We Admit Defeat with the Mini Excavator | Garage Shop Project Ep3

EPISODE 3 - GARAGE SHOP PROJECT
We admit defeat with the mini excavator and ask a local digger guy to come in and shift the main bulk of earth allowing us to set out and dig our footings for the Garage Shop project which is phase 1 of our Off Grid container house build.
Ian & Julie are building their tiny homestead and soon to be starting the biggest project of their lives - a Passive House Container Home which will be totally off grid.
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#miniexcavator #garageshop #containerhouse
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[@shaggydogswerve]

She is a keeper! Nice to see you both have the same enthusiasm for the projects you work on. Rare indeed in this day & age

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Cheers Mervyn - it does help for sure.

[@dinomite_diggers3453]

If you persevere with these little diggers you can achieve a lot but in this case you showed much wisdom to bring in the bigger machine, especially if you have time limits. The real beauty of the big machines is how far they can shift the material in one swing, saves so much double handling. You will still find plenty to do with your little digger as the project progresses. With regard to subtitles, I am deaf so watch all videos without sound but the closed captions work on most videos I watch, not always totally accurate but good enough for me. When I watch Ants Pants in Estonia but clicking on settings I can change the commentary to English. Keep up the good work and keep the videos coming. And remember that 20 ton digger probably saved you a heap of abuse from the wheelbarrow crew. 😊

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Cheers for the comment - I looked at renting but a lot of the rental companies will not rent big machines to amateurs like myself. But the guy who did it was cheaper than a days rent of such a beast. He is also doing my son's septic tanks dig..... and I have in my contacts to use him again when required.

[@jimporter]

Should have considered hiring a mini dumper. Wheelbarrow is always going to be the constraint.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I know, but Julie needs the exercise 🤣

[@duncanblanchard334]

Interesting about the teeth on the bucket, it looks like the bolt heads will get worn down and become difficult to get out. I would keep a close eye on them. Making steady progress. Looking good.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Yes I was worried about that too - I am not convinced it is digging any better - I will swap them over again to do a test now I have done a decent footing with it. Thanks for your comments. 👍🏻

[@digcutkos]

pleased to see you changed the teeth around. as your grounds are rocky/solid try getting the ripper attachment for the digger

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I didn't think I needed one when I dug my septic tank test hole, but a couple of metres away it becomes rocking and hard clay too. It would have been useful.

[@pompeyroad]

You need to get the misses a motorized track wheel barrow! She is a jewel, Aussie girls are like our mountain women.. tough as nails and sweet as sugar...

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Like this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXe8dIZqab6reck I felt sorry for her 🤣

[@adriansowden138]

get the girl a power barrow you will both be able to keep going all day then cheers to you both.adrian

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I keep telling her we need one - they have them staring at me at the local store.

[@danburfot334]

Glad you got the tractor fixed easily. See, I told you it was hydraulic!

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Yes, cheers Dan - it was a nice surprise. Just the shock when it happened in the field.

[@arthurmckelvey3892]

An enjoyable episode and some good experience shared. Thanks as always for taking the time to film and edit each episode. I think you were very wise to bring in outside help with the excavation - given the amount of dirt to be moved, it saved time, achieved progress, maintained morale and left a very flat, tidy base for the next stage. Well done on the progress being made and looking forward to the next episode. Hope the good weather holds.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Cheers Arthur - yes, the Morale boost was huge allowing us to get on with the exciting phase of the build. Thanks for the nice comments.

[@bud1412]

Good work. My wife and I built our own home on acreage in the California gold country. As I still had to work full time it took me 19 years to finished state. Hope you don’t take so long.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I am not so sure....hahaha - we are working the summer seasons here so it all depends if the winter weather allows us to progress regularly - so far so good 👍🏻

[@KanakaMaoli1]

You and the Mrs are very hard worker's, Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii🌋

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thank you so much.....only been to Kona once when Julie did Ironman in 2003. Really want to go back.....♥️

[@joelnickerson6739]

Hello from Western NY. I will be removing a run down barn and build a retaining wall so I can build a new bigger workshop, garage. You both are doing a very good job. Be safe.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Cheers Joel - first big project for us in many years so really excited about it. Concrete is already on order......

[@stuffinfinland]

Get a mini excavator ripper hook to mold and lift stones on hard surfaces. I don't have a mini excavator etc, but I would try with that and then collect with a scoop. :) Cheers from Finland!

