John Deere Compact Excavators

All of John Deere’s compact excavators have either zero or reduced tail swing, because worrying about the back end of the equipment is a real drain on productivity. Less tail swing results in reduced damage to the machine, less damage to property and more productivity, as the operator can concentrate on what’s in front of the cab instead of what’s behind it. The 27D, 35D and 50D all feature zero tail swing. The 17D has a reduced tail swing of about 1.5 inches. All are available with numerous Worksite Pro Attachments. Its minimum width of only 3 ft, 3 in. and a height just under 8 ft allows the 17D to fi t through narrow openings and work in tight quarters. It has an expandable undercarriage that allows it to adjust to a width of 50 in. for stability when operating.

Eye on the Bucket Business
Get the Scoop on the Right Compact Excavator Buckets on the Market
By Jason Morgan

Ditching and tilting buckets are great for cleaning and forming ditches, but their smooth and fl at front edge just won’t do when the job calls for pavement removal that would warrant a pavement removal bucket, which is designed for prying.

Many consider the bucket to be the vanilla in the 31 flavors of compactexcavator attachments. But this seemingly simple attachment has incredible depth and variety — not only in size, but in style and functionality as well. Take a standard bucket for instance. On a 4- to 5-ton rated excavator, a bucket’s width ranges from 12 to 36 in. The standard width on that class machine is 18 in.

The size of your bucket plays an important role in its usage. As Ron Grimstad, product manager for CEAttachments Inc., advises, “You don’t want to move more dirt than you have to.” If your bucket width is too large, you might be moving more dirt than needed, making more backfill work several hours later. With bucket sizes ranging from 12 to 36 in., the perfect-fit bucket will depend greatly on your machine and the applications, as you don’t want to overload your maximum load capacity. An 18-in. (average-size) bucket runs about $1,000, give or take a couple hundred depending on which way you move on the bucket price spectrum, according to Grimstad.

Besides width, there is the decision whether or not to invest in a heavy-duty bucket. Despite being heavier than a standard bucket, due to it being made of steel, which slightly shaves down the excavator’s load capacity, a heavy-duty bucket can perform the same functions as a standard bucket, and they last longer.

The range of options for standard buckets doesn’t end there; the teeth of the bucket also play an important role in bucket usage. Teeth are generally required for common digging jobs with the exception of a frozen or solid rock ground. Specialized teeth such as Tiger, or Sharp, teeth are designed for rock applications. Using the bucket teeth improperly, as a concrete breaker for example, will lead to teeth damage, among other problems.

While crimp-on, top pin and side pin teeth make replacement easier, there are some buckets with welded on teeth, which would require a digging dentist to weld on a new tooth.

When it comes to choosing the right bucket for the job, specialty buckets can increase productivity, depending on the application. A specialized bucket helps develop the force and power for a specific job, which takes strain off of the machine.

“Digging conditions are by far the most important factor to consider,” Keith Rohrbacker, product manager, construction equipment loaders and landscape tractors for Kubota. “Conditions like sand, soil, rock or coral rock are all different and should require different buckets.”

For a job that involves several different digging conditions, a quick-attach system makes switching buckets simple and painless. Without a quick-attach system, the changing of a bucket could take over 30 minutes.