2-2.7 ton diggers?

[Russell]

I have started looking at bigger machines under £15,000 that are still towable. Not looking to buy yet, just swatting up on my digger knowledge.
What is there that looks smart and modern ish?
So far I have seen
Takeuchi tb125, 2790kg
Kubota u20-a, 2250kg
Kubota u25-3, 2550kg
Bobcat E20, 2010kg
Bobcat E26, 2695kg
JCB 8025 zts, 2806kg
JCB 802 super 2455kg

 

[craig]

Your weight range covers two weight classes, the lower 2 ton class you should get a very fresh machine.

Some more,
Wacker neuson ET20, ET24, EZ26
Volvo EC20, ECR25, EC27
Takeuchi TB219 Tb225 TB 215r, Tb 23r

 

[Furniss]

Assuming you are towing it with a pickup/plant trailer and not a little truck that you can put all you buckets/fuel etc in the back off then TB125,8025/8026,Kubota KX71 and the machines in this range are borderline towable and by the time you get buckets and fuel and mud then they are over even on the lightest of plant trailers.

Having been that route ie defenders/pickups and plant trailers I would sacrifice a bit of size to give you something more sensible to tow without ragging your tow vehicle to bits.....if I thought I could manage when I got there then I would of rather towed the 1.5 t to the job than the 2.8t.

 

[Russell]

That's what I was thinking, 2.7-2.8 is close to the limit. I prefer the idea of 2500kg max to allow for mud and buckets. 2 ton would allow me to carry a dumper too but I can imagine a 500kg dumper would be annoying with a 2t digger.

 

[doobin]

As said they are two totally different weight classes. For your budget you'd just about get a brand new 1.7t, stetch it to 17k and do it on 5 years 0% and the Bobcat E19 would be the same as the E20- it's just a zero tail version with a few other bits.

My advice is to stay at 1.7-1.9t for your digger and driver hire work (unless I mistaken in what you do), as that's where the most profit is (apart from a micro and you already have one!)

Dont; forget to factor in access restrictions too- everything sub 2t is less than a metre wide when tracks pulled in.

 

[Storrsy]

Depends on what your work is- if your just scratching around gardens and driveways than 1.8t will be ample most of the time and give an you scope for a little tracked barrow/attachments on the trailer too. Personally I don’t really like smaller (sub2.5t) machines though- I just find them irritating when you come up against a big rock/stump or something and know that I could have towed a machine to the job that would have beasted it instead. I also feel from a customer perception view they take you more seriously when you turn up with a machine that has a degree of capability. But as I say all depends on your work I guess....

 

[Storrsy]

Classic example- 8 bags of gravel turn up @900kg each, the 2.8t size can pick them up with out much drama and track hem to where you need them- in this case down a footpath.

 

[Furniss]

As said they are two totally different weight classes. For your budget you'd just about get a brand new 1.7t, stetch it to 17k and do it on 5 years 0% and the Bobcat E19 would be the same as the E20- it's just a zero tail version with a few other bits.

My advice is to stay at 1.7-1.9t for your digger and driver hire work (unless I mistaken in what you do), as that's where the most profit is (apart from a micro and you already have one!)

Dont; forget to factor in access restrictions too- everything sub 2t is less than a metre wide when tracks pulled in.

How many jackets and hats are Bobcat sending you every week Doobin ????

 

[Antony Holmes]

if i was looking to change the takeuchi 225 would be the only one i would look at i have the kubota Kx27-4 and has been faultless and over 3000 hrs on her now but i do like the idea of getting down to a meter wide as well as being a bit lighter on the trailer

 

[doobin]

How many jackets and hats are Bobcat sending you every week Doobin ????

f**k all. Figures stack up for me though that’s why I have one of every size machine and don’t have to worry about buying the perfect one.

 

[Brendan]

That's what I was thinking, 2.7-2.8 is close to the limit. I prefer the idea of 2500kg max to allow for mud and buckets. 2 ton would allow me to carry a dumper too but I can imagine a 500kg dumper would be annoying with a 2t digger.

