"Roger" wrote in message
k...
The message
from Bruce contains these words:
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?
My original draft included details of what I wanted to do but on
reading
it through I came to the conclusion that I had made the case for a
mini
digger rather than a full size JCB so I deleted the detail. For some
of
the work a JCB would be a better bet or just as good but with 2 of
the
jobs lined up - excavations for a ground based heat pump in the
narrow
confines of my garden and rescuing a trampled flat drainage ditch
among
mature trees a full size JCB would make the job much more difficult.
First job to be done is to reroute a troublesome land drain. This
really
needs to be done this year. I need to dig a trench about 80 yards
long
and I am now too old to do that by hand.
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.
If I do revert to searching for a JCB I think I would need to up my
budget a bit more to get one less than 15 years old.
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.
That is one of the points that was bothering me and in the end may
well
make me switch back to a big machine. Mini digger plus trailer is
likely
to push the budget up to £4000.
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.
I live on a steep hillside and the track down the hill on my
neighbours
farm was originally made for horse and cart (as are some of the
original
gateways). The track has already been widened but it may need
further
work to get a JCB down it and at one point it might need re-routing
as I
am not convinced the shelf cut into the hillside would stand 7 tons
and
have no wish to go tumbling down a 1 in 1 slope.
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. ;-)
Perhaps not. :-)
--
Roger Chapman
Roger,
for ditch work I hate to say it but you probably need a "360" tracked
machine - a conventional 3CX type not only is too long (as it needs to
be at 90 degrees to the ditch to be effective) so will give you access
problems, it also needs constant moving to do the next section.
My 3CX is very versatile - today I've been backfilling trenches but it
was also used for moving jumbo bags of ballast, and shifting a
concrete mixer and a JCB Beaver hydralic breaker over a pile of
hardcore - but I will probably get a contractor in to clear my about
1/2 mile of ditches !!!!
AWEM