The mini excavator thread

[urjb]

My Bobcat 331 has been needing some attention for awhile.. has had a rear main seal leaking for awhile and the developed a hydro leak somewhere under the house. Along with some smaller things that been bugging me. Circumstances prevented me from fixing it on my schedule.. and the hydro leak decided it needed to be fixed NOW.

One thing I like about this machine is that it’s pretty easy to get at stuff.. found my hydr leak (at least the big one) is just a hose. I spent the morning pressure washing.. I’ll let it dry while I watch football.

 

[WaterH]

So I found out my excavator will pick up more than my front end loader on the tractor. The specs said it would, but it’s hard to believe looking at it. Pick up four big stumps and put them on the trailer. Got the trailer home and the sob tractor wouldn’t pick up any of them. Had to drag them off the trailer with a chain. Chewed up the yard bad.

 

[Steve300xcw]

You need another mini. Keep one at each property

 

[urjb]

You need another mini. Keep one at each property

Or a dump trailer.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Or a dump trailer.

None of this nonsense Why have a useful trailer

 

[Black Sabbath]

So I found out my excavator will pick up more than my front end loader on the tractor. The specs said it would, but it’s hard to believe looking at it. Pick up four big stumps and put them on the trailer. Got the trailer home and the sob tractor wouldn’t pick up any of them. Had to drag them off the trailer with a chain. Chewed up the yard bad.

I had rented a mini ex to yank out a whole lot of over grown brush around my last house. Got them all pulled out and loaded on the trailer and headed to the dump site. Wasn't until I got there that I realized the error in my ways. I now had a giant intermingled mess of branches and rootballs with no equipment to offload. Fortunately still had the loppers and saw in the truck but still took me an hour or so to get it into pieces I could drag off by hand.

 

[Tinstar]

Fired up the Kubota K-008 and split some wood today. Runs the wood splitter pretty good. Welded some used horseshoes on the splitter so the mini-x can carry it.

 

[rockota]

So I found out my excavator will pick up more than my front end loader on the tractor. The specs said it would, but it’s hard to believe looking at it. Pick up four big stumps and put them on the trailer. Got the trailer home and the sob tractor wouldn’t pick up any of them. Had to drag them off the trailer with a chain. Chewed up the yard bad.

Told you… stop comparing the hydraulic systems… they are not the same.

 

[Tmackcj5]

My Bobcat 331 has been needing some attention for awhile.. has had a rear main seal leaking for awhile and the developed a hydro leak somewhere under the house. Along with some smaller things that been bugging me. Circumstances prevented me from fixing it on my schedule.. and the hydro leak decided it needed to be fixed NOW.

One thing I like about this machine is that it’s pretty easy to get at stuff.. found my hydr leak (at least the big one) is just a hose. I spent the morning pressure washing.. I’ll let it dry while I watch football.

Your cleanup pictures remind me of cleaning up my old Bobcat skidsteer recently. That was fun.

How do you like the 331?

 

[WLDWUN]

...... found my hydr leak (at least the big one) is just a hose....

if the hose has standard JIC swivel ends
I may be able to help you out.

 

[urjb]

Your cleanup pictures remind me of cleaning up my old Bobcat skidsteer recently. That was fun.

How do you like the 331?

Would buy again. It’s a nice size. Has a bit of tail swing, but no counterweight in the way of working on it.
Dealer support seems lacking.. pretty much stuck with PAPE around here.. I go out of my way to avoid them. They’re just too big to care about the little guy.
Bobcat was taken over by foreigners but these older machines are built with normal parts, just need to know who to call.

 

[bgaidan]

Alright. Question on quick connects. I'm adding them to my chinese mini. I think I finally found the right adapter fittings (after spending $40 on the wrong ones ) and I need to order the quick connects now.

I'm seeing the ISO "Agg" style ones in 7241 or 5675

7241

5675

I'm not even sure the difference between those...


Or flat face style ISO 16028

7241's come out to about $11 per set (1 male, 1 female)
5675 are about $15/set

And the flat face are almost $30/set



My 50hp tractor uses the agg style so that's all I really have experience with. I think skids I've used in the past had flat face.




Any reason to not go with the 7241's as the cheapest option or is there a benefit to either of the other two?