Not that bad, horses for courses and all that.
Have had a u27 loading my JCB htd5 was only filling skips and short run and operating both on my own so wasn't that bad, have also had it paired with a 5t machine mainly down to cost saving as the site didn't want to pay for a larger dumper with cpcs dumper driver, whereas a walk behind tracked barrow is classed as a wheelbarrow so not ticket needed

 

[Brendan]

if i was looking to change the takeuchi 225 would be the only one i would look at i have the kubota Kx27-4 and has been faultless and over 3000 hrs on her now but i do like the idea of getting down to a meter wide as well as being a bit lighter on the trailer

Do you love that on your alumax trailer? How has it coped so far?

 

[Brendan]

I have started looking at bigger machines under £15,000 that are still towable. Not looking to buy yet, just swatting up on my digger knowledge.
What is there that looks smart and modern ish?
So far I have seen
Takeuchi tb125, 2790kg
Kubota u20-a, 2250kg
Kubota u25-3, 2550kg
Bobcat E20, 2010kg
Bobcat E26, 2695kg
JCB 8025 zts, 2806kg
JCB 802 super 2455kg

Realistically 2.5t is the limit to be legal unless you have space on the towing vehicle to carry the extra weight of buckets/attachments......

Which rules out majority of pickups due to the 6t gtw

 

[Simon edwards]

I run a kubota kx 61-3 (2.6)and and cat 301.7d(1.8),
Had both from New roughly at the same time,1300 hrson kubota and less than 400 on the cat.the kubota has been completely trouble free and digs way above its weight class in my opinion,only real downside is the horrible tracking,harsh as hell!the cat is more refined and lovely to operate but if I had one machine it would be the orange one,it’s towable with the right truck and trailer combination.

 

[GazCro]

The other thing to consider here is if you are going on one vehicle with trailer on is all the other kit you carry as well adding to the weight. If you think you can get hired turning up with a digger and 3 buckets then fair enough. But if you're gonna end up taking buckets pecker spades shovel laser level wacker etc etc you might have to keep to a lighter machine.

 

[Simon edwards]

You are quite right,I used to tow with a pick up but now run an iveco daily with an Ifor 14 foot flat trailer and am pretty much within limits with all the bits loaded.
Having said all that I’ve been considering for some time selling my 3cx and adding a 5-6 ton machine and 12-14 ton lorry.but every time I start to look seriously at it I get a headache and go and drive the jcb up the road to remind myself why I keep it!

 

[Furniss]

You are quite right,I used to tow with a pick up but now run an iveco daily with an Ifor 14 foot flat trailer and am pretty much within limits with all the bits loaded.
Having said all that I’ve been considering for some time selling my 3cx and adding a 5-6 ton machine and 12-14 ton lorry.but every time I start to look seriously at it I get a headache and go and drive the jcb up the road to remind myself why I keep it!

I have done the pickup/trailer thing and now have 7.5t hookloader which is brilliant - can take 2.8t digger and 3t dumper with one on a plant trailer to a job on same trip if needed ,and I use a local low loader guy to move my 8tonner around, but recently started looking swopping 8t digger out for a 6t and changing 7.5t hookloader for a 14t ish hookloader for carting the 6t about and get entirely independant
Goes on forever for a lot of us I reckon

 

[Simon edwards]

It is a head scratcher for sure!my biggest reservation is definitely the increased overheads of a lorry but I am slowly coming round to thinking it will be worth it to be running legal all the time.maybe?

 

[hiluxman]

It is a head scratcher for sure!my biggest reservation is definitely the increased overheads of a lorry but I am slowly coming round to thinking it will be worth it to be running legal all the time.maybe?

Why do you need a 6t more than a 3cx?

 

[Simon edwards]

The main reason being is that I intend to go more down theoperated hire only route as opposed to groundworks and my own jobs having built houses and employed many people over the years,fancy a bit less hassle going forward.I hardly ever get a call for the 180 nowadays ,its a shame,I still enjoy operating them and after thirty years can do a bit with one but demand just is’nt there ,sadly.will be wrench to sell the old girl though.