Good stuff Todd!! Man, I am so glad that you said that a beginner should buy an excavator as their first piece of equipment - my wife was sitting right beside me when you said that so you gave some credit to my business plan! I'm about 4 weeks away from buying my first mini and I am very, very excited! As always...great content and you do a fantastic at presenting the task at hand! (and the new GP looks great too)
Really good job on the video. It is refreshing to see the explanation and then see the described work done. Most other YT posters do just the opposite - do the work then explain it, but by then it's too late! I agree with your explanation of the limitation of backhoes. I have a JD tractor loader/backhoe that I've put 1200 hours on, and I'll bet only 15 of those hours are backhoe. When I went to the local tractor guy to upgrade the tractor and add a grapple to clear up laying tangled hardwoods after a tornado, he convinced me to keep the tractor but get a used mini excavator. I was skeptical, but found a Bobcat former rental and am thrilled with it. Just hit 40 hrs, and starting to feel comfortable with it. Should have done it years ago.
Great video! I like the tip about roughing it up a bit to allow new grass to grow easier. You make it look easy, but I would need to practice for another year to do what you did in this video.
I love running mini excavators. I don't get to run them very often on the jobs. I wish I had my own. I got you run a vio35 and 55 on a job recently. Fun! 😃
I agree with you buddy. I use my excavator 90% more than my skid steer. It leaves less of a footprint literally. Although a skid steer has its place and when I need it I’m glad I have it. Keep making them great videos👍
I got mine a few months back, aren't they great. I built a 50" wide tilt bucket for landscaping- smoothing, a big help. I always enjoy watching an excavator getting it done. Thanks .
Well hello from Ireland I operating excavators for 20 years one tip I will give is pull the bucket right to left and left to right when grading in sweeping action because you will all ways hit high spots in to the low spots
Hey Todd thanks for the video. I’m a younger operator and I’m fine with the grading with a smaller excavator. But when it comes to the big 160s and big John Deere’s I struggle with my grading. Any tips for holding grade with bigger sizes?
Awesome video .. I totally agree with the excavator first .. I use the excavator a lot more than the skid ..I’m not in love with the yanmars either .. I been running a 55 and didn’t like it at all, well last weekend I ran a yanmar 80 and liked it a lot better but still prefer Kubota over it ..
Another great video! Question...do you have any plans to expand your business to include skid steer work or any other equipment, or are you satisfied with your niche as an excavator operator?
Hi Todd thanks for the grading tips. I'v been operating excavators for many years and I want to start a small business like yours I may of said this before. The costs of getting into the right setups always stumps me trucks,trailers, machines and finding the work. So what if there are many businesses with excavators in a 100 mile radius of your location what would you suggest a new business do ?
MyOrchardVideos that’s a really good question. May be a lot of business but there is only one you. Find out what they all do the same and look for ways to stand out. One big one is to show up to your quotes dressed in nice clean clothes.
I'd focus on finding the work first and rent the equipment you need until you're in a position to buy. Too many folks get behind in loans without enough work to service them.
Thanks for another great educational video! Like I have said before, I’m just starting out and I love to learn. I am not an operator by trade and never have been. I have ran some equipment before but not as a profession. I’d love to know how to do quotes or estimates. I always worry that I will either not charge enough to cover my costs or get laughed off the owner’s property because I am charging too much. A good example of this is, the last project I gave an estimate for the property owner haggled the price UP!! He said he was going to pay me more than what I estimated. So I think maybe I need a course in how to charge! Lol
The new GoPro looks great as do the angles you used. The glare inside the cab wasn't bad at all. Good to hear your machine is performing better. I know you were unhappy when it was running multiple functions. I've heard the same complaint from other on the Yanmar's. Bumping up the the pump works! Any future plans for a tilt grading bucket?
Absolutely planning on a tilt buck. Talk about a time saver!!! Thanks for watching. You could be watching any other vid but you picked mine🙏🏻. Many thanks
A skid steer twists and turns even if you take long turns they can still tear up somebody’s lawn especially when a little wet or damp. excavators much cleaner it tracks and one line
Just bought a zx135us and I’m a beginner..... my first project is about 15,000 cu yds with 2 ecology block walls in the neighborhood of 400 total blocks🤦🏼♂️
Yes sir haha I bought some acreage and the buildable area is on a small ridge that I need to widen and create a flat yard between the parallel block retaining walls. Turn 30’ wide of flat ridge into 250’ of yard..... I’m terrible with filming and taking pictures but I’ll do my best to document the process.... fortunately I’m the customer and the service provider so I’ll only have myself to yell at if things fo south 😆
Getting kinda mad over here because you keep mixing dirt with gravel for no reason, can’t remember doing that myself. If you don’t like the gravel on the side, I had pulled it back on the road because I would have regraded that driveway anyways after tracking all over it.
