Simon edwards
Well-known member
Nice tidy job,lot of work in that patch of tarmac!
Gunners
Well-known member
Yes, its served its purpose and proved the concept. I need something with more capacity really.
doobin
Well-known member
What's on your shortlist?
Simon edwards
Well-known member
How about a 2002 3cx contractor?
Gunners
Well-known member
6
6feetdown
Well-known member
Can't fault the 860 now the issue is fixed, can't believe how much we use the forks and the 4 in 1 is a lot more useful than an ordinary bucket but does take some getting used to
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doobin
Well-known member
Second that. A normal bucket is just pointless on these machines unless you are only ever loading aggregate from bays in a yard.
With reference to your second pic- for jobs like that, it's much quicker to just open the bucket rather than dump it, feels easier on the headstock too.
Simon edwards
Well-known member
If you do fancy a proper machine,the old girl will be for sale early next year.
6
6feetdown
Well-known member
Did you order a new machine after?
Simon edwards
Well-known member
I did ,after a lot of deliberation I placed an order for a 3cx plus .Hopefully made the right move!Machine should be with me sometime in November,I will keep the 2002 machine for a few months then reluctantly let her go .
D
DaveDCB
Well-known member
Wow that’s a much quicker lead time than I would of thought! What spec did you go for? Feel free to update your original thread rather than making Ollie feel sad 🥹
Simon edwards
Well-known member
Do’nt wanna make Ollie sad,will update the other thread right now.
Gunners
Well-known member
After discovering the reasons behind a road flooding in heavy rain was due to the soakaway being completely full of silt - a plan was hatched to double the volume of the holding chambers/ soakaways, plus install a drainage field in the chalk to assist with the more extreme weather we seem to get especially at the end of summer.
New 3m deep chambers were installed in an accessible location (rather than buried in the field as the original soakaway was!), connected up, and backfilled before the field went back into wheat.
Probably pushed myself on this one, with a tight timeframe, the dumper threw a hissy fit and went into limp mode, the weather was against me and we had a random fire in the field (that was an exciting half hour!). Putting rings in on your own took some ingenuity but I managed to line the steps up ok.
The JCB 85z-2 was a nice enough machine but lacked reach for an 8 tonner I thought. And the 3cx buckets it came with don't do it any favours - especially the grader! But she got the job done ok and its certainly a machine I could live with and a vast improvement over the old 8080's. Personally I would have the 86c version as it has a much bigger boom and dipper which would address most of the issues I had with this one.
But one thing I will say on it though - it was bloody good on fuel! 10hr days, on this kind of work and you could hardly put 40l in it. Most days it used less than that. I thought that was very good compared to other 8tonners I've run in the past - and a lot better than the 5t machine I'm using at the moment!
New 3m deep chambers were installed in an accessible location (rather than buried in the field as the original soakaway was!), connected up, and backfilled before the field went back into wheat.
Probably pushed myself on this one, with a tight timeframe, the dumper threw a hissy fit and went into limp mode, the weather was against me and we had a random fire in the field (that was an exciting half hour!). Putting rings in on your own took some ingenuity but I managed to line the steps up ok.
The JCB 85z-2 was a nice enough machine but lacked reach for an 8 tonner I thought. And the 3cx buckets it came with don't do it any favours - especially the grader! But she got the job done ok and its certainly a machine I could live with and a vast improvement over the old 8080's. Personally I would have the 86c version as it has a much bigger boom and dipper which would address most of the issues I had with this one.
But one thing I will say on it though - it was bloody good on fuel! 10hr days, on this kind of work and you could hardly put 40l in it. Most days it used less than that. I thought that was very good compared to other 8tonners I've run in the past - and a lot better than the 5t machine I'm using at the moment!
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Furniss
Well-known member
Is that the 5t kub that's thirsty ?
Gunners
Well-known member
Yes, a U50-5, its using 35l for 6hrs work and we aren't digging in hard ground. Just loading dumpers, grading etc. Just uploading my review of it up to YouTube now....
Furniss
Well-known member
Will have to have a look, I think I saw you had done a -4 review .... I know you try your best to be fair but lbh there is a bit of a JCB fan boy in there 
Gunners
Well-known member
I cant help it if JCB make great machines in the UK in the right colour yellowWill have to have a look, I think I saw you had done a -4 review .... I know you try your best to be fair but lbh there is a bit of a JCB fan boy in there
.To be honest I really liked that CAT 308 and said as much in the review. It is no doubt the best 8t class machine I've ever driven. But I've not driven them all - I'm just a guy putting his thoughts up in a video, far from a professional reviewer and I don't get the opportunities to drive all different manufacturers kit - only what I can hire.
But this new -5 Kubota isn't one of my favourites and I wasn't the only one on the job who didn't like how it drove either. But then the U47 wasn't a great machine either which this U50 has replaced. Lets be honest, if you want a 5-6t Kubota, the U55 (now U56) and the KX57 (now KX60) is where you want to be looking. There's a lot of difference between those two models and the U50. I just hope they drive more like the old ones did.
Furniss
Well-known member
Just teasing 
I think the u48 was liked by 6 toes
I think the u48 was liked by 6 toes
D
DaveDCB
Well-known member
I always liked the -4 u50/55 machines, very smooth and built solid. Just the cabs were far too small for a standard English man!Will have to have a look, I think I saw you had done a -4 review .... I know you try your best to be fair but lbh there is a bit of a JCB fan boy in there
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