Matthew Storrs

This is how all men should be able to retire!

No amount of force will be any good on 3-4” posts unless a pilot hole is made first. The top spec bangers apply 60 ton or so of force on impact- which would promptly snap anything less than a strainer post! A postdriver with a rock spike would make short work of piloting a hole in clay- usually the spike is about 75mm so allows the post to drive down without the bottom mushrooming or snapping.

Just got this email from JCB, would love to have a go in it to see how it performs. Clearly this is the way they will hear- I’d love an electric digger if it had the same performance as diesel.https://www.jcb.com/en-gb/products/mini-excavators/19c-1e?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=update_etec_mini

Cheapest forms of advertising are sometime best- I don’t advertise much but when I did I used local parish rags, cheap and generally gives a trustworthy/local approach if advertising in church/parish. Obvious stuff like vehicle signwritting- one off payment and people actually see you in the job- especially good if you do a lot of work in the public eye. Sandwich boards outside jobs? Did leaflet drops in the very early days- did it myself when I was quiet- not a huge response TBH.

I don’t profess to be squeaky clean, who is when running a tractor in any form on the road?. But that setup above was a one off. Borrowed trailer, hired digger and just used to get the machine a mile off site every evening as vandalism would have been a problem. However, my usual setup with tractor and multi purpose dump trailer I’m not sure where it stands really- VOSA pulled identical setup over (another local contractor) and he had to prove that the tractor and trailer was to be used on site (dump trailer)and that it was for agriculture, (how do the agricultural contractors get away with it otherwise). What I do know is that if you turned up to a building site with that kind of rig, or was pulled on the way to it you’d be absolutely roasted with no chance of reasoning. Personally I’m on agri land much of the time anyway- and I have my tractor gone over every year- brakes etc by local dealer to maintain road worthiness and keep all records of doing so, low loader transport is largely a non starter round here.

@doobin. https://www.bobwild.co.uk/equipment/mini-excavators.html These chaps seem to have a tidy selection of machine- that hitachi looks tidy- thinking paint job looking at undercarriage but never less looks pretty straight and together- It’s a great machine the zx27

Yes, I saw that. All their Taks they have came from a drainage/landscape company who specialise in golf course and sports pitches. It’s actually that TB250 on steels that I have my eye on, I think 5 ton will be better as can fit it in my trailer, 8 ton becomes haulage job for me- last time I had a 8.5t Kubota behind the Same it was all up weight of 12ton and felt a bit like the tail waging the dog!

It’s a hard situation for sure. I’m in a similar boat and go round in circles over the best machines to have. 1.8t is too small for most of my work- yet I have one anyway just to cover all bases small jobs and narrow access work, then my 3 tonner is the bread and butter machine- doing probably 70% of my workload, but then I cringe a bit at some of the jobs I’ve done with it where it would be comfortable 5-6 ton or wheel digger territory, anyway decided to just bite the bullet and get the 5 tonner but find myself in a slightly ridiculous situation and a one man band/operator with 3 diggers, just so I always have the right machine for the job yet the other two sit idle- Im rather under the opinion that it’s better for me to have 3 reasonably tidy machines which have done most of their depreciating vs just having one lovely new one that will have limits either side of the size spectrum...

If I had the dosh I’d agree wholeheartedly with you!

It’s plated at 10,000kg gross and it weighs 2.5t so 7500kg payload. The Herbst website only says 6t though so not really sure which is right. Anyway it carries weight well and is quite heavily built, 6mm sides and floor. it’s 12ftx7ft and for me this size was perfect as could still get it over the old narrow Dartmoor bridges/lanes. If I’d have gone for bigger I’d have filled it and felt sorry for my poor 85hp tractor! you might be able to make out my protech post driver tucked down alongside the digger- I can get it all on and still fit 200meters worth of stock fencing/posts etc around the digger-strainer posts I slide under the digger itself.

The first pic- does your Tak fit on that trailer with the 600 tracks on? Also how do you find that amount of hitch weight- mind is quite bouncy with the digger that way round but my tractor is quite a bit smaller which doesn’t help.

It looks the same length as my red multi purpose dump trailer I use for moving my 3 tonner around. The total bed length is 12ft and I could just fit a 5-6t in there with arm out the back, I can also fit it in with the arm out the front with the bucket resting on the headboard- I prefer it this way as the bulk of the digger is over the trailer wheels- not on the hitch of the tractor. I think a mog doesn’t take hitch weight as well as a tractor either...

