If you have that kind of cash to something illiquid, and, by all means go for it.

Just keep in the back of your mind that if the market tanks like it did in '08, these mini-ex's basically became worthless overnight, and people could buy "real" ones for about the same amount of cash at auction IE the price spread between a mini, mid, and full-size were negligible.

 

If I wanted to sell and couldn't it really wouldn't matter that much. The =<10,000 pound hoes are very popular with plumbers, electricians, landscapers, etc. in this area since you can trailer them with a 3/4 or one ton truck and they can fit in tight areas. You are right about the price spread between the minis-midis-biggies, I could buy a 20,000 pound used hoe for the same money as a mini. It would be a ton of fun running a 20k pound hoe but it's just too large for my use.

 

I know that the deere mini ex's have a pattern selector so you can switch the control scheme to match that of a regular backhoe. So if you've operated a backhoe, it will be an easy upgrade for you.

 

There's an almost brand new 2018 Case CX33C (10 hours) for sale about 100 miles away but there are no Case dealers closer than 100 miles away unfortunately. Our local dealers are Kubota, Deere and Bobcat. There's a Komatsu and Cat dealer about 85 miles away in San Antonio.

 

I think the 26 or 33 would be a good size. I dunno about the dealer distance. I have never needed the dealer. I would say that construction dealers are not like Ag dealerships. They don't seem to be expecting to work with 'the little guy' like you or me. So, I'm not sure you feel the same warmth as you might feel in an Ag tractor dealership.
Does that make sense?


Tim

 

Interested novice

Thanks for opening this thread. I've only run any excavator just enough to figure out I want to do it more. I put about 6 hours on a large JD after the owner asked me if I wanted to run it restacking stumps that had gotten piled with too much dirt to burn. After I got used to where the boom needed to be for the fixed thumb to grab properly it was a lot of fun. After a bit of practice I found that I could toss the stumps onto the new pile. A loader operator was steadily bringing more stumps so there was lots of back and forth practice. When the dirt pile got too big, we would move in a circle around the new pile and leave the old dirt behind.

I tried a couple of mini Cats with mulching heads. Very nice machines but the mulching heads were pretty limited compared to a skid steer mulcher. They were nice for overhead trimming but a much bigger machine would have been better as to get the vertical reach meant I had to be too close to the debris coming down. I'd like to try a mini ex digging. I found operating pretty easy to pick up but I have a feeling that digging a flat bottom trench is probably a lot harder.

Treefarmer

 

I have run almost all the brands and I prefer the smaller bobcats with a hydraulic thumb over all of them. They also have the selector switch to change the boom cycles. I prefer the john deere style. Bucket and thumb and dipper on the right joystick, and the swing and boom on the left.

After the bobcat I like the cat, john deere or Hitachi, doesn't much matter which. I was last on a 450 Hitachi with a 4ft bucket and a cracker with cutters. I could cut through a 1ft steel beam. I was demoing a old sugar mill factory.

Now the biggest Ex I have run is a 320 cat here on my property and a couple of the big bobcats minis. One was brand new. They have come a long way since 2008...

Whatever you decide try to make sure it has a thumb. You will never regret it! :good2:

Good luck!
WB

 

A hydraulic thumb is a must have! There’s a very low hour 2015 Kubota KX-40 with a cab about 55 miles away, I had a Kubota tractor (30 hp) that I bought new in 1998 and sold a year ago - very reliable. I initially wasn’t interested in a Kubota track hoe but it wouldn’t hurt to look.

Thanks for the comments about the Bobcat.

 

The Bobcat in the ad you posted is essentially half the cost of the truck you were looking to buy.

I don't recall the Bobcat model I rented; but I had it for a week. It took me about a day to get decent with it and I could dig a straight trench; but getting the trench depth consistent was a real challenge that I didn't master.

The Cat, Yanmar and Terex were all rented just for the day.

Here is the Cat 303 I rented. I don't have pictures of the other three.

