2.5 ton diggers again.

[GazCro]

Similar to the plant trailer debate this weight range tbh, depending on spec there all close to the towing limit so all have some compromises built in. Have a good look round as many as you can and as said by doobin hire for a week of you have to, only you can decide which compromises you can live with. I'd reckon kubota be worth a v good look at. I'm not sure on yanmars, spec wise hydraulics pumps etc is all good on paper but imho the actual engineering side of them and build looks a bit cheap in places.

 

[fred]

as a kx030-4 owner, first hi spec in the uk i believe, im a bit biased.

Great little machine, punches well above its weight.

 

[Storrsy]

Similar to the plant trailer debate this weight range tbh, depending on spec there all close to the towing limit so all have some compromises built in. Have a good look round as many as you can and as said by doobin hire for a week of you have to, only you can decide which compromises you can live with. I'd reckon kubota be worth a v good look at. I'm not sure on yanmars, spec wise hydraulics pumps etc is all good on paper but imho the actual engineering side of them and build looks a bit cheap in places.

I thought that about the yanmar on first impression- for example the king post is about half the size of my TB125 but the hire company I had it off absolutely swear by yanmar- they have 50 of them on their fleet and reckon they don’t give much grief at all.

 

[mart1602]

has anyone owned or tried a small komatsu? ive seen micros and 5 tonners but do they do machines in this size range?

 

[doobin]

has anyone owned or tried a small komatsu? ive seen micros and 5 tonners but do they do machines in this size range?

Used a 3t a few year back and it was probably five years old then, but wasn’t impressed. Seemed gangly and low powered.

 

[GazCro]

I thought that about the yanmar on first impression- for example the king post is about half the size of my TB125 but the hire company I had it off absolutely swear by yanmar- they have 50 of them on their fleet and reckon they don’t give much grief at all.

Depends what they had before as a comparison or what they deem acceptable for niggles. Or they could be banking on the 5 year warranty bailing them out if needed (but what does it cover?) Or they maybe are v good. Tbh there's not that much to a tracked digger you'd have to be kind of unlucky to end up with a friday afternoon machine. Most important thing is not to end up with a machine which had a few minor things about it which irritate you as over time they'll just go worse. Like takeuchi 290 tracking is for me.

 

[Storrsy]

Depends what they had before as a comparison or what they deem acceptable for niggles. Or they could be banking on the 5 year warranty bailing them out if needed (but what does it cover?) Or they maybe are v good. Tbh there's not that much to a tracked digger you'd have to be kind of unlucky to end up with a friday afternoon machine. Most important thing is not to end up with a machine which had a few minor things about it which irritate you as over time they'll just go worse. Like takeuchi 290 tracking is for me.

Fairly tall order getting a machine that has no irritations at all I agree, I don’t really like compromising much either, why should I if I’m parting with best part of £30k! And there’s enough out there I’d have thought something would just hit the sweet spot all round. What’s wrong with the TB290 tracking out of interest?

 

[GazCro]

Fairly tall order getting a machine that has no irritations at all I agree, I don’t really like compromising much either, why should I if I’m parting with best part of £30k! And there’s enough out there I’d have thought something would just hit the sweet spot all round. What’s wrong with the TB290 tracking out of interest?

Plenty power in a straight line but if you wanna ease off one side to turn a v slight curve forget it. You end up turning 50p corners all the time. Slow to pick up boom if you're using other services as well which is probably ok for some but makes it a slow machine to muckshift with

 

[JD450A]

Plenty power in a straight line but if you wanna ease off one side to turn a v slight curve forget it. You end up turning 50p corners all the time. Slow to pick up boom if you're using other services as well which is probably ok for some but makes it a slow machine to muckshift with

Basically there shite

 

[Hg2702]

Basically there shite

but they sell themselves

 

[Storrsy]

Basically there shite

Surprised CBL haven’t offered you a job yet!

 

[GazCro]

Basically there shite

Pretty much
290-2 totally different machine mind feel just like a 175. I'm not sure what a 285 was like never tried one but my gut feeling is isuzu engine couldn't be worked hard to keep within emissions so they compromised for that.

 

[JD450A]

Pretty much
290-2 totally different machine mind feel just like a 175. I'm not sure what a 285 was like never tried one but my gut feeling is isuzu engine couldn't be worked hard to keep within emissions so they compromised for that.

285 is a 175 with aircon.... sounds like a 290-2 is a 175 with aircon and a computer

 

[GazCro]

285 is a 175 with aircon.... sounds like a 290-2 is a 175 with aircon and a computer

You could already have had a 175 with aircon, or was that a luxury too far for you

 

[JD450A]

You could already have had a 175 with aircon, or was that a luxury too far for you

Got windows....

 

[Storrsy]

Depends what they had before as a comparison or what they deem acceptable for niggles. Or they could be banking on the 5 year warranty bailing them out if needed (but what does it cover?) Or they maybe are v good. Tbh there's not that much to a tracked digger you'd have to be kind of unlucky to end up with a friday afternoon machine. Most important thing is not to end up with a machine which had a few minor things about it which irritate you as over time they'll just go worse. Like takeuchi 290 tracking is for me.

This yanmar I hired certainly wasn’t impressive- nearly brand new and could get anywhere near pulling this stump out (soft ground didn’t help as it pulled itself into the s**t) so it was with some surprise when I returned with my 18 yr old Kubota and pretty much flicked it out!

 

[GazCro]

285 is a 175 with aircon.... sounds like a 290-2 is a 175 with aircon and a computer

Considering the 290 has still been a big seller and well liked machine in the 8 ton class its made me wonder just how bad the rest of the 8 tonners out there are. Tb175 was always the machine that everyone needed to match and until the 290-2 takeuchi couldn't even manage it.

 

[Antony Holmes]

KX27-4 hi-spec would take a lot of beating mine now has 4000 hr on it, and i have only replaced 1 top roller apart from service items

 

[craig]

KX27-4 hi-spec would take a lot of beating mine now has 4000 hr on it, and i have only replaced 1 top roller apart from service items

I as just about to say a kx027, as Mathew mentioned early on in the thread about towing weight of the kx030
just had a quick look at the specs, it seems to be about 4 inches less in most digging specs? but similar hydraulic performance.

 

[Storrsy]

I as just about to say a kx027, as Mathew mentioned early on in the thread about towing weight of the kx030
just had a quick look at the specs, it seems to be about 4 inches less in most digging specs? but similar hydraulic performance.

It’s just the counterweight on the u27 that concerns me, look at this photo compared with the Kx030-4 or TB125. I think it won’t have the stability I need to run my postknocker for example 350kg at full stretch,