 

[[486]]

put the cheap ones on then whoever buys it will throw them away for whatever style they use

hell, I use parker SH4-63 on my shit, it's supposedly for steam, but I ended up with a bunch of them mixed into an auction lot
skidsteer came with the pioneer style ones, but they're actual money

 

[bgaidan]

put the cheap ones on then whoever buys it will throw them away for whatever style they use

hell, I use parker SH4-63 on my shit, it's supposedly for steam, but I ended up with a bunch of them mixed into an auction lot
skidsteer came with the pioneer style ones, but they're actual money

This is for my personal machine, but I wouldn't mind supplying them on the ones I sell if people ask for them.

Looking deeper in to the specs, the flat face have way higher flow. Like 6.3gpm for the 5675 and almost 24 for the flat face.


Guess I need to see if I can find any specs on the attachments I have. Specifically the auger motor is what's going to suck the most juice.

 

[arse_sidewards]

7241's come out to about $11 per set (1 male, 1 female)

Link?

 

[bgaidan]

Link?

They're all over Amazon, ebay and the chinese sites in that price range.


Keep in mind, this is 1/4" npt because it cheaper and matches the size of the accessory lines/fittings. But you can get 1/2" and 3/4" ones for not a whole lot more.

Amazon.com

$24 for two sets.

 

[tracyb]

Fired up the Kubota K-008 and split some wood today. Runs the wood splitter pretty good. Welded some used horseshoes on the splitter so the mini-x can carry it.

attach that splitter to a bucket adapter and never get out of the cab, or break your back.


one a made a long time ago for a friend.

 

[speed bump]

Alright. Question on quick connects. I'm adding them to my chinese mini. I think I finally found the right adapter fittings (after spending $40 on the wrong ones ) and I need to order the quick connects now.

I'm seeing the ISO "Agg" style ones in 7241 or 5675

7241

5675

I'm not even sure the difference between those...


Or flat face style ISO 16028

7241's come out to about $11 per set (1 male, 1 female)
5675 are about $15/set

And the flat face are almost $30/set



My 50hp tractor uses the agg style so that's all I really have experience with. I think skids I've used in the past had flat face.




Any reason to not go with the 7241's as the cheapest option or is there a benefit to either of the other two?

The 7241s are a poppet face, the 5675 is typically a ball face(but not always as you picture shows). The 5675s are probably the most common ag connector which is what I would buy because the local clothes and dog feed farm store typically stocks them if you need one on a Sunday.

 

[665.0coupe]

Alright. Question on quick connects. I'm adding them to my chinese mini. I think I finally found the right adapter fittings (after spending $40 on the wrong ones ) and I need to order the quick connects now.

I'm seeing the ISO "Agg" style ones in 7241 or 5675

7241

5675

I'm not even sure the difference between those...


Or flat face style ISO 16028

7241's come out to about $11 per set (1 male, 1 female)
5675 are about $15/set

And the flat face are almost $30/set



My 50hp tractor uses the agg style so that's all I really have experience with. I think skids I've used in the past had flat face.




Any reason to not go with the 7241's as the cheapest option or is there a benefit to either of the other two?

The flat face are cleaner when you disconnect them. The female side of the ag styles will fill with oil when disconnected. Generally you are correct flat face is usually for construction type equipment, however the attachments company I work for is moving toward flat face for everything. Keep in mind there is also different sizes of both style couplers.

 

[WaterH]

The Flat face ones are on my miniX for the thumb or aux system. The nice thing about them is you can wipe them clean easy before connecting. You don’t need more flow for a thumb. (Mine is too fast) But maybe for some other attachment, It might be desirable. (Hammer or auger)

 

[Steve300xcw]

A bit more seat time and you will come to appreciate that thumb being as fast as it is

 

[Steve300xcw]

The quick connects with the tit on the end are a bit easier to relieve preasure if something dumb happens.

you see more flat face though.

 

[Krackle959]

These were this mornings task, needed a set of the flat face 1/2” Parker connectors for the KX040 cleanup bucket and auger attachment. Went to the local hydraulic shop for them and they were $100/set. Kubota dealer wanted $165/set. The flat face are used more for high flow attachments, so buy them once and be done with it.

 

[bgaidan]

These were this mornings task, needed a set of the flat face 1/2” Parker connectors for the KX040 cleanup bucket and auger attachment. Went to the local hydraulic shop for them and they were $100/set. Kubota dealer wanted $165/set. The flat face are used more for high flow attachments, so buy them once and be done with it.

Or $40 from Summit.






Did a little more research. My pump puts out roughly 6.3 gpm at full bore. Not sure if it's valved to give full flow to the aux, but assuming it is it would put me right at the max flow of the 5675's. I'm also seeing that the augers can run upwards of 10gpm if the machine can put it out, so if I ever upgrade to a bigger machine, I'd rather already have the fittings right on the attachments.