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I did wish I had all the accessories now. The ripper would have been useful 👍

[@nicholastuttle2445]

I tried to flatten a barn site with a tractor and box blade, after a few days and very little progress I called a guy who sent two D6s over and had it done in one day.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

It is hard to admit but yes this was the best decision we made - it has allowed us to keep frog ahead onto the real build.

[@Pinzpilot101]

I had to dig out for a 6000 litre underground water tank.........could have done it with my little Yanmar 22 horsepower but it would have taken so long......same as you, guy with a 10 ton/360. and a dumper he moved it all in a day.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Sometimes you do need to have the right tools for the job. Plus this guy charged less than to rent out the unit for the day. He is on my list of contacts for sure. 👍🏻

[@Pinzpilot101]

@@HomesteadingUncontained If we had unlimited money eh? I know we Both would have bought JCBs that would do the job and many other jobs later....but we work with the tools we have..

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

I am not convinced either way on the placement of the bucket teeth. The video you you referred to implies it was a one off error, but probably many thousand of units have been made this way for years. I work in clay soils and having the teeth inside like this would cause problems with the bucket not emptying properly. Lets us know how it keeps working for you. Cheers Dave K.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Nor me - I have tried them both ways - the teeth inside the bucket gave a cleaner vertical cut on a trench I was digging but it still left grooves. The bolts are proud so will wear down. And I have seen plenty of known brands with the teeth similar to these. As you say every unit leaving China has them this way.

[@bobwebber8521]

You can use the old 3-4-5 method to get a 90 degree angle. But well done the whole thing.

[@edappi8172]

Hello Bob, a better method ( but the same ) is to use the actual to side measurements,so if one side is 7621mm the square would be 58079641, if the other side was 11908mm, it's square would be 141800464, added together = 199880105 the sqaure root of that is 14137mm. I was a builder for almost 50 years and once cheap calculators with a square root function arrived they made setouts easy and very accurate.

[@bobwebber8521]

@@edappi8172 Thanks for that. Allways ready to learn more.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I have started drawing it out before I go to site and working out the diagonals - but I do use both methods. Next time will be sitting out the blocks so it will be crucial.

[@markdiulio2245]

Looking good a lot of progress being made

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thank you Mark - i made a huge difference having the earth removed, now we can concentrate on the interesting stuff.

[@augustinboyd9626]

HELLO FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WASHINGTON STATE U.S.A FUN WATCHING THE BOTH OF YOU💖 , TBOTH OF YOU MAKE A GREAT TEAM TOGETHER, THAT'S WHAT COUNTS BECAUSE THIS MEANS YOU HAVE A HAPPY MARRIAGE AND HOME,WORK AND YOUR OFF TIME HOBBIES TOO. WATCHING HOW YOU BOTH ARE WORKING TO BUILD YOUR FOREVER HOME OFF GRID . THAT'S A LOT OF EARTH YOU HAVE MOVED. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE FINAL ENDING OF WHAT YOUR HOME WILL LOOK LIKE... KEEP UP THE GREAT VIDEOS GUY'S AND SAFE TRAVELS TO AND FROM HOME AND TO AND FROM YOUR HOBBY TRAVELS TOO...

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Cheers Augustin - thank you for your nice comments. ♥️

[@truesouth4784]

It's incredible how those larger excavators just race through the work. It's good to do your own work on your own machinery and save a few dollars. Although, sometimes it is far more efficient to hire a maxi excavator and a skilled operator, and just get it all done in a day.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

We were shocked at how quick it went - I did have quotes for 2 days work but this guy did it is 1 ½ hours - made an excellent job too.👍🏻

[@bisaular5333]

You need a mini dump truck, and youre complete😁

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

hahaha, you need to see this video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXe8dIZqab6reck

[@CHINAxiaobei]

WOW,

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thanks for watching. 👍🏻

[@thefirewooddoctor]

The pyrenees looks like a beautiful area on the Iberian peninsula. She's got a great attitude and energy, great to have a partner that has positive energy. Makes projects less like work and seem less arduous. You, sir, seem to have a good head on yoir shoulders as far as taking the time to do things right and showing the real work involved. Some people just show the basics, you are showing almost all of the work. Been looking into getting a digger for myself to use in my firewood business and to do property maintenance and general excavation with. A Kubota the same size as your digger is at least 20 grand US $. For the work I want to do, looking at the 1.7 to 3.0 ton diggers. A 3 ton digger is probably going to be 50 grand US $. Hopefully you can do other projects with your little digger once the garage and house build are done.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Yes, the price of 2nd hand excavators was way over our budget even for 15 year old beat up machines. We took the risk of ordering from China and it is paying off now with a simple decent machine. PS Pyrenees is between Spain and France. 😀

[@thefirewooddoctor]

@@HomesteadingUncontained, I saw the video where you talked about buying a secondhand machine versus buying on Alibaba. Hopefully it lasts.

