Rented Home Depot Kubota U17 was it worth it? Fixing drainage issues! 

Dang my boss seriously needs equipment like this. I have spent weeks digging small concrete apron projects with a spade and rake. My supposed crew is full of bad backs, sore feet and a million other excuses why I gotta dig it for them while they stand around smoking. This would sure cut down on my dig time and probably make the sore back crew obsolete.

I rented a U17 for a month (~$2500) to dig a pond, septic system and building foundation. We have clay and it worked great. Thanks for the video.

I run a foundation repair/replacement business and whenever I show up with it, often people giggle because it’s so small compared to my other equipment. They nickname it the Barbie shovel. But I can drive right into buildings with a hydraulic breaker on it and a couple buckets and a skid steer can just keep up to it hauling out material. And when it comes to making money, dollars and cents makes more profit than any other machine I own, calculating fuel and next to no maintenance.

This shows how you can make the job clean, quick and cost effective, another happy return customer. Thanks for sharing another great job

I have a Bobcat E10 for small jobs like this. It’s so much easier to transport, access the work and cheaper to operate. Others may scoff at these small machines but they definitely have their place. Great video. You have a great channel.

Home Depot has saved me a time or two on the rental. Great video

Sometimes renting the small equipment makes sense. I have a friend that has a bobcat even smaller. It's so small you can go through a regular door. It's great for indoor or completed basement work. Anything is better than a shovel. LOL. Another great job Mike.

Home Depot has saved me a few times on rental’s. Great video

I still fit my 35g into this small jobs and throw plywood down where I have to so I’m not ripping any areas up. U17’s are handy in the cookie cutter houses for sure!

Thank you very much for posting a REAL World Review. Great Job.

Always nice to have a mini excavator on hand for those small jobs.It plays a big part over the year for me,and always amazes me how stong my U-25 is.

I got two of them. We do residential landscape construction. They are the best machines for backyard / small front yard jobs. With the adjustable track width can squeeze into a 42” gate and for patio excavations it can’t be beat. I’m always amazed by its strength when doing armour stone walls. Use these machines more or less everyday. Hitting irrigation is also a daily experience! Haha quick fix though with a few connectors.

I love my yanmar 17. Its just under 4k lbs and it can do alot. Yank shrubs smaller trees, trench utility lines, prepare base for patios, drainage jobs. It's perfect for my landscape business. Getting into tight areas is awesome too

Mike you just might have become my favorite channel! I really enjoy your instructional tips. I have an old Kelly 30 backhoe for my Ford 1310which I used to clear my 6 acres out in the Raymertown area. Wish RU-vid was around in 1986!

Nice filler job perfect as usual!!!! I’m thinking you should get Max a minibota to practice on at home!!LOL!!! And he’ll be ready for action in a couple of years!!??? If he’s not already there in the knowledge of running the machines!!!! See you in the next video Mike keep up the awesome content!!!!!

Alright, going big time! Fun watching you work the U17. I have a U17. I use it to install french drains, remove bushes & shrubbery and small trees in residential areas.

Nice quick job lot better than a shovel 👍🏻🇺🇸

Awww, a little baby ex !!! 😂 Very light footprint, seemed to have plenty of power for its size !! It didn't struggle with the roots much, and appeared to be in good shape too !!

I once dug 180' of trench for an electrical line by hand, because I didn't want to damage the irrigation lines. Well I still cut through the lines in the three places I crossed them. Never trenched by hand again. Just plan to fix the lines.

Nice video.. that's a nice little machine. I've had that machine for a year or so now. Its surprising powerful enough to get the work done. I've got a jack hammer for that as well.

Goodness!!! Your machine controls are insane! Incredible job!

The first time I dropped down into a machine this small I couldn't stop smiling for the first hour I was working. Felt like I was in a Hotwheels diecast model toy... but no joke though, you can get a lot of work done in these in tight spaces. Enjoyed the video... as always. Learn something new every time. Glad you posted this one.

