Digger advice

Tora Bora

Folks, I am of a mind to get myself a bit of a digger. The auld place needs a bit of tidying up. Blocked stone drains here and there. Briars and bits of blackthorn, furze, etc, creeping out from walls here and there.

I am more inclined to go for a wheel digger like a JCB or maybe a MF50. My logic being, tractor does not have a loader, and there are a good few times in the year when a loader would be handy. So I could use a JCB as my loader, and a digger. 2 jobs in one so to speak.

Anyone I talk to says, get a mini digger!! Handier and more flexible they say.

Anyone got opinion on this!! Whats the best overall option, do ye think?
PS My budget is max €6k, and i would want a good set of buckets with that.

locky76

Contract in a fella with a digger to do your work.
You'll get a hell of a lot of work done for 6k and if anything goes wrong it's his problem.
you'll never get as knacky on a machine as someone who is up on one fulltime.
You'll hire a minidigger nowadays for small money if you fancy doing the work yourself.
it rarely works out buying a machine yourself, too much to go wrong with your budget of 6k!!
sorry to rain on your parade, just my humble opinion.

Tora Bora wrote: »

Folks, I am of a mind to get myself a bit of a digger. The auld place needs a bit of tidying up. Blocked stone drains here and there. Briars and bits of blackthorn, furze, etc, creeping out from walls here and there.

I am more inclined to go for a wheel digger like a JCB or maybe a MF50. My logic being, tractor does not have a loader, and there are a good few times in the year when a loader would be handy. So I could use a JCB as my loader, and a digger. 2 jobs in one so to speak.

Anyone I talk to says, get a mini digger!! Handier and more flexible they say.

Anyone got opinion on this!! Whats the best overall option, do ye think?
PS My budget is max €6k, and i would want a good set of buckets with that.

SomethingElse

I need a digger as well! I'll probably use a contractor though. Just wondering about the above post, if you sold the digger when the work is done would you be likely to recoup most of your money? Or would the digger depreciate quicker if there was another owner on the log book(if they even have one)?

Tora Bora

locky76 wrote: »

Contract in a fella with a digger to do your work.
You'll get a hell of a lot of work done for 6k and if anything goes wrong it's his problem.
you'll never get as knacky on a machine as someone who is up on one fulltime.
You'll hire a minidigger nowadays for small money if you fancy doing the work yourself.
it rarely works out buying a machine yourself, too much to go wrong with your budget of 6k!!
sorry to rain on your parade, just my humble opinion.

I half agree with you, BUT, there is a hundred times during the year when there is a 1 hour "job" that needs doing. Would be handy to have something to hop up on to get it done.
Given I am going to spend €6k, my question I guess is would I be better off spending it on a wheel digger as opposed to a mini, or visa versa.
As I said in my original post, I kind of like wheel digger idea as it is useful as a loader seeing I dont have a loader on the tractor.
Also I guess, I have a sneaking fear of tracks coming off track machines, and I wouldn't be the most patient at trying to get the stupid things back on.

boredmeeting

you`d get a nice track machine handy enough now the country is full of them mini digger prob. dearer than a 10 or 12 ton,if you buy one you`ll always have it and its there when you need it

mossfort

you wont buy a decent jcb or track machine for 6000 euros . if you go a few thousand more for a machine you will save it on repair bills. a jcb is fine on dry ground and for lighter jobs and comes in useful around the yard where as a track machine will get more work done but will be sitting around the yard a lot of the time. unless you have a good bit of work to do hire a contractor and buy a secondhand loader for your tractor.

maidhcII

We bought a Ford 550 back in about 1992 for £4000. Best money EVER spent on machinery. After clocking god knows how many hours it is still worth almost as much as we paid, and the only trouble it gave was a gearbox (which cost about €600 to replace) and I rebuilt the front axle last year (parts cost about €300).

It has done everything from draining, feeding cattle, stacking silage bales to digging foundations to levelling passageways and carrying around fencing equipment.

I completely disagree with anyone who says you should get a contractor. It has saved thousands upon thousands and done 18 years of incredible work.

SomethingElse

maidhcII wrote: »

We bought a Ford 550 back in about 1992 for £4000. Best money EVER spent on machinery. After clocking god knows how many hours it is still worth almost as much as we paid, and the only trouble it gave was a gearbox (which cost about €600 to replace) and I rebuilt the front axle last year (parts cost about €300).

It has done everything from draining, feeding cattle, stacking silage bales to digging foundations to levelling passageways and carrying around fencing equipment.

I completely disagree with anyone who says you should get a contractor. It has saved thousands upon thousands and done 18 years of incredible work.

Wow, that was an incredible piece of business. Is it possible to lift round bales with? I took a look on a couple of sites and there isn't many of these on the market. (The one's that are are still selling for €3500!) Do you know what other models would be similar to the 550? Just would like a bit more of a selection to look at. At those prices they look well worth the investment

Tora Bora

maidhcII wrote: »

We bought a Ford 550 back in about 1992 for £4000. Best money EVER spent on machinery. After clocking god knows how many hours it is still worth almost as much as we paid, and the only trouble it gave was a gearbox (which cost about €600 to replace) and I rebuilt the front axle last year (parts cost about €300).