Sweet- could do with that on my job at the mo- flippin massive rocks trying to wrestle Into position with my 3 tonner for dry stone walling- can just about drag them along the ground! That one you have in the bucket probably weighs 2 ton. A cubic meter of granite is about 2.6t.

Would you not be better off putting money into a 3 tonner and keeping your 6 too rather than upgrading 6. I very nearly traded my 3tonner in for a new 4-5 ton Takeuchi, but then for the same money I could keep my 3 and buy a used 5 tonner too, 2 machines better than 1 as unlikely they both be broken at the same time an different sizes for different jobs- I often have the need for 2 machines on a job anyway to speed things along a bit.

Yeah I’ve heard the same- kit is moving big time over to the continent. I guess exchange rate is favourable at the mo. I had been dithering over a lovely Case CX80 that came up for sale on 600mm steels, owner op etc. Finally phone up to put a down payment on it and it had been sold over the phone to Finland.

If your after a 3 tonner, il happily swap mine for that lovely 6 tonner of yours?!

£260? You got ripped off! I’ve just bought the 3/4” drive one for £220 from amazon. Makita kit seems to be consistently well made from my experience, all my power tools are Makita now.

Glad your finding it a success. Id also vouch for Makita, had mine over a year now, used it for all sorts, nothing overly big- it’s not up to that, but processing brash, felling small stuff, landscaping work it’s fantastic. It’d make a fantastic chipper saw too.

Not sure where you found those figures but Kx17-4 was 20kw but the newer Kx030-4 has dropped to 17.7, it is the only one that had 4 cylinders though. Have you looked at the Volvo EC27D Doobin- might be a contender?

Not trying to put you off but suspect paper specs might not stand up to real world performance. Local groundwork contractor ran bobcat 2.8ts for years but had a bad experience with his latest which was a Bobcat zero 2.8t (not sure exact model no) said he couldn’t live with it and ended up trading it in for a Hitachi (which I’ve used as is a good machine zx27, but think they’ve stopped doing conventional tails in this size now). I think you will bitterly regret going for a zero 2.8t for arb work. If access is that much of an issue you’d just put your smaller machine in there anyway. The great thing about the Yanmar sv26 is it is 1550mm wide AND conventional tail- stable as they get. Less HP than the bobcat but bigger displacement....

I’m not sure lack of dealer network would put me off that much- particularly if reflected in price. These modern Japanese diggers are so reliable it’s almost a given that you’ll get 4-5000 hrs out of a 3 tonner with out too much issue with regular servicing and a good operator. I’ve had 4 takeuchis now in the last 10 years and aside from tracks and hoses/servicing I’ve not had to replace any major components at all. And really most of the parts can be sourced aftermarket anyway- pump, track motors, tracks hoses, pins and bushes- all the usual candidates that may pack up in later life of the machine.

Yanmar sv26 would be my choice out of the current offerings. Reasons being. Conventional tail, good ground clearance, actually legal on a trailer even with buckets/mud, they offer dual aux lines as an option, dipper pins are large for size of machine, just a really nice machine I think. i know others offer slightly more reach but reach isn’t everything as you know.

Yes, as Beau says I’ve got a same Dorado 86. Which I know Deutz sell in green instead. However googled the agroplus 75 and there seems to be different versions depending on age- have you a link to the one for sale? Ive had Zetors, 2 of them, they had good engines strong as an ox and not short of steel if you like a heavy tractor- however reliability on the old ones just let them down for me- constant problems with brakes, seals going, crap hydraulics. By compasion I’ve had my Same Dorado 86 for 5 years now- and for the first time it’s going into the workshop for an overhaul of brakes as I tow lots with it. However, it’s been a cracking tractor, reliable, quick on the road, good hydraulics etc. I really rate the SDF (Same Deutz Fahr) stuff myself, don’t think you should go far wrong if it’s been looked after...

Working solo is hard enough and everything has to be done by only you- the way i see it if a machine makes life easier then it’s worth having- sometimes it not necessarily financial sense but employing staff isn’t always either and at least machine don’t pull sickies!

It would be interesting to see the depreciation rates doing such low hours. It would have to be pretty good or price per hour used could work out quite expensive- what depreciates a machine quicker- hours or age? I’ve got to the stage where I think I’m better of adding a 3rd machine (5t) to my business-which seems mad as a sole operator but each machine for different jobs as I’d probably put around 350-500 on each machine per year and It’s really not going to cost me to have the other 2 sitting around when not in use.