New sand box toy

[John K Jordan]

Delivered yesterday. I've been saving for one of these for 15 years. Kubota, 4-ton, thumb, angle dozer blade, air conditioned cab.

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Also got a hydraulic dump trailer, 7x14. Also on my list of things that would make my life easier. 14,000 lbs, with ramps - can haul the excavator in the trailer, use the trailer to haul debris, then haul the machine back home. Good clean fun!

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For practice I dug up a big bradford pear tree today for a neighbor. Didn't take long.

JKJ

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

You are making a lot of us drool right now.

[Jim Koepke]

You are making a lot of us drool right now.

My wife wants one of those.

jtk

[Bruce Page]

Country folk have the coolest toys!

[Steve Fish]

Awesome machine, congats John! I got to run one of those for my cousin’s landscape and nursery operation for a handful of years. Super versatile piece of equipment, I would recommend the smooth mouth clean-up bucket and welding some chain hooks to the other two you have pictured. Enjoy!

[Frederick Skelly]

So THATs why you're working on a new pole barn!
John, I am green with envy. That machine ought to be very handy around a place like yours.
Enjoy!
Fred

[John K Jordan]

So THATs why you're working on a new pole barn!

Yes, I'm tired of things sitting out in the rain and under tarps. This new machine was the deciding point. It will have company with the tractor, two diesel mowers, the skid steer, and things like the tiller, boom sprayer, spreader, and little backhoe for the tractor. Hmm, maybe I don't even need that now...

JKJ

[Larry Frank]

I wish I could afford all of those nice toys

[John K Jordan]

Awesome machine, congats John! I got to run one of those for my cousin’s landscape and nursery operation for a handful of years. Super versatile piece of equipment, I would recommend the smooth mouth clean-up bucket and welding some chain hooks to the other two you have pictured. Enjoy!

I already have the 3/8" weld-on grab looks laid out.

I'm seriously thinking of welding up my own smooth bucket for grading and smoothing and working on the pond. Another plan is to build a boom pole - I think I could use it to put up trusses myself without hiring a crane. I have welders and plasma torch and I'm not afraid to use them! :)

I can't imagine life on the couch in front of the TV.

JKJ

[Tom M King]

Nice toy! I should have bought one a long time ago, as I've probably half paid for one in rental fees over the years, not to mention all the time to go get one, and carry it back.

If the teeth bolt on, I have welded a cutting edge to the teeth on a large excavator bucket before, and it worked about as good as a grading bucket. If they do, you could get another set of teeth, maybe even a used set cheap, and weld a cutting edge onto the other set of teeth. Then you could just take the regular teeth off, and bolt on the edge.

[Lisa Starr]

That's almost as good as my little dozer and a pile of dirt.:)

[Ronald Blue]

Nice outfit. You can get a lot done with that. Your list of friends will be growing....

[John K Jordan]

Nice toy! I should have bought one a long time ago, as I've probably half paid for one in rental fees over the years, not to mention all the time to go get one, and carry it back.


I very much resent rental fees. Besides the high fees for such equipment and the travel/hauling you mentioned, what I don't like about rentals is once the tool is in my hands I can't afford to stop and rest, eat, nothing. Have to go go go go to get the money's worth and tend to rush when taking my time might do a better job.

With my own equipment I work at my own pace, stop and chat with neighbors, go in for supper and relax for a while, start again later or the next day or the day after. No rush, no pressure. And it's probably a lot safer to go slow to get the feel of the controls - these things can hurt you and anything around in a heartbeat. For the person with an occasional specialized task rental makes sense I have rented a diesel trencher twice and dug about 2000 ft for water and power but the mini ex is more of a general purpose machine - I have a 100 jobs I've been saving up for this thing. Between that and the skid steer and the tractor I think I can do most of what I need, er, want.

I just dug up three more big stumps, had to dig down 6' to free one. Just that one would have taken me a couple of days with the little backhoe on my 40hp tractor. So far I'm loving the angle dozer blade on this thing and especially the float mode. And after just a couple of days I'm already spoiled rotten with the AC in our 90-deg weather. Since the thing has speakers installed, maybe I'll spring for a radio for NPR with a USB socket for my digital play list...


