Anyone have experience with a mini excavator

I am working on getting one as well to pair with a dozer. I like the Kubota KX040/057 and the Takeuchi TB240. Bobcat makes a good machine but one of the techs said they have issues with the fuel systems. All the machines are good right now so it comes down to service and parts availability .
I have all the dealers close to me with the exception of Takeuchi so that may rule them out.

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Bobcat E60. I love it.

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That is a very good machine. It has it limits like everything else. But it can do a lot more work than a crew with shovels ,ditch knives ,rakes etc. I wish I had one.

Pretty certain I’d need to dig around the stump prior to trying to pull it out of the ground.

But not near as much fun .

I’ve rented a kubota mini ex a few times. Takes a little repetition to get the coordination down but they can do a lot of work in a little amount of time.

I may or may not have dug some holes around my property for fun when the work was done. Wife wasn’t too happy about that one.

I hired a guy for $150/ hour with like a 75 Hp one and he dug about 12 stumps in 6 hours. Maybe 2-3 were the size ones you mentioned the rest half or so.

Point being, why would you buy a $50,000 machine when you can pay someone to do it for less than $5,000 probably?

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Will use it to move some dirt around, digging up some stumps and general maintenance around the farm.

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Sounds like a Case backhoe would be more practical.

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Will use it to move some dirt around, digging up some stumps and general maintenance around the farm.

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I rented a JD for a drain field that was in that hp range. I’m no heavy equipment expert but they’re great for digging holes or trenches in tight spaces or existing yards where you want a soft footprint. Moving dirt around and pulling anything out of the ground, there are better options. I was doing a small drain field, and I thought I could use it as a box blade to smooth it out, but it wasn’t practical. No doubt some of it was my skill level, but those little flat front blades don’t move a lot of dirt.

Unless this is a fantastic deal I’d be looking at a mini backhoe.

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Pretty certain I’d need to dig around the stump prior to trying to pull it out of the ground.

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Almost every time unless the root system had been damaged or, in the case of planted pines, the root system isn't overly deep...I have a place in north Georgia where the first 6 inches of "soil" just below the mulch (leaves etc) is almost all saw dust...there was a saw mill there for years and apparently they spread the saw dust over nearly 3 acres....those trees can almost be pushed over, stump and all. Its clay just below the saw dust and 99% of the root system is in the saw dust. Some BIG pine trees with almost no root system.

Whoa. You need a full-size.