Enjoyable practical info and nice video, Mike. Thanks for posting.

Great video brother! Looks like you're getting some great growth on your channel, that's awesome!

We purchased a bobcat e20. We’ve been using it all the time. Great little machine.

It’s never where they say it is nice work 👍

thinking about the toothed bucket, if you are keeping it, cut openings in the back to see through to the corners and weld mesh over the openings reinforced with angle. just a thought.

Great video - I need to rent one of these for a small job in my own yard.

Trying out a cool new machine. First few scoops- busted waterline! lol Just the cost of doing business :) Thanks for the video. Looks like this particular model should work well for me.

Here in Puerro Rico, we get a good price of excavating type work if we ask the operator of the excavator to do something after hes done at our neighbors.

The guy at Home Depot told me homeowners can’t rent them here in MA without a license. So there’s always a machine sitting there in case I need it 😂

Sure beats a shovel. In my area, there is a ton of rocks everywhere. With my 120 , I was able to relocate 35 dump truck loads of rock so I could plant a couple of acres of trees. I am looking at a Kubota KX-033 as it is a little bigger to take on the meteorites in my area. Those small machines are so much more manoeuvrable than a larger machine and also don't require a tractor-trailer combo to move.

Did you have to spend an hour trying to get away from the retired HD guy trying to tell you how to operate the machine? hahah Nice to see a smaller job tossed in the vids!

See, again, it's never the size but what you use it for! Now, you can sell all that big stuff you got and pick up a couple of these dirt devils' and have at it. You did a nice job and that machine was just what the "BOSS" ordered! See how nice he did the job!!!

Maybe its different in the US but here in Ireland we would cover that pipe with terram before we backfill to stop dirt washing into the pipe and clogging up 🤔

Nice job Mike! 👏🏻 I’m glad this video made it online. That little U17 is a neat machine. It’s a workhorse for it’s size

Yeah my opinion at least here in Greenville South Carolina of the equipment home Depot rent sometimes it's cost-effective sometimes it's so hurkey jerky you cause more damage than good

Nice job.

Got a 1ton chinese machine from an auction. So so sooooo much better than using my hands an back. And i can go buy three more for the cost of the kubota

Happy 4th Dirt Boss!

Our SV40 let’s us in some tight spaces but has enough power that we sometimes take on jobs with it where we really should have rolled out bigger machines.

here in South Africa 🇿🇦 it is winter already

Well it turned out pretty good Mike, but maybe we should of had Max on the digger, perfect size for him💪😉 Nice price on the rental, got it done and you never know, might be a option again in the future. Thanks for sharing Mike 👍🇺🇸

Love your channel -I’m learning 😆👍

Good job mike Decent price for the rental Good video

good job. love your videos.

Boss man, my neighbor rented the same model of mini from a local discount rental place. We were running in new laterals for his septic. I used my baby Kubota. He ran the mini. He’d never dug with anything but a shovel before. The mini had all of the bucket and boom linkage worn out. You could pass a limp worm through the gaps. When he started to unload it, I got out my grease gun. There was no sign of grease anywhere on the whole machine… I tried a few of the grease zerks… only one would take grease and it just oozed through the cavern where a bushing should have been. When we returned the machine, the rental guy made a big deal about whether or not we cleaned the machine. I mentioned that the linkage was loose and he said, “That’s a five year old machine. They don’t last too long in the rental business!” I went by the rental yard a few days later to return the laser we’d rented. When I walked by the mini I noticed that it still hadn’t been greased! Did I mention he was a discount rental dealer? LOL I saw the comment below about gettin Dirt Buddy a mini to practice on…. It won’t be long. Will it?

Nice work👍

Nice bread and butter job. Those pesky water pipes - why in the world are they so close to the surface - hit one recently with a shovel (thank goodness no damage).

