Roger wrote:

Avid readers of this ng will know that I am on the lookout for a cheap
digger but I remain undecided as to the type to buy and could do with
some impartial expert advice on the subject. The more I think about it
the more I think a mini digger will best suit what I have to but I still
have some doubts on various aspects.

I have decided to up my budget to £3000 but that is still very much the
bottom end of the market, particularly for a mini digger.

With a full size digger the choice is really which particular JCB but
there is a bewildering range of mini diggers from a considerable number
of manufacturers so I would like to know which manufacturers have a
reputation for reliability or perhaps more pertinently which
manufacturers to avoid.

I don't suppose the machine will ever be used outside my smallholding
and my neighbours farm but even that might require moving the machine
half a mile so is it realistic to expect a mini digger to travel such a
distance under its own power or do I need to budget for a trailer as
well?

And then there is the question of stability on steep ground. Most mini
diggers seem to have no stabilisers and some of them have a very narrow
track so is a certain minimum track advisable? And if so what?

And finally any particular recommendations.


You have not said what you want it for. Surely the type of work to
which you will put the machine will define which machine you need? And
if you don't even say what it is, how can anyone advise you?

The most sensible choice in backhoe loaders is a JCB for easy
availability of spares. Obviously get the newest and best condition
that you can afford. The earlier ones were not especially reliable
even when new. Anything less than 15 years old is a better bet if you
can find one within your price range. Try to get one with a 4-in-1
front bucket as it will doze, load, pick up (clamshell) and act as a
forklift, hence 4-in-1. Incredibly versatile.

The most sensible choice in backhoe loaders is (probably) a Kubota for
sheer reliability. Make sure you get one that hasn't been used in
heavy civil engineering - tunnelling contractors buy them new and use
them until they break, after which they end up on the used market. The
mini-excavator can only do two things, one of them badly. It will dig
well, with the obvious limitations of shallower maximum digging depth,
lower power and smaller bucket size when compared to a JCB. If is
fitted with a dozer blade, it will doze extremely badly. Those blades
are tiny, and there is very little control - you cannot see what you
are doing. But they do add a lot of stability when digging.

The tracks are not made for travelling long distances, more for moving
around in a small, confined area. Tracking long distances will wear
out the tracks very quickly. The tracks are tiny and the bearings are
just too small for arduous travel. Track repairs are expensive - it
is usually cheaper to fit a service exchange pair of tracks than
repair your own but you will get whacked for any damage to the pair
you exchange. Wear and tear is accepted but not damage. So a trailer
is indicated in order to reduce the distance travelled.

As I said before, without any idea of what you want the machine for,
it is impossible to recommend one type over the other. But in
general, farm/smallholding use would suggest a tractor-based JCB, and
work on confined urban sites (or shaft and tunnel digging) would
suggest a mini-excavator.

In another post you asked what was the difference between a JCB 3C and
a 3D. Here's a page that tells you:
http://www.classic-combines.com/jcb.html

I don't recommend you buy from this company as, while the machines may
be within your budget, they sill probably be slightly too small for
your needs. ;-)