npaden
Well-known member
Okay. I'm looking hard at buying a 4 to 6 ton excavator and a mulching head for it. I had been looking at a skid steer setup with a mulching head but I already have a 55hp tractor and think an excavator would be way more useful for other things around than a skid steer would be. Also on my property in Colorado I think an excavator would get around on the steeper slopes better than a skid steer would.
I'm looking at a setup like this -
or this -
I've been looking at a lot of brands of excavators and mulching heads and seems like really most of them are pretty good. If I went out and bought new right now I think I would get a Takeuchi TB260 and a Fecon FMX36 mulcher head. The Takeuchi seems to do really well in most other areas but it has the best auxiliary hydraulic flow out of that range of machines. I am looking to limit myself to a 5.5 ton excavator because that would be about the biggest I could haul with my 3/4 ton pickup and I would like to be able to move it between properties by myself without having to hire it out every time I wanted to move it. I like a lot of the features of the bobcat E50 but it's auxiliary hydraulic flow is only 20 gpm compared to 27 gpm on the Takeuchi.
Of course I would be looking to find a gently used 5 or 6 year old machine with under 2,000 hours on it instead of buying new so I might have to alter my wish list a little. I think I would probably end up buying the mulcher head new, they run right around $20,000 for most of the brands in that size range.
This is something that is most likely going to be a year+ long process on making this decision but I've been looking around and if the perfect machine dropped in my lap at a great price I would probably pull the trigger earlier.
For sure would end up with a thumb on the excavator and a couple different buckets and I think I could find a lot of different things to use it for.
One other thing that I've been looking at that seems to be a variable on the different machines is the blade. Some of them the blade is strictly and up and down and that is it, several add a angle feature and there are a few that go all the way with the full 6 way dozer blade with the angle and tilt. That seems like it would be nice, but I think the 4 way blade would probably be good enough.
I figured there are probably some folks on here with a lot more experience with equipment like that than me and might have some good insights. It seems like the gently used market is pretty good right now for a buyer, I've been reading that it might drop a little more in 2024 but that's all speculation.
Oh well, I've been looking around for a while now and thought I would throw this out there to see where the hunttalk world might steer me.
I'm looking at a setup like this -
I've been looking at a lot of brands of excavators and mulching heads and seems like really most of them are pretty good. If I went out and bought new right now I think I would get a Takeuchi TB260 and a Fecon FMX36 mulcher head. The Takeuchi seems to do really well in most other areas but it has the best auxiliary hydraulic flow out of that range of machines. I am looking to limit myself to a 5.5 ton excavator because that would be about the biggest I could haul with my 3/4 ton pickup and I would like to be able to move it between properties by myself without having to hire it out every time I wanted to move it. I like a lot of the features of the bobcat E50 but it's auxiliary hydraulic flow is only 20 gpm compared to 27 gpm on the Takeuchi.
Of course I would be looking to find a gently used 5 or 6 year old machine with under 2,000 hours on it instead of buying new so I might have to alter my wish list a little. I think I would probably end up buying the mulcher head new, they run right around $20,000 for most of the brands in that size range.
This is something that is most likely going to be a year+ long process on making this decision but I've been looking around and if the perfect machine dropped in my lap at a great price I would probably pull the trigger earlier.
For sure would end up with a thumb on the excavator and a couple different buckets and I think I could find a lot of different things to use it for.
One other thing that I've been looking at that seems to be a variable on the different machines is the blade. Some of them the blade is strictly and up and down and that is it, several add a angle feature and there are a few that go all the way with the full 6 way dozer blade with the angle and tilt. That seems like it would be nice, but I think the 4 way blade would probably be good enough.
I figured there are probably some folks on here with a lot more experience with equipment like that than me and might have some good insights. It seems like the gently used market is pretty good right now for a buyer, I've been reading that it might drop a little more in 2024 but that's all speculation.
Oh well, I've been looking around for a while now and thought I would throw this out there to see where the hunttalk world might steer me.
. A good friend has a Takeuchi and says it's a good machine but the tracks fall off a lot easier if you let debri load when working on a side hill. He's had several Bobcats also and says they are inherently strong for their size. Another friend has a mulching head on his CAT and I will try to ask him some specifics. 
.I also have a backhoe for moving dirt, but it is tough to cut a new slope or pad accurately(at least for me). I would love to have a dozer and a bigger excavator like I use at work, but a guy can do a ton with a little 8-12 thousand pound machine without breaking the bank. I will note here that I also like a thumb operated bucket thumb like the Kubota I used, versus the foot operated version that my Bobcat has. The bigger machine that I use at work is a Deere and it is very nice also. Thank goodness it changes from Deere style to CAT style controls with a flip of a valve. My old JCB backhoe has Deere style controls and my Bobcat has CAT style, so it challenges me sometimes when I jump back and forth 
