Slicer Dicer

So so true. At 16 you just don't think much about stuff like this. I'm sure we've all done it but I spent the first 12 years of my working life going at things like a bull in a china shop- paying the price now though, and supposedly I'm meant to be working for another 30 odd years. Use your brain as much as you can- it will make things easier for your body😁

Nice setup but with that amount of stack height I imagine your using that most at far reach to get any useful height? I expect you feel the weight out there too, looks a fair bit of weight on the end before you have grabbed anything.

Ah fair enough. How come you stick with that size machine then if you have a lorry?

What trailer is that on? Reckon you have nearly 300kg extra over a standard TB230 with just a quickhitch and no buckets..🤔 with a 1054 trailer that brings you up to 4100kg😬

Yeah as Mark says 2880kg, I have the TB228 which is exactly the same plated weight. That's operating weight whatever that means so assume fully fueled and bucket etc? It's overweight lets be honest😂. On paper I can just about get it legal. Tow it with no buckets on a 1054 and it can't be that far off. Thing is I really feel the difference that extra 200kg makes when compared to a 2.6t Volvo/Kubota/yanmar etc, the Takeuchi is much better planted. I don't think it the weight so much as the way it's really set back on the slew ring with a good slab of steel hanging far out the back.

Yeah rollers on the joystick is a must in this day and age really. Doing alot of grab work off a pedal isn't great! That's the trouble with the TB216- it really is poverty spec by modern standards. Pedal for the Auxs, no pedals for the tracks. Even a luigoung (or however you spell it) is better specced!

Ah right, was really referring to the 1.5-2.0 bracket. The TB216 (1.8t) I have isn't a good machine but has been very reliable to be fair to it. Didn't think ath slightly larger TB225 was that great either when I hired one. The proper 3 tons they make are beasts though👍

That's how I've always done it- all good so far!

I have 2x 3 ton takeuchis which I think are ace- I doubt there's much in the so called towable bracket that will match them for lift capacity and stability simply due to the massive rear overhang compared to most others that are reduced . They are also smooth and nice machines to operate- I have had 4 takeuchis now and they have all been ultra reliable but their sub 2 ton machines are dog shite IMO so avoid those. I say they're towable but reality is they're almost certainly overweight on a plant trailer, but I don't move mine around alot so tend to take buckets and attachments separately in the dumper for example.

ECR25d isn't particularly stable being a near zero tail. If your doing alot of grab work and not in restricted areas a conventional tail swing is much much better

Natural burial appeals to me. Not necessarily because I'm a raging environmentalist, but quite happy that my body rots back into the earth at the end and a new woodland is produced as a result (collectively speaking), especially if change of use becomes woodland for ever more than land for more houses down the line. I'm not religious and don't like the concept of cremation so therefore seems the most obvious solution. Stick me in a cardboard/willow box/whatever shove it in the ground and plant a tree on top- happy with that.👍

At that age bracket probably more 5 tonners about than 6. 6 seems to be relatively new size bracket- overgrown 5 tonners. Early 2000s probably have to be Takeuchi TB145 or Kubota KX161-2 or -3 if you go later 2000s. Personally I'd not go too old here. The operating experience is alot nicer with more modern machines. Something around mid 2000s should be pretty decent with auxiliary hydraulics etc.

Thats a classic. Good will hunting circa 1996 if I recall!

A splitter on a loader sounds awkward and frustrating to me. Sure it can be done to a degree but the digger will have alot more finesse

Any pictures? Often wondered about getting one on my auger too.