Mini X tips and tricks...

braxton357 said:
For the record kx121 has 1500lb more lifting cap at ground level and a ft longer reach than the 135, is only 3" wider and pretty much every one sold had an angle blade not to mention they are powered by kubota. Just saying
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I ain't knockin it. I think they are great machines, and I'd like to own one. Honestly I bet the breakout force is wrong in the spec sheet. But it's also 4.5 ton family machine, not 3.5, so I'd expect the specs to all be more ;)
 
So this past weekend I made an attempt to get the last 2 pine stumps out of the ground. I found out a local rental place rents Bobcat’s for $325 with a trailer. E35 I believe So I decided to give that brand a try.

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Welp didn’t go too good. I unloaded and ripped out a privit I missed behind me in this picture. I then pushed over an oak. Maybe 6” across. Now it was time to dig. She dug well but I could tell it was a weaker and smaller machine than one I had rented before. About 2 - 3 hours in and a lot of dirt moved from around the stump and all the outward roots cut with the bucket and thumb it would wiggle a little. I started working on removing dirt around the base as best I could and exposing the “tap roots.” Welp I noticed a spray of fluid from the main boom cylinder. I shut it down and hopped off. I should have taken a picture but didn’t. Somehow the main boom cylinder got bent. Only thing I can come up with was when digging close to the stump I played it on one of the big ass roots. So called them up and returned the machine. So I had to buy a cylinder. No proof it was bent when I picked it up and they said they checked it out. So $732 lesson learned. They did say since I didn’t have it long I could get it another day.
 
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When I got back home I felt pretty damn dumb and very defeated. So I ate lunch grabbed a couple shovels and a sawzall. Hooked the jeep winch and proceeded to get that damn thing ready for fire. Yep I jumped in the hole and stared working on that damn stump. Took most of the afternoon but I won!
 
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ghost said:
So this past weekend I made an attempt to get the last 2 pine stumps out of the ground. I found out a local rental place rents Bobcat’s for $325 with a trailer. E35 I believe So I decided to give that brand a try.

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Welp didn’t go too good. I unloaded and ripped out a privit I missed behind me in this picture. I then pushed over an oak. Maybe 6” across. Now it was time to dig. She dug well but I could tell it was a weaker and smaller machine than one I had rented before. About 2 - 3 hours in and a lot of dirt moved from around the stump and all the outward roots cut with the bucket and thumb it would wiggle a little. I started working on removing dirt around the base as best I could and exposing the “tap roots.” Welp I noticed a spray of fluid from the main boom cylinder. I shut it down and hopped off. I should have taken a picture but didn’t. Somehow the main boom cylinder got bent. Only thing I can come up with was when digging close to the stump I played it on one of the big ass roots. So called them up and returned the machine. So I had to buy a cylinder. No proof it was bent when I picked it up and they said they checked it out. So $732 lesson learned. They did say since I didn’t have it long I could get it another day.
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That's a great price on the rental, but sucks that the machine sucks and the cylinder bent. If they only charged you $732 for parts/labor/materials on a main cylinder, they did you a solid. I'd have guessed more like $1500-2000 for that repair.
 
jeepinmatt said:
That's a great price on the rental, but sucks that the machine sucks and the cylinder bent. If they only charged you $732 for parts/labor/materials on a main cylinder, they did you a solid. I'd have guessed more like $1500-2000 for that repair.
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Yes. He just charged me the part. It was an expensive lesson but now I know to be aware when reaching over/beside the stump trying to get to the tap roots. I plan to collect on their claim to get it again just not for these big stumps.
 
ghost said:
Yes. He just charged me the part. It was an expensive lesson but now I know to be aware when reaching over/beside the stump trying to get to the tap roots. I plan to collect on their claim to get it again just not for these big stumps.
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Yeah, not sure it was enough machine for those puppies. But sometimes you have to dig an excavator sized hole to get the stump out due to the root structure:
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Basically all anyone ever seemed to want me to do was dig stumps. Depending on the ground, I could get medium sized pine stumps out in 30-45 minutes with the old 337 I had. The key is to just keep digging down and around them. I've had a few that were 8 to 9 feet deep. Then I'd pull them out or break them off. That tap root is going to go down until it hits solid clay, usually.