[@mfgxl]

I wish they had women like this in the United States

[@thefirewooddoctor]

@@mfgxl, there are women like that but are very few and far between. Gotta find a woman that grew up on a farm and still isn't afraid of hard work. Those are the kind to go for.

[@christianmoss4603]

Love watching your videos when you first started off digging you had the front blade towards the front always have it too the back for extra leverage one machine which might be beneficial for you is a tracked 1 ton powered wheel barrow it’s a cross between a dumper and wheel barrow

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I do keep looking at those small machines, but Julie insists she is just as fast and needs the exercise 🤣 Thank you for watching.

[@Qlii256]

@@HomesteadingUncontained Having the blade behind you when digging is a must, especially for lighter machines as yours. You'll be amazed at the extra leverage you get when digging down. When lifting however, you'd want the blade up front.

[@just-ice-and-peas]

please number titles sequentially love this

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thank you - I thought I had 😀

[@jvmalta081]

you bought the small one :( i have a similar but bigger one , its 1700kg and has a 3 cylinder yanmar engine in it ! on such equipment you need to go 1 or 2 sizes of what you will be doing regularly !

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I know, a larger unit would have been great but my main issue is the transportation - I only have a 1 tonne trailer and can only tow that weight with my current vehicle. So that was the reason for the 1 tonne machine. The yammer or kubota would have been good too, but the second issue was budget, this would have doubled the price of the machine.

[@1212ImAnubis]

Hello sir, I think you need to tighten the rubber tracks of your excavator a few inches so they last longer and you don't waste a lot of money on maintenance. If not then that part will have a hole in the middle (right on the part that is always pressed by the drive gear. In fact, if your area of residence has a lot of land and your work requires an excavator, it would be much better if you choose steel tracks over rubber tracks.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thank you - all done since this video. Plus oil change and lots of greasing. Where can I get steel tracks for this machine ??

[@1212ImAnubis]

@@HomesteadingUncontained I have this excavator too, in my country Indonesia it cost a lot of money until it came to my home. It cost about IDR.115 million or $7,3K. So I need to takecare of this machine very carefully. After done with my little project, I rented it out to get my money back, now I have 3 mini excavators from 0,8T, 3T & 5T. 😆 My tips, for greasing. It's better to do it every day sir, especially when you use this excavator every day, you should grease the parts that move frequently before you warm up the engine before working. Because the less often you apply the grease, the hydraulic joints and the others will wear out quickly and this will burden your hydraulic pump. For steel track, you can get the same place where you buy this excavator, Alibaba. I forgot to tell you earlier, mybad..hahaha 😅 By the way, you installed the pipe bar behind the seat in the wrong place, it should be in the front right next to the joystick (there is a bolt hole on the bottom side) and you should have been given a small canopy when buying this excavator to protect you from the heat this already included in 1 purchase package alias free.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thanks for the info - I opted for the roll bar and not the canopy, so this bolts directly onto the back.

[@leebarber8045]

See you later bolts You need to weld a plate in as well so it will protect bolts and bucket

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Yeah, not convinced they are the right way round now - it was not designed to go that way. I have tried both and not seen too much difference, so will probably go back to original config.

[@TAMBROWN]

Thanks

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Thank you so much again, Tam. Really appreciate it.

[@TAMBROWN]

@@HomesteadingUncontained your welcome

[@nixxonnor]

It is a pretty tall and big retaining wall. You should be shure that it can hold the soil pressure. And it probably needs a drain system as well.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Watch out for the upcoming videos - it is going to be pretty strong. 💪

[@billyhill101]

Hard work but it’s worth it great job

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Cheers Billy - we aim to get the structure of the garage up within the next 2 months.

[@billyhill101]

@@HomesteadingUncontained Can’t wait to see it

[@solarfunction1847]

I think that the teeth were the right way around in the first place. The company who made the digger wouldn't have made a mistake in their design when they created it.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I tried both ways now digging out the footings - I must admit the new way(bolted inside) puts the flat side of the tooth towards the back and allowed for a smoothing cut - so even if they were correct, it cuts through better this way (just leaves the bolt heads exposed which is a pain).

