Need info on mini loaders (Bobcat, Dingo, etc)

My wife has decided that our front yard needs a retaining wall and our side yard needs to be cleared. I spent a few years working for a housing contractor and put many hours in behind the sticks of a Bobcat. I told her I'm not lugging 8,000 wheelbarrows of dirt across our yard, nor am I clearing the side yard by hand due to the volume of vines and other scrub brush. I need something that can move about 20 cubic yards of dirt in one day, while still fitting through a 48" fence gate opening. It also needs to have a toothed bucket so I can back drag/scrape the side yard clean.

I'm thinking of renting either one of these:

Or one of these:

The top one is what I'm familiar with, just a Bobcat. The bottom one is weird, but intriguing to me. I like the smaller size as my side yard is not that big, so I'm less apt to bump into the house or A/C unit. But I'm not sure it can move enough dirt in a day. Thoughts?

I'm going to say the full bobcat is your best bet. I grew up on a farm and that bucket fully loaded will lift the backend. the small one will be lots of smaller trips.

Plus, I know the Bobcat can dig down quite a ways.

I spent many hours behind both kinds of machine in my past life, and I'd also suggest avoiding the walk-behind. You might be able to get that much material moved, but depending on your logistics, it isn't likely.

Are you just looking to move the material, or do you want to spread/grade it?

Walk behind loaders are amazing and have their strengths, but moving a significant volume of material in a short period of time isn't one of them, nor is any fine grading/spreading work. A small excavator with a thumb would be my choice for grading a limited access area. Get a ~4' scrap of wide flange I-Beam and use it as a grade bar. This machine isn't well suited to moving all the material into place though.

Any reason it has to happen in one day?

Mezzanine wrote: Any reason it has to happen in one day?

I'm cheap and don't want to rent it for two days.

It isn't much more expensive to rent the traditional style Bobcat, so that will probably be the way I go then. I'm not spreading the dirt, just digging a hole in one part of the yard and dumping it in another. I do need to slope the yard a little to help drainage, but that is a small area.

Weekend rental rates are often discounted over a standard two day rental... If you ask nicely, they might be able to cut you some slack. Try to do it on a rainy weekend or sometime when rentals are slow. Some equipment rental houses have some flexibility in what they charge- I've had luck going to the more heavy-industrial shops and getting it for the weekend- it isn't what they do all the time, so they were more able to make a deal.

How much digging are you planning on doing with the bobcat? It definitely isn't their strong suit unless you are just making one big regrade style cut, but I am sure you know that very well. How about posting some pics of the planned work?

Much like women, just easier to rent it.

Mezzanine wrote: Weekend rental rates are often discounted over a standard two day rental... If you ask nicely, they might be able to cut you some slack. Try to do it on a rainy weekend or sometime when rentals are slow. Some equipment rental houses have some flexibility in what they charge- I've had luck going to the more heavy-industrial shops and getting it for the weekend- it isn't what they do all the time, so they were more able to make a deal. How much digging are you planning on doing with the bobcat? It definitely isn't their strong suit unless you are just making one big regrade style cut, but I am sure you know that very well. How about posting some pics of the planned work?

I may have found the winner for renting:

http://www.northsidetoolrental.com/

Weekend Special Rate 1 Day Rate over the Weekend!

Rent your equipment Friday after 3 pm and return it Monday before 9 am, and pay just a 1 day rate! We call it our Weekend Special and it's good on everything we carry every weekend!

They don't have the little Bobcat, but they do have the Dingo. If I start Friday evening and work all weekend I may be able to get it all done.

I'll have to get pics later.

I work for Home Depot's rental department. We have a 427 and a 320 Boxer. Ours don't have the toothed buckets... at least not at our store. Compact, super simple, powerful (20hp on the smaller one, 27hp on the bigger one). I prefer them for your type of job because of vision, size, and maneuverability.

Ours rent for about $160/4hrs and $230/24hrs. It comes with trailer, several attachments including lift forks, bucket, hole auger, 36" trencher... it does a TON of work very well.

I have a ditch witch sk650 and a 915 ramrod. I will never go back to a cab machine. My dw650 is almost 35 hP, has a four foot bucket and I have moved over 200 yards of material in a work day with it.

Maybe the dingo ate your baby.

Folks I know who use walk-behinds like them because they are narrow, and narrow is good for building trail through the woods.

Bobcat's S70 is less than 3 feet wide. That's narrow, dude.

Looks like I found a deal. I called the local Bobcat dealer. They will rent me a 463 for the weekend (Friday afternoon to Monday morning), drop off and pick it up, with a toothed bucket, for 16 hours on the meter, for only $315. So for $100 more I get a bigger machine, twice as many hours, and they will deliver it. I think I have my answer.

When I got home last night my wife showed me a few more projects that need to be done as well. I need to build a berm in front of our rental house next door to divert storm water, clear out the culvert behind the houses, and level out a few places to help redirect storm runoff.

In summary: my wife just approved me renting a Bobcat for the weekend to "work" in the yard.

You will have more fun with the Bobcat, atleast until you stand it up on it's rear end and wear all the dirt in the bucket. Then everyone else gets to laugh at you.

The 463 is a beast. Good find, good choice.