School me up on buying a 4 to 6 ton excavator and mulching head

[WTFJohn]

Then you need a skid steer version not an excavator. If you won’t take a tractor down it I wouldn’t take an excavator down it and try and work. Tippy when your swinging a muncher head around at any type of a angle.

I take my excavator on way steeper terrain than I will a SS with mulcher head. Blade down and good steel tracks, I will go 25*+ on the excavator. No chance I would take a SS w/ mulcher on that stuff, just lifting the mulcher would make things get sporty. Excavators can also mulch terrain without having to drive on said terrain.

They work hand in hand, and neither is a good replacement for the other.

 

[npaden]

Here I am 2 years later and really not any closer to making a decision on this. They are having some really good sales on the mini excavators right now and up to 0% financing for 60 months so in some ways it would be like a hedge against any possible inflation on them although that seems a little unlikely right now.

I have found that Texas has a Class A non-commercial drivers license that I could get that would allow me to be over 26,000lbs. Actually thinking about pulling the trigger on a Takeuchi TB-250-2 but need to decide if it is going to be worth it. I seems like these min-excavators hold their value really well as looking at used ones just doesn't seem to justify buying a used one over a new one. New I'm looking in the low $70k range and used with 2,000 hours they are still in the $45k - $50k range.

I have switched my thinking to getting a gooseneck tilt trailer instead of a bumper pull from when I was making the original posts so that is a little heavier, but I think would be worth it if I'm going to be pulling it back and forth to Colorado. Since I've swapped places here in Texas I don't think I would be using an excavator on my new place here in Texas as much as I would have been on my old place so I'm thinking the excavator will spend most of it's time on my place in Colorado and won't be moving back and forth very frequently, probably less than once a year but the gooseneck is going to be way more comfortable to pull.

I really probably should rent an excavator and try it out first, but in some ways it seems like almost a no lose situation with the prices and the interest rates I'm seeing right now. If I buy one and after 4 or 5 years I decide to sell it, most likely I will have less than 1,000 hours on it and should be able to sell it for 80% or so of what I paid for it. Sometimes it seems like these things hold their value so well on a lightly used machine you can resell them for even 90% of what you paid for it if you ignore inflation and if I'm doing 0% interest then you really don't have inflation.

I still think I would end up with a mulching head to use with it at some point down the road but the first thing I need it for is to clean up some of my roads that have some erosion and get them back in shape. Then I need to knock some brush back along the roads and after that probably in 5 years or so when I'm retired I would like to really do some work to establish some really nice habitat improvement spots where I clear some big patches of pinon and juniper and put in a mixture of grass and forbs that will really attract elk and deer.

At some point I'm going to have to just give up on the idea or actually pull the trigger and make it happen. With the 0% interest rate for 60 months it would make pulling the trigger pretty darn easy. The property taxes on my place in Colorado just jumped up quite a bit and if I can get a forest management plan in place with the Colorado State Forestry Department and get it implemented I think the reduction in property taxes for being agriculture use would go a decent way toward paying the payments on the excavator.

Also been toying with the idea of just hiring a college kid getting a forestry degree to do all that for me and use the reduction in property taxes to pay them.

Need to get busy one way or the other because just letting it sit idle and paying big property tax bills isn't worth it to me even if I do get to hunt it occasionally.

 

[npaden]

This guy is doing a TON of work with a piddly little Kubota KX-040 with a mulching head. I could easily haul that around and be under the CDL limit.

 

[Nick87]

Here I am 2 years later and really not any closer to making a decision on this. They are having some really good sales on the mini excavators right now and up to 0% financing for 60 months so in some ways it would be like a hedge against any possible inflation on them although that seems a little unlikely right now.

I have found that Texas has a Class A non-commercial drivers license that I could get that would allow me to be over 26,000lbs. Actually thinking about pulling the trigger on a Takeuchi TB-250-2 but need to decide if it is going to be worth it. I seems like these min-excavators hold their value really well as looking at used ones just doesn't seem to justify buying a used one over a new one. New I'm looking in the low $70k range and used with 2,000 hours they are still in the $45k - $50k range.

