LGP Eddie

They would certainly handle a blade with ease, and for a reasonable size land drain or topsoiling job would be worth considering. There is a vid of the Kubota in action demonstrating they can carry s surprising amount and cover the ground quickly with no damage. We're still headscratching a little on the perfect way to get a crane on and remote control for the ability to get vision all round would add significant cost. Eddie. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

As promised a few shots of the 3 point mast setup on the Kubota Rg60, it's had no time for a coat of paint unfortunately but you can see it's basic construction. A couple of the 8 tonner and 5 tonner also. The mast wasn't fully raised in the side view I must add it does come up higher as in the first pic. Eddie.

Hi Blades, some very interesting points and everyone will have a favourite brand often dictated by a very good local dealer backup which is vital to any machine. It seems you are settled on the sub 2 tonne category to suit your needs, and indeed the CAT 301.8C is a good strong reliable performer that has always commanded quite a premium at resale. However at this point if you are after new I would shy away from CAT mini's as they are currently offering a new range of badged models that the jury is out on and this may affect resale values? Plenty of votes on here for what is without question the toughest out there in this class the Takeuchi TB016, I have vast experience of this model and it simply punches above it's weight like nothing else and is so simple and straightforward to operate and maintain. The downside is they don't come with any frills (great if you don't want them) but compared to their only rival the Kubota they seem aged. Depending on your own applications my advice would be if you intend the machine to have several operators and perhaps the odd bit off self drive hire go for a Takeuchi. They excell at this being basic and easy to repair with very strong residual value many self drive hire companies go this way. They now offer a new larger TB219 which takes this category to another level with longer reach and more power and could be exactly what you need. However all that said, if it were simply to be my own machine then I'd only knock on Kubota's door and ask for the KX019? it's a special order machine but is available to uk customers. Again like the Takeuchi Tb219 it competes with, it has more reach and power. However the fit/finish and quality of the Kubota will show through and for an owner operator make the machine nicer to live with. Don't discount Kubota will give you 3 years warranty if you're ever unlucky enough to need anything and their resale value is rock solid. Regarding the actual cost of such machines against hiring? I have actually bought machines (Takeuchi's) for Clients on larger projects and Operated them myself. The clients have gone on to hire them out to local contacts and eventually move them on after their projects have finished. In all cases the whole cost of machines has been covered in saved hire charges and actual hire, combined with the machines hardly dropping in value and needing only basic maintenance. They soon end up with a nice profit from what would be dead money and plenty of fill in work for me. As we always say the mini digger is the 'Cheapest man on the job!' Eddie

I wish it did include the machine! The pictures Charlieh kindly posted show the machine at about 14 months old and it has a spec all of it's own. The pictures don't really show just how wide the tracks really are (3ft) and you can't see the 13 Tonne Hydraulic winch with 20mm rope fitted at the other end! To replace at current rates would be around 80K! If people really want to see the spec on both (the one picture shows it's little 5 tonne brother) I'll do another thread on them when I'm back. The dumper is looking good and it'll be good to compare notes as we probably need a crane setup like that and you'd benefit from a 3 point mast like ours. Eddie.

Thanks for the very kind replies and to be quite honest I've been quite shy about dipping a toe in as yes I do get involved in an awful amount of tree work but come at it from another angle so to speak. Some 25 years in the seat of most types of construction plant and coming from the Staffordshire Moorlands well used to some steep and wet going. I can provide different solutions to many tasks with the kit I have but certainly don't want to jump in here as a blatant advert. I'm currently away until next week so little access to the best stuff to post, but Charlieh will probably dig you up some more pics and links to you tube if you bully him enough. Regarding the Engcon setup I'd rather explain it with a few pics as it has a few extra's but with the grab and proportional control setup there's about 20k on the Kubota. Eddie

I've been bouncing along the outside of this brilliant Forum for all too long, but the fact we run a similar machine has made me dip a toe in! I was actually tipped off about this machine and to be perfectly honest if I hadn't just blown all my funds on another Low Gound Pressure Kubota excavator then I'd have been after it. Congratulations on getting hold of it and you'll certainly not regret it. We run a Kubota Rg60 which is the same machine apart from the engines, ours runs a 5 cylinder naturally aspirated Kubota which is incredible on fuel and ultra reliable. We had the choice of the Mitsubishi turbo Ld400, but as our main application was to be Post Knocking we decided it could be a little more thirsty and something else to go wrong. We have made many mods including full bio oils, full skidplates/guarding and a front mounted 3 point linkage. Having lookes at all the other 3 point linkage conversions we decided they took too much away from being a standard dumper and would restrict a crane setup such as on this machine. We had professionally fitted a modified forklift mast to give a true vertical lift and be as close fitting as posssible. It also gives the ability to simply lift off the sliding portion leaving a very substantial front plate that has the no restriction on approach/departure angles. Since fitting however we have found the mast actually helps to balance the machine better when loaded (especially longer timber) and has no effect on approach/departure so remains in place at all times. It has two way rams with substantial lift and enough pushdown to easily lift the machine up. In addition a separate valve block was added with a nice set of joystick controls giving auxiliary hydraulics for things like a hydraulic powered two way tailgate and a full flow/free return for a post knocker or patu stroke delimber. It has turned out really well and the perfect addition to such a machine. Regarding the crane, we have looked at many ideas for the perfect setup but not taken the plunge yet as we can't quite get what we want? It'll be interesting to follow this machine and your thoughts from actual experience to see what you would consider changing. For now we load the dumper with my LGP Kubota excavators fitted with Engcon Tiltrotators and grabs. We can get a load on in seconds with the 8 Tonner and once the Dumper Operator is trained to tip in a sensible manner then the excavator simply stays over a little longer at the end of the day to stack everything neatly. We find Brash best handled into the standard skip with no tailgate and piled accross the skip overhanging the sides if access permits. This means huge loads can be carried safely with the operator facing forwards, but once at the tip site he can reverse the seat and drive up the stack silage style making large tidy windrows. The material being at 90 degrees to the tracks is easier to drive on without track damage and the material is left nicely ready for the crane on the big Zago shredder we usually hire in. I'll post some pics of our setup and it would be useful to swap any contacts for parts as they are pretty expensive if required. Eddie.