Big digger v. little digger

[Andrew Mawson]

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Roger,

for ditch work I hate to say it but you probably need a "360" tracked machine - a conventional 3CX type not only is too long (as it needs to be at 90 degrees to the ditch to be effective) so will give you access problems, it also needs constant moving to do the next section.

My 3CX is very versatile - today I've been backfilling trenches but it was also used for moving jumbo bags of ballast, and shifting a concrete mixer and a JCB Beaver hydralic breaker over a pile of hardcore - but I will probably get a contractor in to clear my about

1/2 mile of ditches !!!!

AWEM

[Bruce]

For the size and number of jobs that you need doing, would it not be cheaper to hire a machine as and when you need it? Or even hire a machine and operator, because (with all due respect) a skilled operator will do the job in a quarter of the time that you and I could.

Alternatively, perhaps it might be worth hiring a mini excavator just to see how well it works for the jobs that you intend to do?

Here's a hire centre in Leeds, not too far away, but there are bound to be some closer:

are also trackless machines that - apparently - are quite good once you get used to them. Some are towable and might suit your requirement for moving around:

finally. here is something of a "wild card" entry:

quite like that one!

[Roger]

The message from Bruce contains these words:

What is a 2 wheel drive JCB like for traction on steep ground? My neighbours 4 wd tractor is next to useless in 2 wheel drive.

[Roger]

The message from Graeme contains these words:

My neighbour already has a trailer based on a caravan chassis which was used for getting the hay in before he switched from small rectangular to large round bales but it (and indeed almost any other caravan chassis) is too large to negotiate the twisty track down the hillside behind the tractor. It would be embarrassing to say the least to get a JCB stuck at the bottom of the hill. There is no way out but up.

[Bruce]

Uh oh! One of my projects is featured. :-(

[Bruce]

Not great.

[Roger]

The message from Bruce contains these words:

snip

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Being retired time is something I should have in abundance.

The idea behind buying instead of hiring is that at the end of the day there will be some money back from the sale of the machine. When it comes to hiring getting a man in with the machine may well be the cheaper option but it isn't DIY and playing with a new toy is surely half the fun. :-)

can't find a price for a driverless JCB but I assume it will be more than for a mini digger.

but my preference remains for a self propelled one even if I need a trailer to get it around.

Is it time to extend the budget again? There is a 1986 3CX at Sheffield with a buy it now price of £5000. Too expensive for what it is?

Needs a long extension lead though. :-)

[Roger]

The message from "Andrew Mawson" contains these words:

Just as I was swinging back in favour of a JCB you put the dampers on.

Is it just not possible to clear ditches with the machine parallel to the ditch?

And what about straddling ditches? My garden is long and thin. Unless I can straddle the excavation I can't excavate for the heat pump.

[Bruce]

You're very welcome.

This thread is a lot of fun, so thank you for starting it. ;-)

Was it on eBay? I couldn't find it. It doesn't sound bad for a 3CX of that age, but it depends on condition, condition, condition.

[Jeff]

The one I hired had a normal/sprint mode selected by pressing a button on the floor. Understandably the steering was attenuated to almost nothing when on. 3mph seems a good estimate in sprint mode

Definately budget for a trailer of some sort if you are moving it on unsurfaced lanes etc. I drove ours from the farm house to the top of the lane to be picked up (1/2 mile) and I could hardly walk after. All traveling shocks are transfered straight through the seat to your spine it seemed. It can't do the digger much good either.

[Roger]

The message from Bruce contains these words:

Still there. Item number: 260254360029

No bids but the start bid is the buy it now price of £5000. Advertised elsewhere as well. No idea whether there is VAT on top. Bit late in the day to phone for info but I just might tomorrow if it hasn't disappeared by then. (Dithering like this is how I managed to lose the chance to buy an older 3 C that was reportedly in good nick.

[Bruce]

Ah, no "3CX" in the title so my search failed to find it.

Too little information. He's selling it for a friend? Cash on collection only? No mention of VAT or a VAT invoice, so he cannot legally demand VAT on top.

I think I would dither long and hard over this one. You cannot tell the condition from photos. If I was handing over £5000 I would want a JCB trained technician to look it over, and some evidence of real ownership.

Good feedback, though, so who can tell? ;-)

This one might offer better value. I particularly like what appears to be an honest description. Not that far from you, either:

are also some nice mini-excavators on eBay selling at around £5000 and a little less, alas most are +VAT @ 17.5%:

Kubota:

at the hours! 132 hours. You would need to check this is correct but make an offer of £4500 or so and you can probably have it delivered to you for £5000 plus the dreaded VAT.

Lots more, of different makes, from £3000 upwards.

[Andrew Mawson]

tracked

needs to

Unless I

If you place the 3CX parrallel to the ditch, then the back acter is at

90 degrees, which is the least stable position. Bear in mind that one wheel and foot are on the edge of the bank. If the bank is firm it can be done, but my banks aren't firm !

It would be a very narrow ditch if you can straddle it - but straddling is the usual way of trenching. My ditches are perhaps four foot of water, but sixteen foot from bank lip to bank lip - that would take a BIG machine to straddle it

AWEM

[Dieseldes]

These are a few photos of a recovery of a burntout car that some little scrotes had driven over a waterlogged football pitch and down a track by a river, Due to trees and the state the pitch would have been in the only way to recover it was to cut right across very boggy marshland, How they got it there in the first place......

We used a four wheel drive tractor (probably weighing as much as a JCB!) and as the photos show a tracked digger to get the car out and onto the trailer.

The tractor made heavy weather as the tracks show , the wee digger just floated over the surface, 4 months later tractor tracks still show but nothing at all from the wee digger (infact we got the digger to clear up some the tractors wheelmarks!!

Des

[Dieseldes]

Oops forgot link

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Roger writes

Herts. Extending dipper and (this one) has the kit for a hydraulic breaker. Very tired. It currently has a problem with the power shuttle anyway and I am too busy to fix. Lots of abraded hoses!

regards

[Roger]

The message from "Andrew Mawson" contains these words:

My neighbours ditch that I have in mind to clear is actually a piddling little stream that needs keeping clear so the water table doesn't turn the adjacent hay meadow into a quagmire. At one point it flows through a

6" pipe (where a cattle grid used to be). The hay meadow is fenced off and the other side is a bog but shifting the fence might be the way to get at the stream.

[Roger]

The message from Bruce contains these words:

Nor in the description but it does show up in a photo.

Is the weight right? Another advert claimed a scrap value for a 3 C at £1700. There is no way 3.5 tons would fetch that price as scrap unless scrap steel has doubled in value since I last checked the price.

No but he might hold out for vat to clinch the deal. The registration number is quoted so where do I check for lost or stolen?

Unfortunately I don't have such an associate to hand so I have to take much on trust.

But he isn't the seller.

Seems there is a new tyre to get as well and FWIW the machine doesn't seem in as good nick as the one that the scrap man beat me to earlier.

But I need a trailer as well.

That place in Worcester seems to be the major dealer in diggers on e-bay.

[Dieseldes]

snip

£140 for a Diesel peugeot 106 cash over the weighbridge yesterday, it was a good runner but not worth repairing.( all it needed was a bit of welding 2 tyres and the brakes freed off)

Des

[Roger]

The message from Tim Lamb contains these words:

Even worse. That's almost 200 miles away and, being a novice at this, I do want a reliable machine.