midi excavators has really hit this market hard. Not hard to see a forward thinking guy with a range of attachments and the correct choice of tyres, making himself very useful in the local area, without the need for low loaders. Be some tool on floatation tyres, with felling head, towing a decent chipper setup? Interesting times, certainly got my full attention, as all my Kubota attachments would fit. I think the Diverto would need giving to a few high profile UK users to gain some credibility, before it would stand any chance of taking off here? Eddie.

This is talk of the town at present in the Digger circles and it's great that such innovation is finally coming from JCB. It's basically a Midi Rubber Duck that has reinvented the wheel, by utilising what could loosely be described as a Loadall undercarriage, compete with 4 wheel steer and the engine down below, side mounted. It should give stability on another level, and also provide the opportunity for some real hp to give towing ability, plus I would expect attachment carrying/powering without loss from the base machine, in such roles as flail mowing. I have seen one in the flesh, and travel speed was really something that had to be witnessed! Visibility is just on another level, along with virtually no tailswing. It's a case of wait and see what the launch brings, but if they can put some real quality in it, the market is ready. JCB are of huge importance in our area, and I wish them every success with it. Link to JCB launch countdown. JCB | H Y D R A D I G | Eddie.

No Dick was on it, we had a few laughs and got the job done, just how it should be. Eddie.

Sorry missed the bit about the Long Reach, they are actually lovely to operate, but really fast, shockingly so at first, but you soon get into it! It's Goulds Fendt and FAE Mulcher. Eddie.

Thanks for all the kind words, it's nice when what is a bit of a punt at getting a solution right comes together thanks to the hard efforts of all involved. Yes it's Dick's Mulcher, never met him before this, but met his Father many times and always great to talk to him, did a great job and pleasure to work with. That is the Mulchings Stephen on the right of the track. Eddie.

Just a few of a Rhodie job that simply couldn't be burnt or mulched by excavator due to a road in close proximity. We used a long reach and grab to stack the material on the track, and then put a Tractor and mulcher through it. Having raked the sides in again, the mulcher did a final pass, leaving the material ready to be removed and the track exposed again. I'm just finishing off clearing the road with 13tonner and Tilt bucket, but I'm delighted with the results. Eddie.

Liking that Stephen, knows what he wants and got it built. Eddie.

It wasn't cheap that's for certain, but doesn't really have any competitors to price against? It's a superb looking bit of kit and has a decent payload, plus those loading arms would handle what I had in mind easily, being attachments or bunded fuel tanks for the machines. I'm in that place where I need a 7.5 tonner but not the associated hassle of one, and that trailer is an option along with a normal flat/crane combo. Eddie.

Sounds good, I look forward to some costings on their skip loading trailer. Thanks Eddie.

It's surprising how much I use the walking leg to move dead and windblown stuff around, and by simply stabbing it with one of the teeth you can actually lift material around quite easily. It's transformed the job, and results much less damage to surrounding trees, as material is dragged away from them and then mulched. Very kind comments thanks, I'm only as good as my last job, and taught old school, always leave a job happy to pay for it yourself! Eddie.

Almost impossible to quantify, as so many variables on sites. The simple fact is it takes a good chunk of manpower to achieve anything like the same production, and they have to find a way of disposal, be it burning or chipping too. It's still mulching at the same rate come knocking off time as it was at the start of the shift too. This setup leaves a nice finish, with the bonus that stumps are gone, even the real big ones ripped out, turned over and mulched, making follow up easy work. Once Mulched it's generally just left, but I have done areas where using the Mulcher with closed doors with a few passes it was able to be seeded. I price some jobs, and straightforward all in day rate on others, but obviously it excels in terrain where the Tractor mounted or Skidsteer guys simply can't get. A few images showing some of the bigger stuff, and how the walking leg can flick the roots out easily to mulch the back out of them. The other images are of a job 5 months or so after they seeded the main portion, you will see the light regrowth at the edge of the grass that will easily be tackled with spraying. Eddie.

That Mini Skip Trailer is exactly what I've been looking for! Send me a price if you can get one. Eddie.

That Komatsu of KWR's is a beauty, but so is all their kit! Just a few images of the Rhodie bashing kit at present, this Komatsu 13 tonne reduced tail long each and grab being something I've put together for the client from my suppliers,and it's been a fantastic solution. I parked it next to the Kubota for comparison. The grousers welded on are working great, and I've needed them on these slopes. The grousers got discussed on the Construction Forum and someone threw this link up? Look simple as really? A link to them here Slirskyddet ISYON för grävmaskiner | Dalarna Plus a video. [ame] [/ame] Eddie.

Thanks. You're right that most real world solutions come from the front line and simply adapting to what the Clients are asking for. As for the Huddig, I've had the pleasure of operating one, and the hydraulics make any excavator I've ever operated including the Liebherr seem cable controlled by comparison. You could probably make your money back on one selling hour slots to operate it in a big field! Eddie.

Just a quick update on the combining the Tiger Shear with an Exac-One cutting unit, in the hope of making the ultimate cut and hold Shear for Midi excavators. All I can say is it performs absolutely fantastic, with a gripper that will gather material and hold anything with a vice like grip, combined with the amazing cut the Exac-One loppers have. It was doing 10 to 14" birch straight through first time. The Kubota handles the bit of extra weight no issues, and hopefully John Craig will do a mod to my Engcon this week that will allow me to have full control over either gripper or cutting unit simultaneously. Greg did a great job on the fab work, bottles and stick welder old school.:thumb up: Another mod for my next project was some temporary extra grousers on the tracks to ensure full grip on side sloping clay grassland. However such is the battle at present Mulching, I decided to put them in early to see if they helped out. All I can say is they put a lovely non slip finish on tarmac and have transformed the job completely, not once needing the blade for an anchor or ever pulling the machine about since. Now it's just a case of how best to get a permanent set easily interchangeable. Eddie.

Obviously lots to look at, but watch the steel undercarriage, as this will get expensive quickly if its just ending its service life. A Kx161-3 will cost more, but still a fantastic machine all round and will sell on easily if its not for you. I depends what you're doing really? Another dealer to look at is Clements Plant who get a fair turnover in the size you're looking at, or Proctor Plant too. Eddie.