Best Allround Farm Digger

For cleaning out sheds or small works around buildings 3 tonne is grand but anything drainage related would be a pia. Unless you have a lot of work to do and are somewhat experienced at the job it may be better to hire in. 3 tonne self drive hire and get a contractor with a 20 tonne for drainage work.

Have a neighbour with a New Holland LB 115. In his hands it is some weapon. Big wheels mean it can go further than normal diggers. I can only compare it to seeing a 50HX and an 860 working, drawing away from them etc, it's miles better than them in back actor work.

Just on farm loaders, Donedeal could do with having a section for them. Everything from shovels, telehandlers, diggers, skid steers in one place. Hard to find them as it. Few different places buried with unrelated stuff.

Have a hitachi ur75 here 2001 machine on steal tracks, was on rubber but changed as it was sliding on the hilly ground we have, it's basically the same as a ex60 with a knuckle boom and zero tail swing and a blade on the front, we down sized from a hitachi ex100 after all the major land reclamation was finished with here back in 2012. Would use the 75 for cleaning out the open fronted straw bedded sheds and loading the dung spreader, it will stack straw with a grab 4 bales high inside the shed, cleaning out a large drain running about 300m by about 5m wide along one end of my land at its ease in a few hours once a year, grab would be used for lifting any large stones back up onto walls that fall and driving any posts for electric fence. Very handy machine to have around in fairness

The ex 100 was a far better work horse for large scale works but would be to big for stacking the straw in the shed or cleaning out the dung, the jib is a lot higher then it is on the 75

I've no loader or tractor with loader here and if going again id nearly consider a jcb 3cx , fit a bale handler on the front and have the back actor for any other rooting id be at. kinda kill two birds with one stone. Lad next door feeds out about 300 bales with a 1970s 3cx at its ease every year, might not be the quickest yoke but it seems to keep chugging away year after year.

Ex60 if you can get a good second hand one. Great machine

Was put driving one years ago by a foreman, had plenty of experience on a tracked digger, hated it for the first week but absolutely fell in love with after, they're a pig on diesel when driving and using the front bucket, but very easy when using the back arm.

You can buy quick attach s for any loader or machine. Adapter plates can be purchased for them, too.

I'm assuming you want to use the likes of a tractor euro brackets on the 3cx.

AdAdapter plates can be made or bought.

The hx at home came with no quick hitch.

To change implements you had to pull 4 pins. Twas a bit painful. I bought a quick hitch that uses existing hx brackets on bucket and bale handler with no modification . If I needed it I could make an Adapter plate to take tractor euro implements.

But be aware the 3cx is a heavier machine than a tractor. I can lift 2 bales of silage on the front of the hx with hydraulic bale handler. I wouldn't like to do that on tractor euro brackets.

There doesn’t seem to be much for sale out there at the moment. What’s the New Holland like? I’ve been told cheaper and better than a 3cx.

A neighbour told me that only a rough farmer buys them type of machines! I’ve thick skin

+1 for the 860. I have one and it’s given 20+ years service. Lighter machine then a 3cx but wouldn’t let that worry you.