 

That Cat 303 is one I was very interested in as well. We're heading out in a few minutes to our local Bobcat dealer to talk hoes. I called the guy about the Kubota KX-40-4 a while ago and it's off rental (which I knew) and asked why the low hours. Most of the off-rental equipment I see for sale has 1700-2500 hours on the clock

He said there's a Kubota rental fleet plan or something like that and they only rent low hour machines. Not sure I buy into that - the guy is a salesman.

 

Done and done

That was easy. :good2:

Visited our local Bobcat dealer and played on an E32 for a few minutes and did a walk-around looking for service points like dipstick, oil and fuel filters, etc. To my surprise I was able to somewhat coordinate stick-boom-bucket movement. Unfortunately they didn't have an E42 or an E45 but jumped up a couple of sizes from there. And the smaller machines were open station so I couldn't check out the cab - no biggie though.

Made the deal after I saw the bottom line price with all of the discounts thrown in, I'm basically spending $5k to $10k more money for a brand new zero hour machine with a two year or 2,000 hour warranty compared to a comparable used cab model.

So here's what I ordered (factory is in North Dakota - build date of Feb 18) with before and after discount price:

E42 - $54,731
A20 option (cab with AC & heat) - $6,985
Hydraulic "clamp" or thumb, Class 4 - $2,648
12" bucket with teeth - $985
24" bucket, smooth - $1,283

Total list price - $66,605
Dealer PDI - $200
Freight - $1,164

Discounts:
Cash price rebate - ($2.300)
Built Tough Rebate - ($5,000)
Dealer discount - ($5,661)

Out the door price: $55,008 - no Texas sales tax because we are ag exempt.:gizmo:

The dealer will deliver (of course) and any warranty repairs will be performed on-site. I would have to take it in for routine maintenance or pay a hauling fee based on mileage.

 

Congratulations

That was easy. :good2:

Visited our local Bobcat dealer and played on an E32 for a few minutes and did a walk-around looking for service points like dipstick, oil and fuel filters, etc. To my surprise I was able to somewhat coordinate stick-boom-bucket movement. Unfortunately they didn't have an E42 or an E45 but jumped up a couple of sizes from there. And the smaller machines were open station so I couldn't check out the cab - no biggie though.

Made the deal after I saw the bottom line price with all of the discounts thrown in, I'm basically spending $5k to $10k more money for a brand new zero hour machine with a two year or 2,000 hour warranty compared to a comparable used cab model.

So here's what I ordered (factory is in North Dakota - build date of Feb 18) with before and after discount price:

E42 - $54,731
A20 option (cab with AC & heat) - $6,985
Hydraulic "clamp" or thumb, Class 4 - $2,648
12" bucket with teeth - $985
24" bucket, smooth - $1,283

Total list price - $66,605
Dealer PDI - $200
Freight - $1,164

Discounts:
Cash price rebate - ($2.300)
Built Tough Rebate - ($5,000)
Dealer discount - ($5,661)

Out the door price: $55,008 - no Texas sales tax because we are ag exempt.:gizmo:

The dealer will deliver (of course) and any warranty repairs will be performed on-site. I would have to take it in for routine maintenance or pay a hauling fee based on mileage.

Congratulations on the new acquisition. That looks like a very sweet machine and I'm sure you will have a lot of fun and get a lot done with it. I'll be looking forward to seeing pictures and posts around the end of February.

Treefarmer

 

You need to send a link to this thread to that ya-hoo sales guy at the Ford dealership!!

Or better yet, drive the new Mini-Ex into their showroom. :laugh:


Congrats - that is going to be one cool machine to operate!


EDIT - found this video Watch It Work: Bobcat E42 Compact Excavator - YouTube

 

^^ roger that ^^

I’ll have to watch that video, I’ve seen a few of the E42 in action and one how-to run video, I’m already picking out jobs for it. I was going to rent a stump grinder for five or six stumps but I’ll just dig them up. I was going to hire a guy to make a 165’ long trench (with a rock saw) but I’m pretty sure I can dig it with the hoe. Rock saw rental is $500 a day and I would have to pay him probably a hundred bucks to run the saw.

