When Bruce Franke gets asked to help at a septic tank installation job, he knows it’s time to put away the big excavator and pull out one of his two compact excavators.

“I don’t do them often, but when I get the call to help with one, I have to bring my mini-excavator,” says Franke. “They don’t have any tailspin. Most of the time you’re working in tight spaces when you’re putting in a tank and you don’t want to swing around and hit anything with the tail of an excavator.”

The Minnesota-based contractor, who primarily does road construction projects, was checking out the Bobcat booth at CONEXPO-CON/AGG on Wednesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. Looking to replace one of his older compact excavators, Franke was exploring his options this week at the show.

“There’s a lot to look at and I just got started,” Franke says. “My other two machines are Bobcats and I like the power they have, so that’s why I’m starting here. I’m going to look at others too, just to see what might be out there.”

Franke says his company does about two or three septic installs a year, but admits it is an area he is looking to expand into in the future.

Here are few mini-excavators that can be seen this week at CONEXPO, which runs through Saturday.

Bobcat E32
Operating Weight: 7,340 pounds
Engine power: 24.8 hp
Digging depth: 16 feet, 4 inches

CASE CX17C
Operating Weight: 3,910 pounds
Engine power: 16.8 hp
Digging depth: 7 feet, 3 inches.

Komatsu PC35MR5
Operating Weight: 7,993 pounds
Engine power: 24.4 hp
Digging depth: 9 feet

KUBOTA U25S
Operating Weight: 5,625 pounds
Engine power: 20.9 hp
Digging depth: 9 feet, 3 inches