Mini Track Hoe

We have a Case 580 ck it's useful but higher mait than the McConnel 3pth backhoe we had before. I've used the smaller tracked excavators, Kbota is great, Komatsu even better. Not a big fan of Bobcat, myself, but I'd luv to try a Hitachi/Deere. Most of those mini excavators only dig 6.5 feet, so be sure you get a machine that will do the job you need.

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Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup........

Yes, that's what I'm finding. They make some really tiny mini excavators. 12k lbs. is the cut-off for the mini's and there seems to be a sweet spot in the 9-12K range. Big enough to be productive on the small property but not overkill big of the construction trackhoe size.

We plan on adding a backhoe attachment to our tractor. On a homestead, I think the uses would be never ending.

We are building our place from scratch, and would like to avoid big equipment being brought in at all costs.

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http://tinksquared.com

LOL, I just noticed the google ads under this thread, Asia hoe, Scuffle hoe, Hoe party, Hoe street... somehow I don't think those links would be helpful in my search for mini track-hoe machine info.

After we purchased our property, we picked up a JD310 backhoe. (tractor loader backhoe) I have/had 3 main excavations to do, and I figured that the 10K price wouild be offset by doing them myself. After doing the first, the 40x80 shed, and building a driveway, I'm happy that we got it. I still have the underground/earth sheltered house and garage to do.

Like CJ says, you can use it for a lot of different things on a homestead. Fire it up, and hoist the bush hog off of the trailer, put some pallet forks on the bucket, and unload 1000 lb pallets of molds, dig a hole to bury the rotting deer we found...

The bigger the machine, the more you can do with it. You have more control with the smaller machine, however. The dedicated backhoe gives you the most capabilities, but they run $8k-$12k used and in decent condition. You can find them at . machinery trader You might be able to find the mini-track hoes there as well. If you can afford it, I don't think you will be displeased with it. Once you have one, jobs for it seem to pop up left and right.

Michael

I have two of them, and a bobcat and dump truck, but then that's what I use to make my living.

My suggestion is that unless you already have many thousands of hours experience, you are far better off hiring it out. It takes several thousand hours to make a decent operator and another ten thousand hours to weed out the OK operators from the really good ones.

Hire the work out, and don't hire an operator under 30. My 2 cents worth.

Pete