tentman

Your question is one I've given a lot of thought to myself. For me at the end of the day it came down to the level of investment required, and I didn't want to committ the capital to a dedicated tracked machine (in addition to or instead of my Massey 5445 and Kinghitter S2 expander- so 340 kg hammer with 1.8M drop). I am also on the wrong side of 55, so the "wear and tear" on my frame of climbing off and on was a big factor for me. After a lot of consideration I decided Mark Hibberd's approach using a mini-excavator was the right one for me. There are a few people doing this and they nearly all have a slightly different way utilizing the machine, my driver is a homebuilt vibratory unit with an integrated auger rather than a hammer like Mark's or Stephen Blairs - it suits me and the work I do but would not be for everyone. All this illustrates is that there are several ways of skinning the cat . . . If you want something off the shelf (and customer perception comes into this as well, I know a lot of farmers who would laugh if I turned up with my Digger, but my lifestyle clients love it) then that also is important. Cheers

Hmmm - thought you'd have gotten more feedback on this. From down in NZ here's what I think after going through a lot of options to get into a tracked machine (I operate a MF5445 and Kinghitter Telescoping mast, but it I found it too heavy for the conditions I often encounter). If you are a dedicated Ag fencer then I think the Tracked Drivers are the way to go, they are a great productivity tool. My main reservations about Tracked Drivers (the ones built on Tracked Dumper's) were the availability of parts (especially down here in NZ) and the high costs of operating that sort of undercarriage. If you need to exit the business you have a very specific bit of kit that has a narrow market. If you do more general work then a Digger with a postdriver gives a wider range of capability (but not as productive at driving lines unless its a bigger machine) with a better chance of a good resale. My final choice was a sub 2.5 tonne digger. Cheers Foster