Im thinking about renting one of these to set trusses, 400 lb, 14 ft, but I think it’s going to take a larger one that this ,

Thanks for this video, I have some DYI excavation work I need to do in my yard but not quite enough to be worth hiring a contractor. After watching this I feel I can get it done myself. I didn’t realize the mini excavator rental was that reasonable especially with the trailer, I’ve seen them at my local HD. You think a guy could tow that rig with a 1/2 2WD pickup ok?

Looking good 👍

Another awesome job by Dirt Boss

Boa noite amigo tô deixando um like e mais um escrito parabéns Tmj abraço 👍🙏

Big are small the dirt boss fixes them all

Hey! Dude nice content here! Im form the philippines and planning to buy used heavy equipments specifically excavator! Buy my worries aside from the things you are ponting out with your videos is there a posibilities that they can tamper the working hours these equipments? Hope you answer my question thanks

WD 40 no good for lubricant, it’s actually a cutting agent so it helps wear out the threads or surfaces quicker. I like to use gear oil or a copper paste. Lasts a lot longer.

Been thinking about renting little bigger with a thumb. How was it on rocks? I did a drain pipe last year in my yard and think I need to add another 4" line. One line doesn't drain fast enough on heavy rain days. What do you think? Pine tree: ah just scared it a little as my Grandfather would say. When plowing and bumped a tree. Lol

I have a old large tree stump that has been pulled out the ground already. Could the u17 lift ~200lbs

So do they come fueled up? What size ball hitch and truck required? I have a F350 drw with 3 ball sizes, but just like to know beforehand. Im guessing theres a waiver, insurance and or other things?

Hi my friend What is the name of the trailer you are using in this video.

Question Dirt Boss..If a trench for lets say a conduit line was being dug from a house to a garage, how would you dig it with the excavator? Would it be dug from one side to the other and spin the machine around, go over the trench a dig the rest? Just curious how you would do it. Thanks!

Where'd Dirt Boss go??

👍

Is that the HD off from N greenbush road?

Toprak çok yumuşak dostum 👏👏👏

Hey boss y'all ok? Haven't gotten any vids for awhile

I tried renting a mini excavator from Home Depot and they told me that I could not use my half ton truck to pull a piece of equipment that was under 7,000 lbs.

👍👍👍

The thing is the $250 would have went in your pocket and that would add up fast if you’re doing this kind of work a few times a month. Thx for the video

Why couldn't the yard be graded to shed water? It seems like a pipe system is unnecessary.

What did you charge for this?750?1k?

The only problem I have with this video is the title. Home owner special. I can promise you Kubota never marketed or designed this machine with home owners in mind. It’s a machine designed for specific jobs and site conditions. It’s not for new build/construction sites. It’s for small tight site conditions where minimal disturbance is required…homes and properties being upgraded or improved. It has a niche market and need in the landscape, plumbing, and drainage construction industries.

👌👌👌👌🤘🤘🤘

How have you been Dirt Boss?

I can rent an eight thousand pound machine from perfered rental for a week for $1000.

Hate sprinkler lines!!!!!😫

I probably would have got a trencher and trenched it but that's just me.

Lots of poison ivy in the woods.

that looks like a ken and barbie play excavtor

Yeah Home owners dont do it like he did if you like your sprinklers lol

SURPRISED YOU DO NOT GLUE PIPING TOGETHER SO DOES NOT COME APART EVEN WITH ROAD BASE THE GROUND WILL ADJUST ACCORDING TO MOTHER EARTH. I LIKE YOUR CHANNEL I JUST STARTED ONE FEW MONTHS AGO I WILL POST MY TRACTOR TOMORROW. SHOULD BE ONE LONG FLEXIBLE SNAKE THAT IS STRONG WITH ACCESS TO SNAKE AND CLEAR THE LINE. PEOPLE ARE LAZY AND SCARED TO CHANGE LIGHT BULB THESE DAYS DIRT BOSS IS #1 AND GETTING BETTER SO AM I.