Hi guys, I am glad I stumbled across this site. I have read a few threads and I can see that a lot of knowledge, including repair help is available which is great.
Here is some history and hoping to get some input. I started to think about buying a mini used excavator. I am currently working on my home and need to dig up up my foundation for my basement which is only 4 feet underground to rewater proof my walls. 2 sides of the wall are under cantilevered 2 foot over hangs. I also need to do some regrading of dirt to make sure water rolls away from the house. I will also eventually need to tear up my asphalt drive way and redo it with pavers (Not sure if the mini can help with that)
I started to think about just getting a used mini excavator to get the above done since the rental rate in NJ is about 2k a month. I have no experience working with heavy equipment and figured I probably couldn't get all the above work done in a month.
I guess I should probably start off with the basics. How many hours can one expect out of these small machines before really having issues with them? I know maintenance is big deal but when you are buying a used machine, its difficult to know reality vs real.
When problems do happen, is this someone whos is mechanically inclined can fix? (I'm a car guy)
Anyone have any experience buying from online sites like Equipment Trader, Machinery Trader etc? Units on craigs up here are pretty expensive from what I am seeing.
Here is some history and hoping to get some input. I started to think about buying a mini used excavator. I am currently working on my home and need to dig up up my foundation for my basement which is only 4 feet underground to rewater proof my walls. 2 sides of the wall are under cantilevered 2 foot over hangs. I also need to do some regrading of dirt to make sure water rolls away from the house. I will also eventually need to tear up my asphalt drive way and redo it with pavers (Not sure if the mini can help with that)
I started to think about just getting a used mini excavator to get the above done since the rental rate in NJ is about 2k a month. I have no experience working with heavy equipment and figured I probably couldn't get all the above work done in a month.
I guess I should probably start off with the basics. How many hours can one expect out of these small machines before really having issues with them? I know maintenance is big deal but when you are buying a used machine, its difficult to know reality vs real.
When problems do happen, is this someone whos is mechanically inclined can fix? (I'm a car guy)
Anyone have any experience buying from online sites like Equipment Trader, Machinery Trader etc? Units on craigs up here are pretty expensive from what I am seeing.