Mini-Digger - What's Best?
04 January 2012, 04:10 PM
#1
Mini-Digger - What's Best?
Tried this on a MTB forum but not much joy!
Looking to get a mini-digger to make mtb trails on 50 acres of scrub (hills/rocks, gorse, ferns, bushes, bog). Any ideas/recommendations on what would be best to get? A 1.5 tonne is probably too small but a HiMac is going to be overkill!
Want to be able to have enough grunt to be able to go up hills, pull out trees/bushes and then grade in berms/jumps etc.
This would also be second-hand as they seem to be v. expensive & no-way can I afford one of them things that goes sideways up hills...
Looking to get a mini-digger to make mtb trails on 50 acres of scrub (hills/rocks, gorse, ferns, bushes, bog). Any ideas/recommendations on what would be best to get? A 1.5 tonne is probably too small but a HiMac is going to be overkill!
Want to be able to have enough grunt to be able to go up hills, pull out trees/bushes and then grade in berms/jumps etc.
This would also be second-hand as they seem to be v. expensive & no-way can I afford one of them things that goes sideways up hills...
04 January 2012, 04:25 PM
#3
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I've got a 11/2 ton. (Bought on eBay for about £4K a couple of years ago) OK for small grading jobs and digging trenches etc. Too light for digging out tree roots though.
Also got an ancient JCB which is more what you need I should think. Bought that for
about £3K many years ago.
Heres one. Looks tidy
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JCB-3CX-/1...item1e694ee7cd
Also got an ancient JCB which is more what you need I should think. Bought that for
about £3K many years ago.
Heres one. Looks tidy
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JCB-3CX-/1...item1e694ee7cd
04 January 2012, 04:34 PM
#4
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i wouldnt buy a 2wd jcb. is the digger to stay on site or do you want to move it around? you can get some cheap 360 if you look about alot of company have moved away from things like js130 jcb and that size as the 8-9 tonner can do the same job but they are not as big you could look at dozer or drot with a 4 in 1 bucket great for ripping out tree stumps out
04 January 2012, 04:57 PM
#7
Looking around on eBay & they are so fff expensive!
Steel tracks or rubber tracks? What's better for soft/wet ground?
How difficult/expensive is it to get a rock knocking thing on? Rocks are shale type and shatter quite easily.
I'm not too worried about age/condition as long as it works reliably I guess. Rust can be primed/painted after all - hammerite!
It's going to stay on-site, once I were to get it there...
Steel tracks or rubber tracks? What's better for soft/wet ground?
How difficult/expensive is it to get a rock knocking thing on? Rocks are shale type and shatter quite easily.
I'm not too worried about age/condition as long as it works reliably I guess. Rust can be primed/painted after all - hammerite!
It's going to stay on-site, once I were to get it there...
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04 January 2012, 05:50 PM
#11
Haha! Already got a queue!
If I got a 3 tonne digger, how do I transport it?! Just reading up on trailers/etc and my 1800kg Volvo XC is not really going to cut the mustard! What do I need to tow that? But you see people towing them all the time??
04 January 2012, 06:10 PM
#12
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The highest load a car will tow legally is 3.5 tons and thats only big 4x4's like Discoveries etc. Since the weight of digger plus a trailer will be over this, you need to start looking into a truck to shift it.
04 January 2012, 06:13 PM
#13
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You'll need something of near equivalent weight to tow a 3 tonner. A transit or Sprinter would suffice.
I'd have bought a 5 tonner but a 3 tonner should be OK if it's just basic scrubland to clear. Remeber to use the right buckets when digging, grading etc as it will make rhings a lot easier.
Keep it topped up with fuel as well as they can be a pain to bleed if they run out.
Most of all be careful who you let on it as they can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. In fact as far as I am aware you should have a cpcs license to drive one , but if your on private land you may be OK.
Chip
(360 CPCS license holder
)
I'd have bought a 5 tonner but a 3 tonner should be OK if it's just basic scrubland to clear. Remeber to use the right buckets when digging, grading etc as it will make rhings a lot easier.
Keep it topped up with fuel as well as they can be a pain to bleed if they run out.
Most of all be careful who you let on it as they can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. In fact as far as I am aware you should have a cpcs license to drive one , but if your on private land you may be OK.
Chip
(360 CPCS license holder
)
05 January 2012, 11:42 AM
#14
JCB 803? One of these might be available..
Not the actual one & its not a Plus afaik
Would not the track on a 5 tonner be too wide for what I am trying to achieve? Its very wet over there & things grow quickly but don't want to do too much damage to the landscape, especially where there are trees/bushes.
Not the actual one & its not a Plus afaik
Would not the track on a 5 tonner be too wide for what I am trying to achieve? Its very wet over there & things grow quickly but don't want to do too much damage to the landscape, especially where there are trees/bushes.
05 January 2012, 04:07 PM
#15
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Puff, Wider tracks would cause less damage I would imagine as the load is spread over a larger area. Narrow tracks trend to slip quite a bit and would so even more if the machine is in experienced hands.
A larger macine will also have a longer boom so you will need to move around a lot less whether your digging, grading or shifting muck. Make sure you get a grading bucket with it as well .
Chip
Chip
A larger macine will also have a longer boom so you will need to move around a lot less whether your digging, grading or shifting muck. Make sure you get a grading bucket with it as well .
Chip
Chip
05 January 2012, 06:02 PM
#19
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With 5k to do I would deffo say a 5 tonner then. Something like this which has 4 buckets and a quick hitch which makes changing the buckets a doddle.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hitachi-AX...item20c0d35a51
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hitachi-AX...item20c0d35a51
Last edited by Chip; 05 January 2012 at 06:09 PM.
05 January 2012, 06:24 PM
#21
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definatly a 5 or maybe 6 tonner, anything else mate you will be there more than 2 months, the ideal machine would be a 6 ton takuchi, fantastic machine and very smooth and plenty of power, ive pulled alsorts of trees out with that.
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