[@tonylander3512]

No ROPS bar on the tractor, against the law here in OZ.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I have a roll bar on the kubota and the mini excavator - the intro clip is old and I have put one on now - not law just scared to death on the sloping land. 😀

[@charlesmcdonald460]

Would you recommend one ? I'm looking to purchase one from overseas

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

I would for your own use - I am pushing it hard and as long it lasts my build I will be happy and any extra is a bonus.

[@mrlfttrust420]

hi.....it appears that alibaba is a mine field to negotiate when buying a small mini excavator....would you be so kind as to help me with buying a small excavator from alibaba

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Did you see our buying the mini digger video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4vdZZeLnLeKetk Check that out and any questions just let me know.

[@bernardperaldi7488]

Hello, retaining wall foundations are not made like that. This wall will not stand because of the pressure of the earth on it. Normally the foundation should be much wider and oriented towards the ground. It must represent the shape of a rake. If you put your foot on the tines, the handle stays straight and resists the force you might put on pushing the handle. The heavier you weigh, the more the handle resists. You should reconsider your plan with the advice of a specialist.

[@rufeilrahtieh7885]

Before i put a comment i looked if someone already put a comment. You are right, this is doomed. Hope they reconsider and get a pro.

[@bernardperaldi7488]

@@rufeilrahtieh7885 I think unfortunately for this nice couple, the work they've done is too advanced to stop. Because there is a gap between the broadcast of the video and the start of the work where everything could have been corrected.

[@rufeilrahtieh7885]

@@bernardperaldi7488 There could be a possibility to fix it if the work has already been done. 20 years ago i worked with strengthening a retaining wall and it still stands. Lets hope the best for them!

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

@Bernard Peraldi I read your comments and have talked with some local guys. I have increased the width of the footing to double the original size. What you haven't seen yet is the amount of steel going into this wall. The French have a particular system for retaining walls which I am following to the letter. I am an engineer (not civil) so am always waking up in the middle of the night recalculating and worried if I have done things correctly. So keep the comments coming.

[@bernardperaldi7488]

@@HomesteadingUncontained Hello, I would have appreciated to see the new plan just to realize what you are doing. I am not an engineer but I have seen retaining walls too often crumble under the weight of waterlogged earth. This is the reason why I wanted to express to you my concern about the realization as you have previously planned. I wanted to alert you quickly by email because I don't have facebook, intagram, tweeter (I stuck with my old convictions), but I couldn't find a way to do it. Good luck.

[@nicolasrisi]

hello, I have the same mini digger, but I have a lot of problems with the track that comes out every day! do you know this problem? thx

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Only thing I can think of is they are not tensioned enough. Did you put grease in them (small plate on side of the tracks). This pushes them outwards tightening them up.

[@nicolasrisi]

@@HomesteadingUncontained Yes, i did it 5 Times..it happened 5 times, 4 right side and 1 left side

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

@@nicolasrisi did you contact Nuoman? Mine have been fine. I did get a rock stuck but reversed and it was fine.

[@jimdoolan2277]

Just ordered my one down here in new Zealand today $14 500 dollars Cheers 👍🏻

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Not a bad price, specially as prices have risen a little. Hope all goes well. Ours is working great.

[@Kamikaze3557]

Yea, not understanding the wheelbarrow approach! All that machinery and not a lawn tractor and tow behind .

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

We are rectifying that now.... trouble is the site is on a slope so with the tractor it is very sketchy (or feels sketchy). But we have a new member of the equipment family coming very soon 👍

[@livingoffgridinscotland]

At least your one is doing better that “everydaywithmenick”s digger….

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

His is going alright - just a bit of blade damage to begin with. 👍🏻

[@livingoffgridinscotland]

@@HomesteadingUncontained yep, been following him as I was looking at buying one, I’ve got 2 bigger diggers, a jcb 804 and a daewoo sl035, not convinced of the metal quality if the blade mounts keep snapping

[@jonathanmckee4667]

@@livingoffgridinscotlanddid you ever look at dax diggers

[@livingoffgridinscotland]

@@jonathanmckee4667 I’ve seen them, not convinced, their 1.5ton looks like a 0.8ton Chinese single cylinder digger?

[@jonathanmckee4667]

@@livingoffgridinscotland I would off sayed the same but my old digger was on its way out I didn't want to spend 9000 grand for old digger as bad as mine so bought a 1.5 ton dax 2 cylinder just after Xmas and I would rate them good for you money and the back up service is good .

[@solarfunction1847]

Bunk beds, very naughty hahahahaha.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

🤣

[@MrJure998]

I have the same excavator. I've done a lot with it, including knocking down a house. I don't see the point of buying it if you leave all the slightly more difficult work to others... Question: how many volts does the digital volt meter on the dashboard show when the engine is running?

