Mini excavators

[tnwalkingred]

Thanks Denver. I'll let you know how the quotes come back. I've got about 20 acres picked out to start with. We will see what they charge and how much they think they can do in a days time. After I get the quotes I'll decide on whether to hire it out or buy.

Kyle

 

[tnwalkingred]

Denver and sky high,

Since both of you seem to be in the know about heavy equipment how many hours are too many on that type of machine? Are there certain year models to stay away from or that are better than others? Do i need to get one with a cab or is a open station sufficient?

Kyle

 

[greybeard]

On the minis I used, that dinky little blade is pretty useless except to hold the unit in place when you're digging or pulling with the bucket.

operating hrs by themselves don't mean much without knowing how well it was maintained too.

 

[skyhightree1]

Tnwalking,
I will try to keep up with your questions if I miss one let me know. I cleared 300 acres for one person last year in one job and charged him 1500 per acre due to it being a sealed bid situation. In most cases it is between 2000 - 3000 their is variables such as terrain distance to property etc. I personally think renting would be a waste if you aren't familiar with the equipment as here renting is not cheap its better to buy and practice. I also get what you are saying about repair bills but that wouldn't sell me on renting instead of buying. Denver and I have talked about equipment a couple of times while we don't agree on much I think equipment we both have a good knowledge and experience and probably agree on the type of equipment etc. I also want to add hours truly don't matter I have equipment with over 10k hours works like a champ. You can get a piece of equipment that has 1000 hours on it and abused the he l l out of it and didn't maintenance it and is a bigger piece of junk than a machine with 15k hours. Maintenance records on machines are great I keep them and I'm sure Denver does as well. If you buy at a auction sometimes they have them most often not.

 

[highgrit]

While your getting prices you need to get a price to clear and pile. But to get a decent job they should have a 200 series Hoe and a D5 size dozer with a root rake. Burning and raking takes a lot of time and with a good tractor you can rake and burn yourself. By a good 4x4 JD tractor with a loader and buy a grapple for it. Around here you can get your land cleared and the piles stacked for 1k per acre.

 

[Bigfoot]

I had no earthly idea it cost that much per acre to clear ground. I get a pond or two cleaned out when we have a drought. I usually have a little pushing done here and there while the dozer guy is here. I guess I'm getting old, and lost touch with what things are costing.

 

[skyhightree1]

I had no earthly idea it cost that much per acre to clear ground. I get a pond or two cleaned out when we have a drought. I usually have a little pushing done here and there while the dozer guy is here. I guess I'm getting old, and lost touch with what things are costing.

:lol: everything costs an arm and leg

Tnwalking I would like to add that acreage you can clear per week has too many variables but since you have never ran a machine before and if there are no problematic areas stumps etc you should atleast IMO be able to do 5 per week but also depends how much time you are going to run the machine. I prefer to have a cabbed dozer going home with dust in my nose and blowing my nose and mud coming out isn't fun. However I have cabbed and open station machines and if I am clearing im using the cab.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I had no earthly idea it cost that much per acre to clear ground. I get a pond or two cleaned out when we have a drought. I usually have a little pushing done here and there while the dozer guy is here. I guess I'm getting old, and lost touch with what things are costing.

Nothing here is that high, we run a 953 size machine for 90 to 100$ an hour.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

On track loaders you want to stay away from any case machines and also any 655, 755 and 855 John deere's made in the 80s or 90s. A 555g John Deere would be about the only deere track loader that would interest you, and still won't suit you like a rear engine cat. About any 943 or 953 is fine, they both have them same engine, a 43 is 80hp and a Pre 1992 53 is 110hp, 43 weights about 25k and 53 weighs 32k, both operate exactly the same.

Hours on older equipment are often not right, so you are mainly looking at how it operates and the overall condition. Things like, alot of blow by, air bubbles in the radiator, water in the oil. You want to make sure it runs in a strait line and will spin the tracks when you push against something solid.

There's alot of things to look at, have someone look at it that knows equipment and that's all you can do. You could buy a older machine capable of doing your work for 10 to 12k, but if it breaks your putting money into something that won't make you anymore when you sell it, if you have to repair a little nicer machine you will be increasing the value for resale.

 

[tom4018]

I had no earthly idea it cost that much per acre to clear ground. I get a pond or two cleaned out when we have a drought. I usually have a little pushing done here and there while the dozer guy is here. I guess I'm getting old, and lost touch with what things are costing.

Last year we cleared about 5 acres, D8 was $130 an hour and D5 was $65 an hour, figured up to about $1,000 and acre.

 

[tnwalkingred]

Tom,

Thanks for the information. Was this standing timber or slash from logging? I've been told its easier to clear standing timber than stumps and slash. 100 an hour is what I was quoted today and they want to have a excavator running at the same time for another 100 an hour. You guys think it will take 5 hours to do an acre???? That would be 1000 per.

Kyle

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Yep, to do a good clean job it will take 5 hours to do an acre.

 

[tom4018]

Tom,

Thanks for the information. Was this standing timber or slash from logging? I've been told its easier to clear standing timber than stumps and slash. 100 an hour is what I was quoted today and they want to have a excavator running at the same time for another 100 an hour. You guys think it will take 5 hours to do an acre???? That would be 1000 per.

Kyle

I had anything that was worth something cut for timber. So they had a lot of stumps to take out plus lots of small stuff. I went back and look at my receipt, $5500 and google maps area calculator calls it about 5 acres, plus I had a place cleaned out to put a fence. I was wrong it was a D8. They spent a total of 43 hours on mine, 36 with the D8 and 17 with the D5.