Damn, I can't wait to get another machine...
 
jeepyjman said:
This thread reminds me I need a mini X
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I think quite a few of us would rather run one then go wheeling at this point in life.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Yeah, not sure it was enough machine for those puppies. But sometimes you have to dig an excavator sized hole to get the stump out due to the root structure:
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Or a foundation sized hole. Uncle dug this one out for me with his 35G. 12x16 about 4 1/2 feet deep. Probably wouldn't have been so deep but obviously couldn't get all the way around it to loosen it up.

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Croatan_Kid said:
Basically all anyone ever seemed to want me to do was dig stumps. Depending on the ground, I could get medium sized pine stumps out in 30-45 minutes with the old 337 I had. The key is to just keep digging down and around them. I've had a few that were 8 to 9 feet deep. Then I'd pull them out or break them off. That tap root is going to go down until it hits solid clay, usually.

Damn, I can't wait to get another machine...
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Yes I was digging around it trying to loosen the dirt under roots that went out. This particular one had some big ones. The bucket and thumb had trouble breaking them and ripping them out of the ground. I've got a 10K machine for this weekend. I really want that last stump out of the ground. With thumb and trailer it's supposed to be $475. It will be a Wacker Neuson from the other company I have rented from before. Thinking back on it I picked that Bobcat up around 9 am and had taken out a privit, a small oak and dug 4 - 5 feet around that stump broke it and had it back to the rental company by 12. I bet I only did about an hour hour half of work with it.
 
braxton357 said:
Y'all gotta quit renting 3 tonne machines for pulling stumps. Beating yourself and the machine to death, spend the extra $100 on a 12k lb+ machine. Still undersized but a lot better suited and can actually pick the stump up.
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I’m learning that.
 
braxton357 said:
Y'all gotta quit renting excavators for pulling stumps. Beating yourself and the machine to death, spend the extra on a stump grinder. Still work but a lot better suited and you don't even have to pick the stump up.
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FIFY, plus you get a bunch of mulch/woodchips when you're done.
 
StretchASU said:
Just tagging @Caver Dave after Sunday's conversation around the shop and my comment of "Pay the man" regarding an acre of stumps :laughing:
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An acre, ugh. In my opinion, it depends on what you want to do with it. Farm field...big excavator, rip it all up, burn a huge pile. Yard or anything you'll ever want to build on...high power stumpgrinder and a tractor with a rake to get all the chips where you want. Either way you'll leave big holes, but the excavator will leave bigger holes and be more destructive.
 
we have two kubota rubber tracked 6 ton machines at work. I bring one home to dig my fire pit ash out and be the time it’s back I’ve move around stuff, ruined the grass and used the auger to put more posts in for a project I’ll finish in a couple of years. Those AC cabs with a cup hold and radio will get you. Especially after the sun goes down and you turn the lights on and keep going.
 
jeepinmatt said:
An acre, ugh. In my opinion, it depends on what you want to do with it. Farm field...big excavator, rip it all up, burn a huge pile. Yard or anything you'll ever want to build on...high power stumpgrinder and a tractor with a rake to get all the chips where you want. Either way you'll leave big holes, but the excavator will leave bigger holes and be more destructive.
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Guesstimated an "acre"... opening up around our garden for better morning sun ;) (a place to spin/park truck, trailers, etc.
Stump density is stoopid and should (my WAG) result in chewed up enough that it won't take much to grade...

But I agree with @StretchASU ... "pay the man" will get it done in my lifetime 🤣
 
Caver Dave said:
Guesstimated an "acre"... opening up around our garden for better morning sun ;) (a place to spin/park truck, trailers, etc.
Stump density is stoopid and should (my WAG) result in chewed up enough that it won't take much to grade...

But I agree with @StretchASU ... "pay the man" will get it done in my lifetime 🤣
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Yep. But when I started this, 2 or so years ago, I knew I could not afford that. But I could swing renting equipment a couple times a year. Hopefully in the next year or two I can actually start on the shop I want back there.
 
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