Mini Excavator vs Skid steer

nobody in the company wants to go hop in to the worst of all possible worlds and go out and do all things inefficiently [Music] sauce [Music] all right you guys we are gonna put a mini excavator against the skid loader we are going to do a number of different things we're gonna dig a footing just like it's for a retaining wall or a garage footing we're also going to attempt to move materials with both pieces of equipment on a side by each basis we're gonna see which one dominates and last but not least we're gonna take an area like this and try to turn this apocalypse into a useable field using each piece of equipment and see which one comes out on top predictions think the mini axe is gonna take it I'm going with the skid steer all day long your prediction before we start which one's gonna dominate comment down below and what are we waiting for do this thing [Music] [Applause] it's what we're looking at I call this equipment that is just a sick gorgeous beautiful mouth-watering shot if I've ever seen one just cat a sv cat lowboy trailer we're talking about a quarter million dollars worth of gear between that truck and those three pieces you're sitting right there yeah that is awesome [Music] alright guys we got a cat 305 five mini-excavator we're going to do a compare and contrast to get it against the cap 289 the both are fairly well the industry we're going to actually be doing is a comparison of how they function to a normal day-to-day job just this kind of stuff that you guys are going to encounter on different job sites we're going to attempt to duplicate and show you how each machine either succeed or fail the comparison dealer with a lot of guys want to know when they're out making their first purchase decision which is better a mini excavator or skid loader we're going to try to cover that today first thing that we're going to be doing is going to a 30-foot trench for a retaining wall any kind of footing that you can envision we're actually going to be doing we're going to try to dig 18 inches deep a just think we are eyeballing it's just the video eighteen inches 18 inches that's a realistic number so if you diggin if you're building a retaining wall that gives you six inches of material plus one foot of buried kebab block so for this first one I set out two steaks and I wanted to see which machine could do a better job not just a faster job but just an overall better job and you're going to see how each machine left their jobsite [Music] alright guys here's the skinny I'm gonna actually let this entire sequence play out a lot of times I try to cut to the chase and get to the point as fast as possible but some of you guys have been saying you'll actually like to watch equipment operate I guess I've been doing in my entire life it's not as fascinating for me anymore but if you guys like it I'm gonna let this one roll so tell me in the comments down below do you want to see longer sequences of equipment in operation because if you do wow that's an easy easy order to fill I'll do that [Applause] I've seen a big another thing to note is that the skid loader needs a lot more space to do a lot dirtier job but also this is soft sand if this was hard-packed clay the excavator would smoke the skid loader the skid loader could still do it but not nearly Abe to this level the skid loader is actually keeping them up with the excavator because the material is so soft that's the only reason why this one happens to be a close call [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right thank you sir appreciate your help so Travis won this we anticipated that he would win this but let's take a look at actually the results of how this trench looked this was a 5 minute 30 foot trench so it wasn't meant to be pretty but it was meant to be a demonstration and we got fills over here you can definitely see where you've got better better ability with the mini excavator but if you don't have one you can still get the job done right all right so let's pass let's back this thing up real quick now overall if you were gonna buy one piece of equipment Travis well what are you gonna say mini excavator or skid loader for the skid loader I think it's a strategy perhaps an untested strategy but I think if a guy start with the mini axe I think you'd have a major advantage over got start to the skid wager you can do more tasks with a mini you can dig out stumps you could either do tree service it's lower damage so if you look at the site fill site over there it's got a lot of tore up grass or whatnot the mini X could just put in a sewer line and left the the person's long and decent order the main reason though is that everybody has got a skid very few guys have a mini axe what's your feeling Mini X our skid for your first piece I definitely go with the skid steer I mean look this trench isn't pretty but it's done now that if this were a real retaining wall the next step in this process would be bringing in block gravel all of your backfill materials all of that would be coming on pallets or in buckets and that's exactly what this machine is designed to be used for so this trench definitely didn't get done as fast and it would need some hand work to clean up but this machine is ready to go to work for the rest of every other function this job requires ok so the next function on a typical job will be to transport materials across the site yay or nay no ok so I want to see you guys transport where Sarah's at over to where our sticks are at you've got to transport material we need we're gonna need four yards transported over there okay well let's just write