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Hi Jure - the amount of earth that needed to be moved was overwhelming for a 1 tonne machine. It would have destroyed it plus my small tractor trying to grade it out. Sometimes you need the right tool for the job. I see around 13.5 to 14 volts on average when the machine is running.

[@jix177]

The machine may cost money but you also have to factor in the value of your time. You don't want to squander half a summer and wear out your machinery if you're trying to get on with things.

[@bernardperaldi7488]

It is possible to add subtitle please ? Thank you

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Yes, I need to look into this. Are they not auto generated ?

[@bernardperaldi7488]

@@HomesteadingUncontained no😒

[@spazzattack1188]

@@bernardperaldi7488 If I click the CC button I can see auto generated captions.

[@richardgreen7811]

Hoping that the two of You won't mind ... I have applied the Google Earth Pro Satellite to Your construction site for the precise dimensions of the excavation. This is necessary because I've engaged America's premier Construction Planner based in Los Angeles (Will, Soakum & Howe) for the purpose to establish the Bar position on the dirt plane. So far, and my friends and I agree, it should be at the Northeast corner of the dig in order to prevent contamination of the Stoli's by wind driven particulates associated with a high dirt wall. Gritty Stoli's, Bleau Cheese Olives, and Noilly Pratt simply won't do since imbibing is planned throughout the construction process at the end of each day. The Construction Planner also viewed this video and offered some specific advise: #1. Never allow an equipment operator with a excavator "bigger than Yours" to spend time alone with Your Bride. #2. If You have neighbors where hot women are concerned, always operate your excavator while shirtless. It is preferred that you douse yourself with copious amounts of water to give the appearance that your are "buff" and prone to sweaty episodes. #3. Because You are a Specialty Vodka drinker ... go to the pub and gather 5 empty cans of inexpensive beer. Spread them around the site to ensure working vendors at Your site will know You are Badass and not to mess with You.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

🤣

[@erik_dk842]

With all that wheelbarrowing, you won't have time to go to the gym.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Haha …. CrossFit just about killed me off the other week….. crawled no slithered out of bed and yes Ian was crying with laughter at me ooouuuuchhhhh 💪

[@isarejab1988]

big toy

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Works very well and good fun 😀

[@abagailbrett2499]

【ｐｒｏｍｏｓｍ】 😜

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

Have no idea what that stands for but hoping it is nice 😀

[@armwrestlinginthe6ix]

Just purchased the exact machine everything to Toronto for 5100$ Canadian dollars , added the rotating 360 bucket for demo for an extra 970 Canadian and they gifted a narrow bucket for trenching/sprinkler installations. Total cost after Alibaba transaction fees 6500$ CAD. The 1.5 ton model was 9700$ with the d722 Kubota (weaker than the b&s gasoline engine) and without any added buckets. So I'm very happy with the cost. Got the hydraulic oil cooler, the backplates, got a B&S gasoline 13.5 hp engine(gasoline is much cheaper than Diesel here in Canada since covid) and the gasoline engine is much easier and cheaper to repair if anything goes wrong, my mechanic friend told me that the smaller diesels aren't really better than the same in gas until the diesels a bit bigger, so maybe on 3 ton+ models the diesel engines are big enough to produce more power than a gasoline engine but for the size, the 13.5 Gasoline engine is more powerful than the 13.5 diesel d722 Kubota. I took into the considerations about cheaper repairs and something I can easily learn on my own as opposed to going to a certified diesel mechanic anytime I need a repair which will cost much more. Not to mention the diesel is way more complicated than the gas and I wouldn't even know where to start with the diesel on my own. There's a few test videos on KZbin showing the 13.5 gas engine as stronger then the same in diesel. If I don't enjoy using it past this landscaping season(trenching, sprinkler installation, moving soil, removing roots, less worker needed, demolition of structure, lifting big rocks such as Armourstone) I can just rent it out or sell it and break even or make a profit from it . I hope I like it so much and. I hope it makes me enough money that I can get the 1.5 ton aswell.

[@HomesteadingUncontained]

That is great. I only had the option of the Kubota 3 cylinder but it would double to cost of the unit so I stuck with the little koop motor. But the machines are so small any little engine will power it. The 360 bucket sounds like a good option.

[@armwrestlinginthe6ix]

@@HomesteadingUncontained cheers, your vids have helped me tremendously. Great channel please keep it up the amazing work.