Nice outfit. You can get a lot done with that. Your list of friends will be growing....

I'll dig anything they want, as long as they bring it here. :D

JKJ

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I'll dig anything they want, as long as they bring it here. :D

JKJ

Best quote I have read all day! :):):)

[Tom M King]

That angling dozer blade is nice. I don't think any of the ones I've rented had a blade that did anything but go up, and down. Operating an excavator is more complicated than flying an airplane, but once you get the hang of it, you don't even have to think about what does what.

edited to add: I rented a little T450 skid steer loader last week, with a 4-n-1 bucket for $328 per one day. That didn't include the hour to get it, and the hour to take it back (half hour each way), or time to load, and unload it. It also didn't include the one trip I had to make back to the rental place because they had hooked up the hydraulic hoses incorrectly to the new 4-n-1 bucket, and the first time I dumped the bucket, it broke both hoses.

[Keith Outten]

Way to go John!
I like your new toy :)

[John K Jordan]

That angling dozer blade is nice. I don't think any of the ones I've rented had a blade that did anything but go up, and down. Operating an excavator is more complicated than flying an airplane, but once you get the hang of it, you don't even have to think about what does what.

edited to add: I rented a little T450 skid steer loader last week, with a 4-n-1 bucket for $328 per one day. That didn't include the hour to get it, and the hour to take it back (half hour each way), or time to load, and unload it. It also didn't include the one trip I had to make back to the rental place because they had hooked up the hydraulic hoses incorrectly to the new 4-n-1 bucket, and the first time I dumped the bucket, it broke both hoses.

I used the angle blade yesterday when filling in the big hole left from digging out a stump. It was close to a fence and I couldn't push the dirt straight in but a drive by with the blade angled did the trick.

I bought a used skid steer some years ago that was so helpful for clearing, cut and fill, and compacting when I build my shop. I cleared a overgrown spot by the house today with the excavator and it was so helpful, especially getting into tight places and loading the dump trailer but then got out the skid steer to shape the ground. Nothing beats the right tool for the job.

Here is one hackberry stump I pulled out when prepping for the shop. It was so heavy I couldn't lift it with anything I had so I lifted one side and repeated flipped and rolled it to get it down into the woods where it will eventually replenish the soil.

Just before putting up the shop.
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Renting a skid steer 25 times would have just about paid for the used one. So far I've used it way more than 25 days. Don't have the fancy bucket though! If I bought any accessory it would be an auger - so many times I could have used the down force I can't get with my 3 point hitch auger.

JKJ

[Tom M King]

Just for fun, I was going through the John Deere "build your own" site last night for excavators. They don't have a grading bucket, but in the options list is a "bolt on cutting edge". You unbolt the teeth, and bolt on the cutting edge. Seems like there would be similar available for Kubota.

[John K Jordan]

Just for fun, I was going through the John Deere "build your own" site last night for excavators. They don't have a grading bucket, but in the options list is a "bolt on cutting edge". You unbolt the teeth, and bolt on the cutting edge. Seems like there would be similar available for Kubota.

I've decided to try building simple attachments at a fraction of the cost. I think I can build a grading bucket.

But for my first project I want to make a frost/stump ripper, a big tooth - pull up/break the roots starting away from the stump.

Starting at 2:30, this video shows one in action on a small stump at first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5jzY_Vzud4

I have steel, plasma cutter, and welders and I'm not afraid to use them. The biggest decision is whether to make my own quick-connect "ears" by copying those on one of my buckets or simply spend $100 and buy some ready to weld up. A new ripper for my machine is almost $800.

JKJ

[Tony Zona]

Starting at 2:30? Really, John. I watched every second of that clip.

I wonder how many others of us here watched it all, and felt satisfied with a job well-done as he drove out of the frame?

By the way, John. Good luck with that machine. Careful!

[Tom M King]

A friend of mine has a bucket for his backhoe that's about 6" wide. It's shaped like a ripper tooth, but the sides each have two segments of cutting edges. He uses it for both trenching, and root ripping.