Where a Redneck Jew, a Hispanic Catholic, and a Computer Geek write about Gun Rights, Self Defense and whatever else we can think about.
I have neither the use, nor a place to park it, yet I still want one.
The HOA installed a light pole right by my parking space in between houses (which means I have to start paying attention when I get home) and the contractor used this cute little professional Tonka to dig the hole and then tamp the dirt back in after installation. Nice!
Semi-retired like Vito Corleone before the heart attack. Consiglieri to J.Kb and AWA. I lived in a Gun Control Paradise: It sucked and got people killed. I do believe that Freedom scares the political elites.
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I actually have good uses for one of those, but, at the moment, neither a good place to park it nor the budget. Probably have to rent one come spring, for various projects that can’t realistically be done with the equipment I have.
(I contemplated getting the backhoe option for the tractor, but didn’t have a good place to store it when not in use, and figured that the price would cover a heck of a lot of rental hours on a proper mini excavator.)
Gotta play a little Tonka this afternoon; way too much of the driveway gravel is down near the bottom these days. Tractor, box blade, an hour or so of dragging stuff uphill, and it’ll be good-enough until the next heavy rain.
I’d love it if we had one of those too, would be very handy for certain projects. But yeah they’re not cheap.
Not the item I want. I would much rather have this:
https://www.kubotausa.com/products/tractors/sub-compact/bx80
Add the backhoe, snow thrower, mower, etc…
Without the attachments it is not much larger than your average riding mower. Add the attachments, and you become a mini road crew.
I have a slightly larger and older Kubota. No bucket or backhoe, but I have a mower, a grader blade, and best of all a 5 foot wide snowblower. Very handy here in NH.
You could go really tiny with a used Kobelco Super Shovel. These were made in the 90s and are so small that you sit on a bicycle seat on the back. This forum post has good images https://www.plowsite.com/threads/just-bought-a-mini-mini-mini-excavator.147004/
I worked for a rental company in the 90s and we had two Kobelcos out all the time for small jobs
That Kobelco looks like just what I want! Small enough to store in a corner somewhere, but seems to be capable enough for pretty much any DIY excavator work I might be pondering.
I wonder if there’s anything comparable that’s currently available….
(Yeah, even the price of a used one would pay for a fair amount of rental time. There’s still something to be said for having one just sitting there ready at hand.)
Oh, hell, yes. Whenever I see one of those I say to my wife: “Gardening Implement!”
That, and a bucket truck.
Ford 1710 30hp 4×4 compact tractor with back hoe. Life saver. Hell one of those mini excavators will fir in your living room hahahahahaha
I know, right? Who doesn’t want an excavator. And somehow I’ve been obsessed with bulldozers lately. I never paid much attention to them when I was a kid, I always thought the bucketloaders and excavators and backhoes were the coolest. But I’ve come around on bulldozers. They are more useful than you’d think, and how can you not love that brute force, that torque? You can actually dig just about anything with a bulldozer, you just need to use different techniques. I mean, anything besides a small, precise hole. That’s where the excavators excel. But for any sort of major moving of earth, a bulldozer will work, and it’s often a more efficient tool, used properly. Even a small dozer is pretty impressive. Although if I had a billion dollars I’d buy a D7 just to play with it. They are expensive to buy, and expensive to operate. But they will pay for themselves, if you set it up properly. Just buying it to dig a swimming pool, probably not.