Then I need to dig a 150’ trench for a french drain by the shop, etc. Learning to run it will be a ton of fun.

 

I just watched the E42 video and that is a far more refined machine than the Bobcat I rented 15+ years ago. :good2:

Did you travel the machine with the blade behind you? That will be a fun getting used to moment for you when forward is backward and vice-versa. It's also fun when the operator's station is 90-degrees from the normal direction of travel.

Those trenches will be nothing for that Bobcat and you can knock them out in a day or two depending on how quickly you get used to the controls. Digging out the stumps sounds like fun too.

 

This E42 is a "4.5t" class track hoe and the specs have it a 9,246 pounds but I don't know if that is the cab or open station variant. The E32 I briefly played with is 7,340 pounds, I only ran it back and forth a little, there wasn't a bunch of room where they had all of the equipment lined up. I was more interested in how smooth the controls were for the boom-stick-bucket (very nice in my opinion.)

I recently bought a JLG 450A Series II articulated boom lift at auction and you can swing the boom (along with the engine house of course) almost 360* and travel with the boom sideways, pointed forward, backwards, etc. I was maneuvering it into a tight spot and was able to move the boom out of the way while the chassis moved in another direction - that was very cool. (I used it to rescue one of our barn cats early one morning a couple of weeks ago that climbed about 15 feet up an oak tree behind the house and couldn't get down. I was able tweak and maneuver the boom in the grove of trees to reach the cat. Bad cat :nunu:.)

For those interested there's a guy on YouTube (Kapper Outdoors) that rented an E35 and then bought a new cab E42 with a long stick. He's got a bunch of videos running the hoe digging, trenching, grading, hauling trees, etc. He's got a 50 something inch grading bucket but he's dealing with clay and loam soil and not the rocky stuff we have but I think I need to revise my order.

I'm going to call my salesman and have him change the 24" smooth bucket to a tooth bucket, add a 48" smooth bucket, a ripper and spend the bucks for the hydraulic "X-Change", I think this option is about $2600. Instead of pulling a pin (probably beating on the end of the pin) all you do is push a button in the cab to drop the bucket or whatever, position the end of the stick to the new bucket and push a button to engage. Initially I thought I would only be switching between two buckets and doing it manually would be fine but watching the Kapper guy change implements so easily convinced me to add this option.

 

Called the salesman soon after my last post and he had already put the order in with Bobcat and they had put it in the production schedule; he called Bobcat right away and he was able to add the hydraulic X-Change option while keeping the same production date. He called me back and we chatted about changing/adding to the implement order.

The 24" tooth bucket was the same price as the smooth grading bucket (the grading bucket has a hardened edge) so he changed that. I added a 48" grading bucket and the ripper which brought the new total to $59,220 (the new truck would have been about $62K with tax) so we're still in the ballpark.

The single ripper will be good for tearing roots and to trench for low voltage wire and antenna coax (and rip through rocks.)

Now I have to wait for four or five weeks :gaah:

 

Can I come play?



Man, that sounds like a very, very nice machine. Congratulations. I"m not envious. Well no, that's a lie- I'm real envious but want to see the video anyway when you are up and running.

Treefarmer

 

I have a YouTube channel with mostly rockcrawling videos and a few of the tractor and my former dozer but I'll add some of the new hoe when it arrives. Just this morning when I took the dog out I spotted some more opportunities to put the hoe to use.

We are very blessed to be in a financial position to be able to buy big toys (er, equipment) and we will be able to depreciate it like the other ranch equipment - really helps on the form 1040. I vividly remember as young marrieds when it was close to payday there was no money for milk and bread (literally) - then we robbed our piggy bank. We're always grateful for our situation (and I'm a cancer survivor - that's the biggest blessing.)

 

I notice that the share button is gone from all posts lately, which is good because it makes room for the jealous button that we desperately need. :greentractorride:

 

Amen, brother

I notice that the share button is gone from all posts lately, which is good because it makes room for the jealous button that we desperately need. :greentractorride:

Amen, ain't it the truth?

