I bought this to dig through hard pan (hard packed clay) and it handled it with no problems. It cost less than a 4 hour rental at a local rental shop so I figured it was worth a try. I am not disappointed, it works great and I can take my time using it instead of trying to get everything done in those 4 hours.
The only reason I gave the "Easy to use" feature a 4 star is because the instructions stink, there was no mention of adding oil. Had I not read another review that stated it must be filled with hydraulic oil, I would have ran it dry.