It has done everything from draining, feeding cattle, stacking silage bales to digging foundations to levelling passageways and carrying around fencing equipment.

I completely disagree with anyone who says you should get a contractor. It has saved thousands upon thousands and done 18 years of incredible work.

You have just made my mind up for me. Totally.
I know I will still need a contractor in every once in a while to do the bigger stuff. But that's say a copuple of days once every 3 or 4 years. Meanwhile toddling along doing the every day stuff!
Thanks

Sam Kade

maidhcII wrote: »

We bought a Ford 550 back in about 1992 for £4000. Best money EVER spent on machinery. After clocking god knows how many hours it is still worth almost as much as we paid, and the only trouble it gave was a gearbox (which cost about €600 to replace) and I rebuilt the front axle last year (parts cost about €300).

It has done everything from draining, feeding cattle, stacking silage bales to digging foundations to levelling passageways and carrying around fencing equipment.

I completely disagree with anyone who says you should get a contractor. It has saved thousands upon thousands and done 18 years of incredible work.

My brother owned a 555 back in 93 I did a fair bit of work with it around the farm until he built his own house. It was torque which was better for loader work. Is your 550 torque or standard gearbox?

maidhcII

SomethingElse wrote: »

Wow, that was an incredible piece of business. Is it possible to lift round bales with? I took a look on a couple of sites and there isn't many of these on the market. (The one's that are are still selling for €3500!) Do you know what other models would be similar to the 550? Just would like a bit more of a selection to look at. At those prices they look well worth the investment

We have a hydraulic bale handler and it stacks about 1,200 silage bales a year. You need to watch the thrust bearings alright and keep them greased, but it will lift 1.5T without any problem.

It has a gearbox, the torque is definately more user friendly but can attract higher repair bills.

adne

You will need a minimum of a 6 Tonne to be able to carry out drainage and even at that you are limited with reach....

You won't get much of a 6 tonne for 6K....
Up your Budget to 10K and you will pick up a good machine

kincaid

im after an hitachi ex60 myself but they never really fell at all invalue i found, i can get get a 12 or 13ton machine cheaper but they are just too big..there was an tidy 2004 zaxis 130 sold for 14k stg with 4300 in portadown last february,... serious drop in value

i believe if you buy at the right price in the first place, you can do all your work over the year or so and still get the price or near to what you paid for it so if you have much to do buy one but don't rush out straight away keep looking the net and papers and something will come up that suits...i missed out on a 1998 komatsu 6ton for 6k euro in co louth due to work suppose to be tight but really dont know much about these machines at all...


as for a jcb i do think you would need to spend nearer the 9k and get at least the 1994 3cx on,, jcbs are making fairly good money at present as think the export for them is strong

best of luck

runningblind

look at a JCB 2 CX ! you can get them with a back hoe aswel as a compressor. don't have one but would like to purchase as soon as i get the funds. you may have to stretch to 10 k for a decent machine!

Kilmac1

we inherited a farm 2 years ago and needed a good bit of work... draining, passage ways etc. so we bought a 2001 pc130-6 for 14 odd grand sterling and brought her down, weve spent 3-4 on her to get her right (pipes, tracks and wee niggles) but for the money weve saved instead of using contractors is unreal and local contractor only charges 50 euro to take her anywhere.

red bull

maybe I should be on a dif thread, but i can get a loan of a bobcat is it a good machine tidying up around farmyard ?

pajero12

red bull wrote: »

maybe ni should be on a dif thread, but i can get a loan of a bobcat is it a good machine tidying up around farmyard ?

You should,
But you can yes, many local plant and tool hire centres have them but they may only come it a bucket.
From my experience you need a grab to make the most out of them but they are very handy for cleaning out sheds, pushing out silage and just getting into tight spaces in general.

Atilathehun

pajero12 wrote: »

You should,
But you can yes, many local plant and tool hire centres have them but they may only come it a bucket.
From my experience you need a grab to make the most out of them but they are very handy for cleaning out sheds, pushing out silage and just getting into tight spaces in general.

Yes you can hire as you say, but redbull wants a "loan" of one:cool:

reilig

Kilmac1 wrote: »

we inherited a farm 2 years ago and needed a good bit of work... draining, passage ways etc. so we bought a 2001 pc130-6 for 14 odd grand sterling and brought her down, weve spent 3-4 on her to get her right (pipes, tracks and wee niggles) but for the money weve saved instead of using contractors is unreal and local contractor only charges 50 euro to take her anywhere.

€20,000 odd on a digger that only does your farm work?
How many hundred acres did you inherit or are you doing a bit of contract work on the side with it???

Do you operate it at least 30 hours per week because if you don't, it would save you far more money just to get a contractor in with an experienced driver. You'd have no diesel costs, no maintenance, insurance, or depreciation.

maidhc

reilig wrote: »

€20,000 odd on a digger that only does your farm work?
How many hundred acres did you inherit or are you doing a bit of contract work on the side with it???

Do you operate it at least 30 hours per week because if you don't, it would save you far more money just to get a contractor in with an experienced driver. You'd have no diesel costs, no maintenance, insurance, or depreciation.

Sounds like a lot for a track machine on a farm alright.

I probably said it last year earlier on in the thread, but a wheeled digger is a great thing to have on a farm.

Kilmac1

reilig wrote: »

€20,000 odd on a digger that only does your farm work?
How many hundred acres did you inherit or are you doing a bit of contract work on the side with it???

Do you operate it at least 30 hours per week because if you don't, it would save you far more money just to get a contractor in with an experienced driver. You'd have no diesel costs, no maintenance, insurance, or depreciation.

shes their when we need her and most a the neighbours take a loan of her the odd time and she goes out on hire the odd time as well.

yeah shed do about 25 - 30 a week for us and what ever after...

warfie35

Tora Bora wrote: »

Folks, I am of a mind to get myself a bit of a digger. The auld place needs a bit of tidying up. Blocked stone drains here and there. Briars and bits of blackthorn, furze, etc, creeping out from walls here and there.

I am more inclined to go for a wheel digger like a JCB or maybe a MF50. My logic being, tractor does not have a loader, and there are a good few times in the year when a loader would be handy. So I could use a JCB as my loader, and a digger. 2 jobs in one so to speak.

Anyone I talk to says, get a mini digger!! Handier and more flexible they say.

Anyone got opinion on this!! Whats the best overall option, do ye think?
PS My budget is max €6k, and i would want a good set of buckets with that.

I bought an o&k L6 few years,great machine,av bale handler,shear grab for silage feeding,av bucket also great for tidying up around the farm clearing briars and bushes,sheds etc.machine does more work than tractor does,would highly recommend one,great all rounder

keep going

if you want to get work done,hire someone in.if you want to prick around and have a bit of fun buy it away.drove diggers for years and can hire them without drivers but i always take the driver now as we get alot done in a few days and dont neglect my farming. i would go for tracks and spend a bit more even if you borrowed for it. nothing like paying interest to make a fella work.a 6 grand digger is going to cost you another 6 in re pairs in few years

knotknowbody

keep going wrote: »

a 6 grand digger is going to cost you another 6 in re pairs in few years

Totally untrue we bought a 7 ton track machine for 3.5k 14 years ago and have only spent a few hundred on her since, have dug slatted tanks with her removed km's of ditches and drained 200 acres aswell as all the little jobs you do with her round the yard like lifting the big fertiliser bags over the spreader, if you buy a good machine and service her half well at all you can get a lot of work done very cheap

red bull

red bull wrote: »

maybe I should be on a dif thread, but i can get a loan of a bobcat is it a good machine tidying up around farmyard ?

A loan from a friend:D got it had a great bonfire tonight, great little machine must buy my friend a few pints Happy out:cool:

maidhc

knotknowbody wrote: »

Totally untrue we bought a 7 ton track machine for 3.5k 14 years ago and have only spent a few hundred on her since, have dug slatted tanks with her removed km's of ditches and drained 200 acres aswell as all the little jobs you do with her round the yard like lifting the big fertiliser bags over the spreader, if you buy a good machine and service her half well at all you can get a lot of work done very cheap

Agreed. Often on a farm there is rarely a days work to be done, just bits of jobs here and there... a hole to be dug or a gap to be knocked or a trench to be cleared. If you don't have a heavy machine at your disposal you will invariably end up doing something with a tractor and loader that is bad the the machine and your sanity...

Kilmac1

maidhc wrote: »

Agreed. Often on a farm there is rarely a days work to be done, just bits of jobs here and there... a hole to be dug or a gap to be knocked or a trench to be cleared. If you don't have a heavy machine at your disposal you will invariably end up doing something with a tractor and loader that is bad the the machine and your sanity...

exacty my opinion..

Rovi

maidhc wrote: »

Agreed. Often on a farm there is rarely a days work to be done, just bits of jobs here and there... a hole to be dug or a gap to be knocked or a trench to be cleared. If you don't have a heavy machine at your disposal you will invariably end up doing something with a tractor and loader that is bad the the machine and your sanity...

'Exactly' too!

I have a 14 tonne tracked machine that probably isn't 'economic' in the strict accounting sense, but I wouldn't be without it at this stage.
Besides the obvious drainage/earthworks/demolition/building stuff, the amount of 'little jobs' I've done with it that I'd never dream of bringing in a contractor for or where I'd be trying to get a tractor or loader to perform outside their intended purpose are innumerable.
Much like a dedicated farm loader, they're the sort of thing you end up wondering how you'd do without it if it was gone.

pajero12

Atilathehun wrote: »

Yes you can hire as you say, but redbull wants a "loan" of one:cool:

Oh sorry, read that a little too quick