So looks like I'll go with flat face.

The flat face are cleaner when you disconnect them. The female side of the ag styles will fill with oil when disconnected. Generally you are correct flat face is usually for construction type equipment, however the attachments company I work for is moving toward flat face for everything. Keep in mind there is also different sizes of both style couplers.

Yeah, I see this with my tractor and grapple. I actually have a full set of flat faces that I think will fit it that I found in a surplus box at work years ago. I should probably swap them over.

The quick connects with the tit on the end are a bit easier to relieve preasure if something dumb happens.

you see more flat face though.

Good point. I learned the first time I stored my grapple that I need to open it all the way and store it face down so it's not trying to compress the cylinders. There was no possible way to connect them with even gravity pulling down on the grapple arms.

 

[665.0coupe]

Good point. I learned the first time I stored my grapple that I need to open it all the way and store it face down so it's not trying to compress the cylinders. There was no possible way to connect them with even gravity pulling down on the grapple arms.

We store all of our grapples with the jaws closed and the bottom on the ground. Never any issues. What tractor do you have? Can you operate your 3rd function with the tractor not running? You could relive the residual pressure before you disconnect it.

 

[rockota]

We store all of our grapples with the jaws closed and the bottom on the ground. Never any issues. What tractor do you have? Can you operate your 3rd function with the tractor not running? You could relive the residual pressure before you disconnect it.

this is how I do it. I also release the pressure before disconnecting.

 

[Krackle959]

Or $40 from Summit.

If I didn’t need them today, I would have ordered them online. The guy building my cleanup bucket had told me springtime before it would be ready, but called last night and said he’s got it done and just needs to make the lines. I added an extra set to my cart for a set of spares, so thanks!

We store all of our grapples with the jaws closed and the bottom on the ground. Never any issues. What tractor do you have? Can you operate your 3rd function with the tractor not running? You could relive the residual pressure before you disconnect it.

This is also how I store my grapples in the closed position. On both of my tractors you can have the key on accessory and it will allow for toggling the third function to relieve pressure.

 

[bgaidan]

We store all of our grapples with the jaws closed and the bottom on the ground. Never any issues. What tractor do you have? Can you operate your 3rd function with the tractor not running? You could relive the residual pressure before you disconnect it.

If I didn’t need them today, I would have ordered them online. The guy building my cleanup bucket had told me springtime before it would be ready, but called last night and said he’s got it done and just needs to make the lines. I added an extra set to my cart for a set of spares, so thanks!



This is also how I store my grapples in the closed position. On both of my tractors you can have the key on accessory and it will allow for toggling the third function to relieve pressure.

Mine doesn't store well closed. You CAN get under the hooks and roll it up and be fine, but it's also easy to drop it flat on it's back or miss the hooks and roll it right over on its face...and you risk damaging the cylinders if it lands on something hard.

^That is from when I picked it up from the PO.

I now store it fully open with the teeth jabbed in to the ground. As a bonus, it keep the cylinder rods from being exposed to the elements.

My 3rd valve is aftermarket and apparently wired to be always hot. I have to kill the engine and then hit the buttons to relieve pressure before I can connect or disconnect the aux. lines.

 

[665.0coupe]

Mine doesn't store well closed. You CAN get under the hooks and roll it up and be fine, but it's also easy to drop it flat on it's back or miss the hooks and roll it right over on its face...and you risk damaging the cylinders if it lands on something hard.

^That is from when I picked it up from the PO.

I now store it fully open with the teeth jabbed in to the ground. As a bonus, it keep the cylinder rods from being exposed to the elements.

My 3rd valve is aftermarket and apparently wired to be always hot. I have to kill the engine and then hit the buttons to relieve pressure before I can connect or disconnect the aux. lines.

That’s what you get for buying green

It needs a little kick stand on the back to hold it upright.

That’s how we instruct people to bleed off the pressure.

 

[bgaidan]

That’s what you get for buying green

It needs a little kick stand on the back to hold it upright.

That’s how we instruct people to bleed off the pressure.

Meh, I don't see any harm in laying it down open like I do. In fact, I think it's better because it keeps the cylinders retracted and it's easier to pick back up.

I wouldn't buy this particular grapple if I were buying a new one. It's way to heave....though that does make it good for grubbing. It just happened to get a smokin' deal on the tractor it came with.