I can be jealous and still happy for someone else at the same time. I think the shrinks have a name for it, :dunno:

Treefarmer

 

Dang videos.... :dunno:

I was watching some of Kapper Outdoors YouTube videos of his E42 before and after he added the optional 500 pound counterweight and it really added a bunch of stability to his E42. To me stability=safety and it will increase the capability of the hoe. He has the long arm option (only adds about 12" of reach) but I didn't want the added weight on the boom/stick so I should see a bit better performance than his E42. Another $1.4k on the bill. The only other thing I want now on the machine is a radio but that can be dealer installed.

Now I'm not the only one in the family getting new stuff - dear wife gets a brand new knee in about three weeks :cheers:

 

Today is supposed to be the build day for the E42 :thumbup1gif:

I'll give the dealer a call tomorrow and ask if there's any notification/feedback from Bobcat about production. Still guessing about the end of the month for delivery to me. The dealer has the three buckets I ordered, when I checked several days ago he was still waiting on the ripper.

When I was looking through the online accessory parts catalog I noticed there were three radios listed, one 'plain' one, one that was 'wireless' and one was 'wireless' and 'BT' - I'm guessing BT means it has Bluetooth capability which I want so I had him change the radio order to the BT version.

The Mrs. was scheduled for a brand new knee last Tuesday but the dogs (70 pound Lab and a 42 pound heeler) were playing outside and ran into the back of her legs and BAM. Down she goes backwards and extended her left arm to break her fall. She was in a bunch of pain and took her to our little hospital's ER. Broken wrist . So she's in a cast for the next five weeks (one week has passed) and the knee replacement is postponed for probably 8-10 weeks.

 

Prayers for your wife



Man, that's tough for your wife. The dealer may want to hold onto the excavator for her sake, once you get it you will be torn between nursing and running the mini ex. . .

Treefarmer

 

I've been playing Mr. Mom around the house for about ten days, the gals do a bunch of work that we don't realize or maybe appreciate until we have to take up the slack. Fortunately she can drive and is learning to make good use of her 1.5 arms (thank the Lord it's not her right arm in a cast!)

 

jeepers-sorry to hear about ur wifes broken wrist. that sucks for sure, and so close to her knee replacement yet to boot.

my aunt worries about the same ting with her new to her black lab, she likes to run right at ya, then at the last minute turns away from u. she doesn't do that oh-with Charley boy or poor Sadie-a big german shepherd my aunt has. rolls them tin cups over. GS is about 10 yrs old, Hanna the black lab has gotten the rolled up newspaper several times for that, don't know if that's working oh.

i hope ur wife the best in her recovery, wrist-and then for the knee too.

 

Thanks for the kind thoughts. The Lab is seven years old and we've only had him for maybe a month. Some friends had him and moved to be closer to their kids but their house and yard is small and asked us if we wanted to be his new 'parents'. We were thinking about getting a doggie playmate for our heeler anyway so we took the boy. He's smart and a fast learner, don't know if this typical of the breed or not.

The problem with taking a mature pet is sometimes bad habits are very difficult to change. The Lab doesn't have good manners when walking or when entering/leaving the house (I enter and leave first, then the dogs) but I think with more training he'll get the desired behavior. It takes patience, lots and lots of patience with some dogs. Bad behavior needs to be addressed immediately or the moment is lost.

 

Labs



I've had multiple Labs and most of them I got after they were grown. All of them except 1 were smart dogs. The exception was pretty much dumb as a brick for a Lab or about on a par with most hounds. Even so, he was trainable but it took much more repetition than normal.

One characteristic of Labs is they really don't grow up, they just grow old. There's always that spirit of adventure and play in them. When they are young and untrained, that's a real issue because they are rambunctious and relatively large and strong dogs. A 70 lb dog going full bore will take your feet out from under you in a heartbeat. If my Lab is playing with another dog, I'm always watching to see where they are going because frankly they don't always care what or who they run into. It's all play, right? Generally they also have some great qualities. The pretty much want to please their people, love attention, don't hold grudges and are smart. Once trained, I have been able to walk my dogs without a leash and they respond to gentle voice commands with an occasional yell to get their attention. They are very quick to pick up signals from you, both the ones you mean to give them and the unintentional signals because they pay attention to their people. They are great dogs but need attention, exercise and training.