I have switched my thinking to getting a gooseneck tilt trailer instead of a bumper pull from when I was making the original posts so that is a little heavier, but I think would be worth it if I'm going to be pulling it back and forth to Colorado. Since I've swapped places here in Texas I don't think I would be using an excavator on my new place here in Texas as much as I would have been on my old place so I'm thinking the excavator will spend most of it's time on my place in Colorado and won't be moving back and forth very frequently, probably less than once a year but the gooseneck is going to be way more comfortable to pull.

I really probably should rent an excavator and try it out first, but in some ways it seems like almost a no lose situation with the prices and the interest rates I'm seeing right now. If I buy one and after 4 or 5 years I decide to sell it, most likely I will have less than 1,000 hours on it and should be able to sell it for 80% or so of what I paid for it. Sometimes it seems like these things hold their value so well on a lightly used machine you can resell them for even 90% of what you paid for it if you ignore inflation and if I'm doing 0% interest then you really don't have inflation.

I still think I would end up with a mulching head to use with it at some point down the road but the first thing I need it for is to clean up some of my roads that have some erosion and get them back in shape. Then I need to knock some brush back along the roads and after that probably in 5 years or so when I'm retired I would like to really do some work to establish some really nice habitat improvement spots where I clear some big patches of pinon and juniper and put in a mixture of grass and forbs that will really attract elk and deer.

At some point I'm going to have to just give up on the idea or actually pull the trigger and make it happen. With the 0% interest rate for 60 months it would make pulling the trigger pretty darn easy. The property taxes on my place in Colorado just jumped up quite a bit and if I can get a forest management plan in place with the Colorado State Forestry Department and get it implemented I think the reduction in property taxes for being agriculture use would go a decent way toward paying the payments on the excavator.

Also been toying with the idea of just hiring a college kid getting a forestry degree to do all that for me and use the reduction in property taxes to pay them.

Need to get busy one way or the other because just letting it sit idle and paying big property tax bills isn't worth it to me even if I do get to hunt it occasionally.

If I were you with limited experience (no offense) renting a few. (Different brands and features) would be a real good place to start. If your serious about buying they shoukd let you demo one if not free than definitely a discount. Usually they will apply the rental money towards your purchase.

 

[Adamhuntingstuff]

Hey Boss,

I saw your post about you looking at buying a mini excavator and some attachments for it. I run a Mini Excavator Attachments company in Indiana called Mongo Attachments (www.mongoattachments.com). We sell attachments all over the country and I obviously would love to sell you some of our attachments. That said, I've also just been in the business for 10 years, so if you have any other questions about different machines/brands or different attachment types feel free to message me.

Here are my thoughts on a couple of the key points in your post.

1. Brand: Takeuchi is a great brand to be looking at. They are quality machines at a fair price. We have a TB235 TB250 TB370 and a TL8R2 from them and all are great machines and easy to work on.
2. Trailer: If you are going to be pulling a bunch and long distances I would definitely recommend the gooseneck trailer, it is a more comfortable ride, but that's just my preference not knowing what truck you are pulling with.
3. Machine Size: I find myself using our TB235 the most of all of our machines. It is light and small enough that trailering is not a big deal and requires a smaller trailer. Its much more nimble getting around in tight spaces and in the woods than the 250 or 370. It would still have enough ass that it could handle your erosion damage on roads using a normal digging bucket or a tilt bucket. It has enough aux flow that it can run mulching heads for brush cutting (small material up to 5"- 6").

I do a lot of hardwood timber stand improvement, brush clearing, and small grading jobs. I do not know what the common practice is for taking out pinion and juniper. Whenever I need to remove trees larger than 6" in diameter I usually just use a ripper to rip up their roots and push them down, it saves time compared to mulching up a big tree and saves $ compared to changing a bunch of mulcher teeth.

If you end up getting a machine and want some attachments I would love to earn your business, and would be happy to hook you up with a Hunttalk discount.