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For folks who haven't operated an excavator, the trade-off with these mini-excavators isn't necessarily that they're underpowered. There are two other problems.

For folks who haven't operated an excavator, the trade-off with these mini-excavators isn't necessarily that they're underpowered. There are two other problems. First, they are very wobbly and you're gonna be limited by that. You really need a fair amount of surface contact and a robust counterweight when you're extending the arm and moving boulders, pulling out roots, or digging into hard soil. Second, you might look at specs and say "oh, cool, digging depth of 5 ft, I don't need more!". Except, this is attainable in one specific (and awkward) position of the excavator's boom and arm. It's less than that across most of the movement range. Another thing to keep in mind that this is not like buying a car. An excavator or a tractor deprecates far more slowly, and many private owners keep them for 20-30 years. A diesel excavator will need DIY maintenance and simple repairs, but it should hold up for life. Battery-powered equipment will probably need new battery packs before that. Just something to keep in mind when figuring out the pros and cons. If you're in the suburbs, noise is a concern, but then, you honestly don't need your own excavator...

bryanlarsen 2y ago
> An excavator or a tractor deprecates far more slowly, and many private owners keep them for 20-30 years. There are still tractors and excavators from the 50's in regular use. > Battery-powered equipment will probably need new battery packs before that. It's a tiny 10kWh battery, $1000 - $2000. It looks like about 6 hours / cycle, so that's ~4000 of work time, longer if you don't mind reduced capacity. That's quite comparable to a diesel which needs an overhaul every ~10,000 hours.
Shog9 2y ago
The battery life is probably not an issue in practice; the author estimates 5 hours per charge - assuming a very conservative 2000-cycle life for the pack, that's 10,000 hours of work, which is quite respectable. Yes, a private owner might keep a tractor for decades, but probably not using it for hours every single day and definitely not without some pretty significant repairs; the cost of a new 200ah battery pack is nothing compared to a diesel engine rebuild. I... Tend to suspect other parts on these things will be unacceptably worn long before the battery craps out.
econ 2y ago
Most obvious seems indoor operation.
- pjc50 2y ago
  Reminded of the urban legend of London's buried indoor excavators: https://www.quarrymagazine.com/buried-diggers-fact-or-urban-legend/ https://www.quarrymagazine.com/buried-diggers-fact-or-urban-... Once you've dug away the floor enough, I imagine it's harder to get it out.
potato3732842 2y ago
If you can dig 5ft you can trench ~5ft because you basically back the excavator as you go and are digging at full depth right in front of you all the time.

bryanlarsen 2y ago

> An excavator or a tractor deprecates far more slowly, and many private owners keep them for 20-30 years. There are still tractors and excavators from the 50's in regular use. > Battery-powered equipment will probably need new battery packs before that. It's a tiny 10kWh battery, $1000 - $2000. It looks like about 6 hours / cycle, so that's ~4000 of work time, longer if you don't mind reduced capacity. That's quite comparable to a diesel which needs an overhaul every ~10,000 hours.

Shog9 2y ago

The battery life is probably not an issue in practice; the author estimates 5 hours per charge - assuming a very conservative 2000-cycle life for the pack, that's 10,000 hours of work, which is quite respectable. Yes, a private owner might keep a tractor for decades, but probably not using it for hours every single day and definitely not without some pretty significant repairs; the cost of a new 200ah battery pack is nothing compared to a diesel engine rebuild. I... Tend to suspect other parts on these things will be unacceptably worn long before the battery craps out.

econ 2y ago

Most obvious seems indoor operation.

pjc50 2y ago
Reminded of the urban legend of London's buried indoor excavators: https://www.quarrymagazine.com/buried-diggers-fact-or-urban-legend/ https://www.quarrymagazine.com/buried-diggers-fact-or-urban-... Once you've dug away the floor enough, I imagine it's harder to get it out.

potato3732842 2y ago

If you can dig 5ft you can trench ~5ft because you basically back the excavator as you go and are digging at full depth right in front of you all the time.