Adding to the Fleet

Discuss non-crawler related issues here (keep it sane, please)
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CuttingEdge
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Adding to the Fleet

Post by CuttingEdge » Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:39 am

Just curious what some of you wish you could add to the equipment fleet. Myself, I have quite a few additions I would not mind seeing. I figure I would break it down into two categories:

Reality (as in, it might some day happen).
Dreaming (as in, it is never going to happen, but I still want one anyway).

For reality, I would like to get a decent grader so that I can do more town work since they pay on-time, and are decent people to work for. Tax-Payers always keep you on your toes because I pay quite a bit in property taxes every year, so when I am working for a town; I stay right at it and give the tax-payers the most that I can for their tax-payer dollar.

Dream wise, I would like a 7295 Caterpillar Rope Shovel. I got about 70 acres of stumps to clear, and figure there is not one of them that would stall that machine. I got a little ore in the ground I would like to move as well, and basically turn this hill I live on, into CuttingEdge Lake. A Caterpillar 7295 Rope Shovel would put a pretty good dent in the hillside at least.

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I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

dtoots1
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by dtoots1 » Thu Jan 23, 2020 2:08 pm

am kinda considering wanting a mini excavator, if can find reasonable price/condition.

B Town
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by B Town » Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:54 pm

Okay here it goes.

Reality- 100hp tractor with cab, reverser, front wheel assist. I’m thinking Kubota, Case/IH. Pre-emission rig. Like M9000 or 5240 with the legendary 5.9 Cummins.

Dreaming- Midi excavator with a tilt rotator. A diesel single axle dump truck to replace my gas burner and a TAG trailer for the midi.

gus
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by gus » Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:18 pm

dtoots1 wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 2:08 pm
am kinda considering wanting a mini excavator, if can find reasonable price/condition.
Get nothing under 6000 lbs. I had a 6000lb Yanmar and did a lot of work. Got a fantastic deal on a near new Kubota 4000 lb. No where near the old one. Grab something solid and the machine goes to it..... I'd also get steel tracks if possible.

dtoots1
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by dtoots1 » Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:02 pm

Gus,
sound like good advise, especially about the steel tracks, where else you expect to have ex, except in the muds!! ad know rubbers slip,
tho i don't think am doing commercial so in lite of fairly light work how does the smaller do job wise? and price wise?

hydrogeo
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by hydrogeo » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:10 am

I have a Kubota 121 mini, which is about 9,000lbs. It's got a thumb, and I use a 4' piece of I beam for fine grading. It's a really nice size, as it's big enough to pop a few stumps (albeit slowly) but I can still move it with my one ton. Just can't expect it to do the work of a larger machine. I mostly use it for odds and ends around the yard. When I got my Bridgeport mill I used it to pick it up off the trailer and set it into my garage. Job was done in 5 mins when otherwise it would have taken a full day of rigging. For firewood, picking up a log and cutting at waist height is really nice and almost twice as fast. It does have rubber tracks, which are terrible. When those finally give out I'm going to switch over to steel.

townlineterry
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by townlineterry » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:18 am

Reasonable prices used graders are easy to find. Might have be patient for the right machine. I looked about 9 months for mine. A 72 Galion 503A with 10 foot blade. Only needed a wheel cylinders, a cutting edge and one hydraulic hose. Only have $8500 in it. And is precomputer.you would need something bigger but they are out there.

Additional equipement? A 4x4 wheel loader with 1 yard bucket for the gravel yard, maybe a mini.

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CuttingEdge
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Re: Adding to the Fleet

Post by CuttingEdge » Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:11 am

townlineterry wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:18 am
Additional equipement? A 4x4 wheel loader with 1 yard bucket for the gravel yard, maybe a mini.
I got a gravel pit myself, nothing big at 8 acres, but quite a bit of gravel because it is down pretty deep; about 32 feet according to test drilling. Some is above the waterline, but not much. Legally I can get it because the gravel was pre-1970 so I do not have to comply with mining regulations.

That means either getting an excavator with a long boom like a cat 245B (pre-computer) or a dragline.

I have some other uses for the dragline too, like digging out a pond, but I also got 70 acres of clear cut I need to put into field at some point. We cleared that two years ago, and about 5 years afterwards is the ideal time with the stumps rotting down, but underbrush not getting to be too much.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

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