out but let's let's just see because it's got to be one machine all around where what's going to happen round one digging a footing obviously the mini axe dominated skid-steer actually was able to do it when these guys are working on a project they're going to be excavating material and they've got to get it out to the street out to a different part of the job site so that's the next step in this game let me say one more thing in this trench I hit a pretty nasty stump in here or routing here that I know that that maniacs went through a lot faster that slowed me down quite a bit when I was doing this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so now for this next one the guys have to take soil for cubic yards from the stockpile and move it to the opposite end of the trench now I'm gonna guess most of you guys can assume who's going to win this battle but what more importantly I really want to show you is how Travis on the cat excavator is doing it some guys may automatically grab a scoop and then transport it all the way down to the end similar to what the skid steer is doing but doing it with the excavator when you operate like that you're doing a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on the tracks of that excavator so what you see Travis doing here is he is getting the amount of soil necessary that he needs to move to the end in one spot then he simply swings the excavator around to the other end and he's going to grab it we call this the double move basically you're handling the material more than once anytime you're working on a jobsite guys and you need to handle material more than one time you're operating inefficiently and you're going to actually see this side by each with this caterpillar skid steer and this cat excavator going head to head right here you can see how much faster the cats get steer gets this job done and then Phil's got to throw a little salt in the wound when he's done and come over and help out out Travis on the [Music] so moving material over a short distance the excavator can still do it but it's not efficient now this were a longer run the excavator pretty much becomes useless because it's got a not just double boom quadruped ability by that time you better off calling in a different piece of equipment that's exactly what Phil's trying to prove by coming in on - Travis inside of the stockpile and started to let's talk to the guy [Music] alright you knew it I knew it but we had to show him talk about this anyway [Music] you were doing the double move are you doing the double move you were you were doing the handle it twice to get it 30 feet across the site and if we had to go 80 feet I'd have had to move I'd have to use a different machine yeah we're just taking my time with it you just you can do it you can do it you can switch your bucket - you got a bigger bucket go with a bigger bucket now we do have a trenching bucket on and of course Phil you had to rub a little salt in the wound by coming over and giving them a hand like all Skip guys you messed up the site [Laughter] let's get guys this is true the excavators for the contractor with some finesse all right Sierra's got the timer going on this next one guys we've got all these Paul Meadows it's kind of like just going into a rough messed-up yard and the idea is in four minutes who can clear this and turn this into a usable field meaning that you can't have any buried roots you can't have any of the palm meadows left we want this as usable as possible for a field doesn't have to know roots lower it's no rich man all right and we got four minutes so we're gonna set the timer Sarah will be running the timer and my camera here I'll put the drone in the air Phil will be over there working Phil you do not run into Travis Travis you'll be over here working I'll just be going from this pond to that oak it'll be looking all nice and sweet and formula you get to use the bucket or the blade Phil you get to use what you've got I could do some amazing things go thump - you want to use the thumb yeah because you have a thumb on it so you can use it are you guys ready ready to go three two one go [Music] so the big question is do we actually have a winner now it's pretty apparent that Phil was able to clear a larger area but did he get the roots out that's the real question because that was part of turning this into a functional field let's find out there's Travis's route pile route just going to see quadrants pull up so I would say that here's the air general area that we've got done Travis tan in your area Phil will you stand in your area so we that we've got kind of a perspective no organics are in the soil it's just perfect message is perfectness searly hold I need to comb it out a little bit but I mean it's perfect miss you know one of the things that surprised me is you didn't take advantage of your blade that you have on yeah I don't this is Travis's perfectness so we go to hire on-site army look man this is the seat of perfect this is why use a blade this stuff gets buried it looks good from the top and you gotta make sure it's like totally perfect I was surprised I would have I would have came in with the blade and tried to blade some of this off now let's go look at Phil stop Phil we get any worse out twice as much actual area but I don't think you've got as many of the routes actually exposed and removed as what Travis was able to do yeah so in this case I don't see where there's a very clear-cut winner in either situation if there weren't a lot of routes you would obviously dominate if we've got to go deeper and we actually had to remove stomp so I think Travis and the mini excavator would definitely do it but one of the things I guess the takeaway from this is guys you can start with either piece of equipment as long as you realize that there's going to be advantages and disadvantages to each one no question about it in our area everybody's got a skid everybody in their mother has got a skid nobody's got a mini axe but nobody's nobody's dad's perhaps good nobody's dad's got skids you know and I would say on this one this is close because it would take we had four minutes of time this could easily take us both a day where you could do quality work and not have to come back but I'm gonna have to make two three four passes to make this thing look it's true I mean loading a truck with the mini acts as a dream there's no question about it you don't mind doing four times the amount of work in a minute if you can't get them even if the truck was right here he can pick up a yard at a time pick it up put it in and for every one scoop he does you're doing four cuz you've got a quarter no question about it many I think my I think my strategy is to not not have a skid it's just to own the mini axe so I think that a skid is a requirement on most job sites no hands down but I think that they're affordable and I can bring them in cheaper than I can bring in the mini axe so for the very first piece of equipment this is what we want to cut nail this question down you picked a skid you picked a mini axe are you staying with the mini accident if those are my only options but if I don't have those options tractor loader backhoe baby I'm going I'm bringing it back to the 80s I'm bringing it back to the 80s the clumsiest of everything tractors are back baby because that is literally what I started with yeah it really started with the tractor loader bag I got that I and it was like a dream come true when I finally got a skid loader yeah oh my god this is what grading is like this is what being able to move a pal it's like oh hey guess what I don't have to chain up my palette and drag it across the jobsite I can hook into a set of forks pick it up here you put it right where I want I'm you know you want the worst of all the words based on cost any guy watching this video that's out doing lawn care doing the small landscape jobs you can get into a tractor back up for 20 grand or shires and a good one the other night I own two of them and get out guess what my dick this this thing is 50 60 grand right you know if you lad thanks 50 60 grand both of them you know what here's the thing my tractor loader back hoes never move from May until November they never move they don't get used nobody in the company because you've got the skids nobody in the company wants hop in to the worst of all possible worlds and go out and do all things inefficiently yay let's dig okay let's move for the warrior one guy one machine and you're starting out and you got like 20 grand okay not that way to go your stuff like a Kubota l45 and you're in the game alright if you're in winter though areas yeah tl bees are the way to go because they'll pay you as much for TOB as they will a payloader Wow yes so it's not secret sauce right I mean no question that the skid is efficient order does the mini axis definitely efficient or does but you can only forward one probably a skid is not a bad way to go if your hair is good yeah because you can do everything just can't do all of the things that many ask to do then you move into a mini ax and if you really can only afford one piece of equipment yes you can use a TLB I literally started with a TLP I did everybody suggests not starting with the TLB but when you talk to him like you know I had one I hated it you know what I mean but they started with it I started with like Kyle Kyle Kyle escalation or whatnot on YouTube he's same thing start with TLB but doesn't recommend it truth started with it and with a TLB doesn't recommend it you start with TV l don't know TV TLV don't recommend it right plain it's very old school yeah it's very old we're talking about starting with a piece of equipment and a lower budget than a mini axe or or skid steer yeah mini skid steer is a great car better to get out I mean those are awesome machines that have come a long way but they could be pricey though they're a new can you Bob know all these jobs with the mini axe I mean so you would tell me you guys want I don't want these guys starting out with a mini excavator because they're not gonna be able to get into every single job that's true and the more that you can guess when you're starting out the more jobs you can take the better you're gonna be for sure well you're looking at you know sod and things that require yeah our entry-level jobs of entire material movement and palletized product the skid steers the way to go and stuff like that yep I would agree with that boom baby that's what we got for today and I just smacked fill in the anyway let's get let's wrap this one up you guys tell me what do you start with the any of you guys ever start with the TOB do you want with you love your mini ex do you like your skid loader to talk to me in the comments down below and make sure you check out these videos we just put some new awesome content out and look at these videos right here you know we have to do well it's my buddy's place we got to clean this up for him yeah when we get you in the essence right now why don't we make this real nice oh yeah all right hey Dad you can clean this up for us that's time we'll see you Stan you know what great little bonus content coming at you right now [Music] you got the dirt monkey doing forestry gym eske 350