Treefarmer

 

Wow John - your wife’s situation is so similar to mine.

Mrs C was scheduled to have a full knee replacement last summer. But it was postponed due to some issues with her pre-surgery blood work.

So now she is hobbling around with a full knee brace - she can barely walk but refuses to use my cane.

Our Jake - Border Collies mix who is 2 years old now - specializes in the running at you and turning at the last split second. Actually he becomes airborne while he grazes you at full speed. He actually terrorizes Mrs. C when she goes outside as she rarely goes out of the house anymore due to the fear of falling.

So when she does go out she has to keep a keen eye out for Jake - he can be really sneaky and come at you from behind in your blind spot. So she takes a couple steps and stops - looks around for him - then a few more steps. Now I will go out with her and run interference for her.

He’s getting much better now that he is maturing somewhat. But he still will get a little crazy in the house once in a while (cabin fever) and gets to jumping around. A couple times he has sideswiped her in her bad knee which brings her to tears.

 

Wish Mrs. C could do this



I know her physical state won't allow Mrs. C to do this but it's an amazingly effective way to teach dogs not to jump on you.

I learned this one a bunch of dogs ago and found it to be 100% effective, if done correctly.

For a dog that likes to jump on you, pay attention to the dog while seemingly not paying attention. When the dog goes to jump on you, bring your knee up into the dogs chest with a little umph behind it but don't look at the dog, don't change expression, don't say anything. Pop the knee up quickly and back down so as far as the dog knows, you haven't moved. (Don't go too overboard on the umph as a really hard hit can actually kill a dog. That's not the goal, you just want them to feel like they ran into a wall that wasn't there a second ago.)

It only takes a very few hits with the a knee before the dog thinks there's some sort of invisible barrier and it doesn't feel good. I've used it on puppies- gently of course; full grown untrained dogs and even dogs I didn't know and they didn't know me.

It doesn't work if a dog is coming from behind but usually you can quickly shift for one from the side. It's much, much more effective than pushing the dog down with your hands because that becomes a game.

I'm sorry Mrs. C can't do this but you might try it. It's been really effective for me.

Treefarmer

 

Zero problem about the diversion Stan, I’m responsible for starting it :flag_of_truce: .

Treefarmer’s description of Labs is absolutely spot-on, our boy (Scout) behaves exactly as described. We’ve had two corgis, one loved to play and pretty smart and the last one was as dumb as a rock - basically four short legs supporting a stomach.

Our vet told us about the knee into the chest correction action, our heeler has a bad habit of standing on her hind legs like she was going jump on me but it’s really sort of a doggy hug. Not good behavior but I’m having trouble trying to stop that.

Talked to my Bobcat salesman this morning and I misunderstood the production date, it should be built this week. He did get a ship notice on the ripper so that’s progress.

 

Yippee!

Just got a call from the dealer and the E42 is built and ready to ship -or- it could be on the truck now headed south. My ripper attachment and radio kit are also at the dealer so all good news. Hopefully it will get loaded (or is now) and not have to wait a few days for more freight heading this way.

 

 

Congrats on the new toy. :kidw_truck_smiley:

I'd take a picture and send it to the truck dealer..... :mockery:

I've been looking for that Jealous Button for a while... :lovetongue:

 

I'd take a picture and send it to the truck dealer..... :mockery:

You and I think alike. :good2: :drinks:

 

I have that salesguy's email, I probably should send him a pix of the E42 when it arrives. That entire experience still puzzles me but I never expect much from car (or RV) dealers, they are a unique breed. They will pat you on your back and pee on your leg.

 

I have that salesguy's email, I probably should send him a pix of the E42 when it arrives. That entire experience still puzzles me but I never expect much from car (or RV) dealers, they are a unique breed. They will pat you on your back and pee on your leg.[/QUOTE]
:lolol::lolol: