My question pertains to buying heavy equipment (smaller stuff). I am a gravedigger and am familiar with running a backhoe/front loader, etc... But I have never had to shop for one. In the near future My wife and I will be running the cemetery and I'll be needing to get some new equipment. I been looking through the heavy equipment trader guide and a few things I am confused on. Some listing include "aux hydraulics" What is that? A separate hydraulic system? Also I am looking at a mini excavator and skid steer combo instead of the tractor with front loader and backhoe. On my hills the tractor is just too top heavy and just plain scary. On the listings for excavators some say 12,000lbs or 11,000lbs. That can't be the equipments weight. Would the be like the ripping force? Thanks in advance
I have a Case 580SE that we use mostly for the ranches and I do a little custom work with it. An aux. hydro setup is where you can run a hydraulicly driven attachment off of it. The most familiar thing that I can think of is a post hole digger. You remove the bucket and attach a post hole digger designed to fit a backhoe and the auger has a hydro motor. This is a great setup with a lot of versitility since you can very easily make a series of holes with the PHD attached the the hoe. I'm not real sure on the weight numbers of the mini equipment. I have never been a big fan of the Bobcat stuff really and we don't use them around the ranches. If you can make a larger backhoe work, I'd go with that. Don't be afraid of a Case 580 series backhoe. They came out with the extend-a-hoe feature with the SE model like mine or the model before, IIRC. The 580SE is probably one of the most widely used backhoes in the country, they were solid pieces of equipment. The 580K is also a great backhoe, basically just a later model with a few updates.One thing I like about the Case backhoes is they used the 4 lever controls for years and it's an easy system to get used to. I've only been "hoeing" for about two years and could knock a coke can off your shoulder (without injuring you of course). rotfl JD backhoes are great also. A friend had a 310 and it was a very nice unit, the 710 is HUGE but I'm sure it's to huge for grave digging. IMHO, I like the Cats the best. I'd like to get a 416 with a cab (equipped with A/C, watch out for cab models of all brands because many of the early to mid cab models DON'T have A/C for some reason) and 4x4.
Ahh thanks. Aux hydro may be handy but it wouldn't be a necessity for my needs (maybe if I got a stomper attachment for settling the graves). The mini excavators I'm looking aren't what I think you are thinking about (the little hoe that attaches to a skid steer). The machines I'm looking at (geil makes a nice one) run on tracks, have a 16' boom, and swivel 180 degrees in the center. You've probably seen the big versions working road construction or heavy demolition. Anyway yeah the case backhoes are nice, but most are just too damn big for me. I need something that can fit up a row 6' wide and can operate on a 30 degree slope (estimated). My current tractor is pretty small but is horribly top heavy. When driving across a row on that steep incline I have to extend my backhoe bucket to the uphill side as a counterweight waytogo . The little skid steers have a much lower cog. And I have seen some diggers work on crazy slopes with an excavator.
