Any opinions on those "thumbs" that are on excavators?

Thumbs are great. Rather than the trackhoe pictured I chose to go with a tractor which I have lift arms on. On the lift arms I can put on the bucket (big (snow) or small (sand & dirt)), 4-in-1 jaws (bucket loader like with the thumb - very useful) or fork lift. On the back I can put the backhoe, rake, seeder, sander, grader, etc. This way I can use many different tools. I have the wheels set to the widest width and big ice chains for traction. I leave the chains on year round as they prevent wear on the tires (which cost more than the chains and wear out faster) and they give me traction on dirt.

When that isn't enough I bring in big earth moving equipment, roughly every two years. I save up jobs for them and then have them come do them all at once. Efficient.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

That's a cute litlle excavator, if you're working in a small situation! No way would I get one like that to do bigger projects.

It's a buyers market out there right now, and for that money you can get something better suited for the job IMO.

If you buy the same machine 'used', you'll not lose as much when you resell. Warranties are nice, but I don't know if it's worth that premium or not.

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I have a grey market PC 50 uu-1. its a little slower and has mechanical controls but for 8500 it has done many thousands of work. Im doing a restriced clearing and loggin job now in pulp. I made my thumb one wet weekend. . My brothers 341 Bobcat is alot faster but it cost 12500 I would have bought it but it wasnt on the lot at the time. Hes a ful ltime contractor and has done several large jobs with it.


Im making my thumb hydraulic later. Instead of buying new try a low hour trade in. I know alot of folks that are thinning down their fleets as its now a buyers market. A friend just got a 1000 hour Cat for about half of new value.

I can do most without the thumb hut it makes it so much faster I count it as a must. You could buy a used hoe then later buy a used older loader tractor for moving material. I had my first old tlb and got the excavator and the skid loaders. I still use the tlb alot moving things around the farm. Under carriages will eat you up moving material with the hoe.

Opps I forgot to point out that that 50,000 lb machine of mine cost less than ten grand and has required less than $100 in parts in the two years ive had it.

I wouldn't say 'that' out loud, anywhere near your machine.... doing something like that around mine, just jinxes it and within a day or two, something big is going to break down...

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Your right on that ! Thats why drove 10 miles to post from someone elses puter!

update: I ended up buying the kubota pictured above. 522/mo for 5 years , zero percent interest. The price included nystate tax/insurance policy

I ended up going to the rental place to see what model i rented before. Found the model, checked online, horsepower is 20 . This is only 3 more then the mini kubota. So I know I am fine with its power. That made me feel good.
I really like the fact its 2 tons. I can find people if needed to move that machine easier/cheaper.

I skipped the thumb. I can get it later. The price with these taxes/insurance requirements elevated to a point where I dont want to spend any more !

The smaller foot print allows me to terrace better I believe then a big machine . The pitch of some of my hill goes to >45 degrees . To make a network of terracing paths for the hugelculture/terraces, a bigger machine might prove cumbersome. With an increasing width ever more dirt would be leveled, increasing the disturbance to site and creating more work

This forest garden is not really meant to be worked by machines in the long term. So if i can have this machine with a width of 3'3" (expandable to 4) I can create perfect walking/garden cart/garden tractor/bike with trailer paths.

I also briefly re looked into a mini backhoe. It was just not a tool that fits my site/thing I do. I do not have material to move around the homestead like some of you with animals. So a front loader would not be used that much. I think it would tricky to get even a 4x4 backhoe around. Being that it does not have a blade like the mini trackhoe, i cant make level paths along mountain contours and gain access to steep sections . I can see highlands, how its a really good fit for you.



Thanks all for your comments / even if I did not follow some advice they provided things to reflect on making me better analyze what I really wanted , so thanks a bunch

Sounds good, congratulations. I think over time you will be amazed at the productivity and versatility of the machine. Do be careful with the tipping issue though, it can happen easier then you think, especially when slung off to the side of the chassis.

okay. I wanted to revive this thread . I have roughly 200/hrs on it now and am getting pretty good at the machine. The debt we incurred I all ready have saved up and we are debt free again which feels good. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the 13k sitting in my account . Seem silly to pay it off on a 0% note. I think i might use it to build a tiny house on our property to rent , thus possibly covering ALL of my bills so I would not have to work at all ( besides being a 1 tenant landlord and fixing/playing/maintaining a cool little cottage on site

The thing I really wanted to discuss was the size. I'm just going to sum it up by saying I could not have picked a more perfect machine. It can move serious dirt its not a toy ( despite what real men with real machines might believe) I can run all day on a tank (5 gallons) of deisel. If we got any bigger machine it would have been bad. To big to effecitvily terrace the land/more top heavy on the steeper angles/to big to get close to the house/increased weight possiblity damaging underground pipes. I'm actually surprised more people dont have machines like this on their homestead. The uses are just endless. Imagine having a giant arm at your disposal at all times not to mention the blade for land shaping and plowing. The tracks work esp well in the snow!

This machine was designed to work in tight spaces. It actually retracts 8"s on each side if you want it smaller. Our land despite being 14 acres is full of tight spaces...its completely wooded and slopes of 20 to 30 to even 45% degrees in places. This particular model is perfect for around the house ( I have been backfilling the earth tubes on our solar earthberm. It has an way to move the whole arm left and right without moving the cab which is perfect when your right against the house. I'm just so happy about this. I'm SO SO SO glad i did not get any bigger. So many think that bigger is better but there is a lot of downsides. Gas/Maintenance/flexibility/parts costs/storage. Does it take a bit longer then something bigger probably but it will do it. And when you work 2 days a month time is something I would rather use then money.

Thanks for the thoughts above I highly recommend. Also the cool part is in 4 years when we are ready to sell (which maybe might be delayed depending on projects) it will be worth roughly 20G. so thats approx 2g per year + maintenance parts (gas filters/oil filters/oil/hydralic grease).