hence having to turn to the CAT dealer and 303/303.5 buckets for the best availability and selection. I eventually found & made some substitute parts. I almost had to send an order down to Australia for a couple things that no one had or could get up here. I need to order my replacement parts through a helpful dealer 1,500 miles away because the local dealers are so poor. I'm betting you have better access to buckets and other attachments as well. But then, of course, I've got to cart around one more 200+ lb bucket!īelieve it or not, these Yanmar mini-ex machines are far supported better down under than they are up here in the states. perhaps 3 new buckets instead of 2 (not including my old beat-up "backup" bucket). No way I could ever financially justify having all those buckets for my work. Maybe I need to keep looking for a 36" that won't break the bank.Ĭlick to expand.Thanks Squizzy! :drinkup Great pix!!! You really do get the most out of that little machine!!! :notworthy The TAG 36" seems better but it is very costly. and I am confused about the usefulness (or lack thereof) of the rear cutting edge. It's also a bit shallow and delicate looking. I worry about the possibility of overstressing the quick coupler. The 40" CAT bucket just seems too wide for my machine. The finishing bucket choices pose a different problem. The 24" would obviously be better for general digging, the 18" would be terribly slow for digging but great for rocks and stumps. What is the optimum? My readily available choices are 18" TAG, 20" CAT or 24" CAT. Hence my request for advice in this regard. but then that will mean a more difficult time with rocks and stumps. This poses a problem: To get the capacity I want and need for efficient everyday digging means going to a wider digging bucket than I am used to. I was disappointed to find that most digging buckets for 3.5 ton machines are somewhat shallow and low in capacity as compared to my backhoe bucket. The problem is that I can't be carting two digging machines to every job and so I must strive to make the mini-ex as versatile as possible. But the addition of the mini-ex to my stable was inevitable for tight access work, long reach work, work on slopes, deeper digging and a little more rock and stump "popping" power. There is little I couldn't do with a very excellent deep-but-narrow toothed digging bucket on the backhoe end and my choice of four quick attach buckets of various sizes and shapes on the loader end. and I've been spoiled by the luxury of having different dirtworking buckets on both ends of the machine. The 30" TAG bucket, also very heavy-duty, just doesn't appear to be wide enough for effective use as a finishing bucket.Īny and all thoughts & input on this greatly appreciated! Thanks!Ĭlick to expand.Thanks Rob - Part of the problem is that my other machine is a compact TLB. The 36" TAG bucket is very heavy-duty and seems perfect, but it is quite costly and not exactly local. The CAT bucket seems very nice, but I am concerned that it may be a little too wide and possibly too light-duty for my machine. For now, I don't intend to get a tilting system. The CAT bucket comes with a backside cutting edge. On the finishing/ditching/clean-up side, I have the following options: 30" TAG bucket, 36" TAG bucket (expensive) or a 40" CAT bucket. The store-bought ones are just too expensive. I plan to add a pin mount-type hydraulic thumb of my own design sometime in the future. I can also put my hands on a new 18" TAG digging bucket locally if that makes more sense. It is price competitve with the TAG buckets now standard in the USA on Yanmars. in which case the 20" digging bucket (made to fit a CAT 303/303.5 mini-ex) looks pretty good to me. I am leaning toward going with Caterpillar buckets since they are readily available in my area. with a fair amount of stump pulling and large rock removals to contend with. It's used mostly for residential excavation and grading work. If it makes any difference, I happen to own a 2004 Yanmar VIO35-3 with the hydraulic coupler. Looking for some thoughts on what folks here might consider the ideal sizes for a general purpose digging bucket and a finishing/ditching/clean-up bucket for a 3.5 metric ton machine.
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