17g mini excavator bucket widths pro#

Few PTBA members offer that kind of training. Whatever the machine, get proper training for trailbuilding. That being said, it will be replaced by a Kubota eventually. Our machine of choice for singletrack is a Deere 17D with a thumb and a 24' bucket. For easier trails, we sometimes use the Ditch Witch SK650 with the 4way blade, usually to finish the thread behind a mini-X that does the bulk of the job, clearing organic, removing stumps, placing rocks, etc. We are based in Quebec and own a few mini-X (1.7 to 5.5 tons) and rent a lot depending of the type of work we do. A 2ton machine will get you in production mode. Nice, tight singletrack, but depending on the terrain, it's mostly just a big toy. I've worked with few 1ton units, but they usually feel underpowered, unbalanced and not that much faster than a few men crew to give virtually the same result.

17g mini excavator bucket widths pro#

The concensus across most pro builders is the Kubota U17 or Deere 17D (for zero-swing) or Takeuchi for traditionnal tail swing lovers. *Sorry guys, had to edit I had the weight misstated hope I didn't confuse anybody. And I recommend you try a Dingo type machine and if you can find a 6way blade, Bonus. With that said I would highly recommend renting both types or several different makes and models for you to make the most informed purchase. I might also recommend a zero tail swing unit like the Kubota U15 as it will reduce rubbing trees in tight quarters. You may be able to add a thumb (I wouldn't put one on a 4ton rental unit), the buckets are larger and you could fashion a wide grading tool without twisting the dipper. The 2ton machine is the one I see in most pro trail builder pictures. Regarding excavators the 1ton machine is a toy, great for interior building plumbing fit outs, the bucket is tiny, the productivity is low.

The machine type is a matter of preference and local conditions. The machine has a wide variety of attachments making it versatile. The bucket carries a decent amount of soil if cut and fill is necessary and it moves decent size rocks and logs. The 42' wide blade is a quick bench cutter and creates great flow rollers and berms with a little experience. My machine of choice is a track Dingo with a 6way blade and tooth bucket because the terrain is mostly broken soft shale covered in 4' loam, the vegetation is mostly invasive Autumn Olive with some stands of hardwood. I own several Kubota K008s, KX41, U15 up to K080 (8ton). I am a trail builder in Eastern Pa and own an equipment rental company. They still require a certain amount of hand finish work afterwards, though. They're a lot of fun and a huge labor saver. And it's really quiet and will work all day on 5 gallons of diesel no problem. I really like the ability to tow it with a half ton truck and single axle trailer. Its easier on the machine to sever as many roots as possible with the excavator and then use a winch to pull the stump. The thing has good digging power for bench cutting but can balk at removal of large stumps. I would think with a larger machine you would lose a lot of that narrow feel to the trail. So basically you end up with a 36' tread width with narrower chokes and filters. The narrow setting is nice for slipping between trees and choke points and it's nice to be able to work through narrow gaps as it gives the trail more of a tight singletrack through the woods feel. One thing I've found is that even though the tracks do retract down to 28', you pretty much have to have them extended to the 36' setting while digging or the thing gets crazy tippy. That said, I'm thinking if you increase the cost of the machine, and then have to buy a new truck or whatever to tow it with, you may quickly find you're spending way too much money, so you may have to allow $$ to dictate what's right for you. The value of being able to lift/move more weight further away from the machine should not be under estimated. The reason for that is the bigger the machine, the less likely you are to run into an obstacle the machine is physically incapable of handling.

So, I would find the biggest, most powerful machine that I could fit inside the corridor. Now, remember, trail width != corridor width, necessarily, you can push the tread width back down within the corridor.

Whatever I got would *have* to fit inside that corridor at all times. If I was buying a mini-ex, I would look at what width corridor I was comfortable cutting. That said, I do have experience with equipment and working in tight locations. Let me preface this by saying this is straight up opinion, unsupported by any kind of fact, direct experience with mini-ex's while trail building, or research into your specific question.