Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 21

Thread: New sand box toy

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298

    New sand box toy

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

    trackhoe_1.jpg trackhoe_2.jpg

    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!

    trackhoe_3.jpg

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

    JKJ

  2. #2
    You are making a lot of us drool right now.
    I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that’s not going to happen."

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Chance in Iowa View Post
    You are making a lot of us drool right now.
    My wife wants one of those.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    In the foothills of the Sandia Mountains
    Posts
    16,619
    Country folk have the coolest toys!
    Please help support the Creek.


    "It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone."
    Andy Rooney



  5. #5
    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!

  6. #6
    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
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    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

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    NW Indiana
    Posts
    3,078
    I wish I could afford all of those nice toys

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Fish View Post
    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

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    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.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Waterford, PA
    Posts
    1,225
    That's almost as good as my little dozer and a pile of dirt.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in the Land of Lincoln
    Posts
    2,545
    Nice outfit. You can get a lot done with that. Your list of friends will be growing....

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298

    Rentals

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    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...

    Quote Originally Posted by Ronald Blue View Post
    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.

    JKJ

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    I'll dig anything they want, as long as they bring it here.

    JKJ
    Best quote I have read all day!
    I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that’s not going to happen."

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    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.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 09-09-2019 at 4:30 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •