On a small farm or in a village, the list of jobs is usually a mixed bag: the soil is tilled in spring, irrigation channels are opened in summer, tree-planting holes are dug in autumn, and in between a water pipe bursts or a drainage ditch is needed. Buying or hiring a separate machine for each job is expensive, and most of those machines would sit idle for much of the year.
A tracked tractor with excavator arm is designed to tackle this mixed list of jobs with a single machine: a tractor at the front, a digging arm at the back. But expecting one machine to do everything can be misleading too; machines like this have limits as well as strengths.
In this guide we use the QD35 with excavator arm to explain what a tracked tractor with excavator arm can and can’t do, how the costs add up, how to plan the work and how its maintenance differs.
What is a tracked tractor with excavator arm?
A tracked tractor with excavator arm is a multi-purpose machine made by adding a hydraulic digging arm (a rear excavator arm) to the back of a tracked tractor. As a tractor it handles farm work such as tillage, ploughing, channel opening and haulage; with the digging arm it takes on trenches, holes and small earthmoving jobs.
The QD35 with excavator arm is built on the same base as the QD35 tracked tractor: a 35 HP, single-cylinder, water-cooled Quanchai–Changzhou diesel engine; a fully geared mechanical gearbox (3 forward + 1 reverse, 8 speeds with the high/low range); a 16-litre fuel tank; a reinforced T3 steel body and steering-wheel control. On top of this base sits the rear excavator (digging) arm.
The traction and low ground pressure of the tracks apply here too, so the machine can reach the digging spot across a muddy field or along a sloping orchard track. There is no need to haul a separate machine out to the field on a trailer for the digging.
What is a tractor with excavator arm used for? Which jobs can one machine handle?
The table below shows the typical job list of a tracked tractor with excavator arm and which part of the machine does the work in each case:
| Job | Part doing the work | Attachment / note |
|---|---|---|
| Field and inter-row tillage | Tractor | Rotary tiller (rotavator) |
| Ploughing | Tractor | Two-furrow plough |
| Opening and closing irrigation channels | Tractor | Trencher, trench-closing auger |
| Clearing weeds | Tractor | Weed-clearing attachment |
| Carrying produce, fertiliser and materials | Tractor | Trailer on the drawbar |
| Tree-planting and post holes | Digging arm | Excavator bucket |
| Small drainage and pipe trenches | Digging arm | Excavator bucket |
| Spot digging for repairs | Digging arm | Locate the underground lines first |
| Light soil loading and levelling | Digging arm | Small-volume jobs |
There are two groups of jobs in the table: tractor work and digging work. The two aren’t done at the same time; for tractor work the machine is on the move, while for digging it works from a fixed spot. In practice the important question is: can the rear attachments be used while the digging arm is fitted, or does the arm have to be removed and refitted? This has a direct effect on your work plan. Ask us before you buy how the changeover is done and how long it takes, and see it demonstrated at delivery.
What can’t it do? Honest limits
Let’s be honest — a tractor with excavator arm can’t stand in for a mini excavator on every job. Knowing the differences keeps you from buying a machine with the wrong expectations:
- Working angle: On a mini excavator the upper structure slews on top of the tracks, so the operator works between the digging and dumping points without moving the machine. A digging arm mounted on a tractor, by contrast, works behind the tractor within a limited range of angles. In wide-angle, continuous earthmoving you feel this difference in speed.
- Volume and continuity: For high-volume digging that goes on for days, such as foundations, pools or long utility lines, a separate mini excavator is the better fit.
- Depth and reach: The depth and distance the digging arm can reach must meet the dimensions your job requires. Tell us about your deepest job and we’ll check together whether the arm can manage it.
- Range of attachments: A mini excavator works with a wide range of attachments such as breakers, augers, grapples and rippers. For a tractor with excavator arm, ask us separately about the attachment options on the digging side.
In short: if your digging comes to a few days a year on a small scale, a tractor with excavator arm makes sense; if digging is your main work, or you plan to sell digging as a service, a separate mini excavator is the better choice.
The cost case: one machine or two?
When deciding, look not only at the price tag but at how many days a year each machine will actually work. Let’s compare three scenarios using EKSFORK’s starting prices (all + VAT):
- The QD35 alone: Starts at 249.000 ₺. Farm work is covered, and digging is contracted out.
- QD35 with excavator arm: Starts at 349.000 ₺. The 100.000 ₺ difference pays for the rear digging arm; farm work and light digging come together in one machine.
- QD35 plus R10 mini excavator: Two separate machines with starting prices of 249.000 ₺ and 299.000 ₺. Two jobs can be done at the same time, and digging capacity and attachment choice increase; but servicing and transporting two machines, and the need for two operators, also go into the sum.
To run the numbers with your own figures, ask yourself: How many days of digging do I have a year, and what does it cost me to have that work done by someone else? Collect quotes for digging services in your area and multiply them by your annual digging days. If that amount covers the price difference of the excavator version within a few years, one machine makes sense. If you have a lot of digging days and your digging and farm work fall in the same periods, two separate machines may be more efficient.
You can boil this calculation down to a single line: payback period (years) = 100.000 ₺ / (annual digging days × daily rate for a digging service in your area). Put your own figures in the denominator, and don’t forget to deduct from that rate the fuel and maintenance cost of digging with your own machine. The result gives you a rough but honest idea of how many years the digging arm will take to pay for itself.
When comparing the machine with an outside service, consider not just the price but also the timing: a burst irrigation pipe, or a channel that has to be opened before the rain, won’t wait until the contractor is free.
Switching to digging: a working routine
When you switch from tractor work to digging, make the following sequence a habit:
- Ask what’s underground: Get information from the relevant utilities about electricity, water, gas and irrigation lines at the digging spot; old irrigation pipes often turn up in fields.
- Choose level, firm ground: Put the machine on ground that is as level as possible; don’t dig on a slope or at the edge of a channel.
- Bring the arm into working position: Move the digging arm from transport position to working position in the sequence given in the manual; check the locks and safety devices.
- Clear the area: Nobody should be within the arm’s working area. On a farm or in a village, children and animals can easily wander into it.
- Decide where the soil goes: Pile the excavated soil on one side, a little away from the edge of the hole; this makes backfilling easier.
- Return to transport position when you finish: Don’t move the machine until the arm and bucket are in transport position and locked.
Remember, the same machine calls for two different skills: driving a tractor and operating a digging arm involve different habits. During the basic operator training given at delivery, try both uses for yourself; in the first few days, get used to the digging arm by working it at low speed in an empty, safe area.
Planning the farming season and digging work
The key to running two different kinds of work with one machine is planning. Farm work depends on the weather and the state of the soil, while digging is usually flexible. So:
- Give the tillage windows priority. When the soil is workable, the tractor should be in the field; move digging jobs outside these short periods.
- Group the digging jobs. Bring jobs such as tree-planting holes, post holes and small drainage trenches together into a single period; switch to digging in blocks, not every day.
- Make use of the off-season. After harvest, as farm work eases off, concentrate on digging work such as drainage, channel repairs and preparing for new planting; avoid days when the soil is very wet or frozen.
- Leave room for emergencies. Even in busy periods, keep a short time slot free for jobs such as a burst pipe or a blocked drain.
We explain which machines a small farm should buy, and in what order, in our small-farm machinery guide, and how to choose machinery to suit the scale of your operation in our guide to choosing machinery for farms.
Maintenance: two systems, one body
On a tractor with excavator arm, the hydraulic and mechanical parts of the digging arm are added to the tractor’s maintenance items. The maintenance list gets longer, but not more complicated:
- Tractor side: Engine oil and filters, coolant, air filter, belt tension, gearbox oil and the undercarriage (tracks, rollers, drive sprocket, tensioner).
- Digging arm side: Greasing the pins and bushings, checking the hydraulic hoses and fittings, checking the cylinder rods for scoring or leaks, and the hydraulic oil level.
- Dust and mud: In field work the air filter gets dirty faster, in digging work the pins and undercarriage do; clean and check them more often to suit the work being done.
We have gathered the daily, weekly and seasonal checks in our tracked tractor maintenance checklist. At EKSFORK, machines come with a warranty of 2 years or 2,000 operating hours, and 382 spare parts are kept in stock and shipped the same day.
Who is it the right choice for?
A tracked tractor with excavator arm makes the most sense for these profiles:
- Small and medium-sized farms: Operations where tillage is the main work and digging is a sideline
- Vineyards, orchards and nurseries: Operations where planting holes, post holes and irrigation work come up regularly
- Villages and rural settlements: Places where channel work, small repairs and maintenance jobs are frequent
- People with a large garden in the countryside: Those who want to till the soil and also do some digging now and then
On the other hand, if you are thinking of selling digging as a service, have continuous earthmoving work or will be working with attachments such as breakers and augers, look at a mini excavator instead. We make this comparison in detail in our guide Excavator or Tractor?
Summary
- A tracked tractor with excavator arm combines farm work and light digging in one machine
- It makes sense if digging is a few days a year and small-scale; if digging is your main work, a separate mini excavator is more efficient
- The difference in starting price from the QD35 is 100.000 ₺; do the sums with your annual digging days and the cost of an outside service
- Find out how the changeover between the digging arm and the rear attachments works before you buy
- Give the farming windows priority and group the digging jobs
- Maintenance adds pin, bushing and hydraulic checks to the tractor items
For the machine’s full specifications, see the QD35 with excavator arm page; if you need more on the digging side, take a look at the R10 mini excavator too. Send us your list of jobs on WhatsApp and we’ll work out together whether one machine or two is right for you.
