Buying a Cheap Chinese Mini Excavator - Are They Really Worth It?
Vložit
- čas přidán 8. 04. 2024
- Yes. That is what I did. I bought a really cheap chinese mini excavator for the ranch. I had kicked around the idea last year but decided not to buy one. This year I found reasons to pick one up. What do you think?
#seidel #seidelranch #ranchlife #farmlife #miniexcavator #miniexcavator1ton #miniexcavator2ton #chinese #chineseminiexcavator #excavator #minichineseexcavator #madeinchina #chinamade #heavyequipment #chinesetools #toolreview #toolsreview
Disclaimers:
As an Amazon Affiliate Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. This video is for entertainment purposes only. Your actions are at your own risk. SeidelRanch videos may contain paid sponsorships. www.SeidelRanch.com - Jak na to + styl
Have you used one of these or already own one? What do you think about them? Let me know below. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I have a lot of plans for this machine and will have videos to go with it. Thanks for watching. Like and Subscribe!
Nice looking machine I like the color. 20 hours on my H12 and no issues. I added a hydraulic return line filter and a couple fans to mine.
I have tortured and tested mine past 150 hours. It’s very durable. 👍💪
Nice to know. Thanks.
The tools box explanation was more interesting than a Bigfoot story... thumbs up.
Haha. Thank you. I did wonder what the yellow box had in it before I got it. Sadly no real manual for the tractor, but it's pretty simple as it is. Thanks for watching and checking out the channel. More to come.
These machines are pretty strong. I have an agrotk qh12. Briggs 13.5 hp. No counterweight. It’s done everything I’ve asked of it. 1/3 throttle is plenty for most work. Maintenance is probably super important on these. My swing motor bolts were finger tight after 30 hours. Main drawback is it’s slow travel speed. No, I mean SLOW.
To go anywhere, you need a lot of throttle, which heats the machine up quickly. Adding a fan is mandatory if you want to use it for more than 1/2 hour. My gasoline was boiling after 45 minutes of traveling/ working. Keep it greased!
Yeah, it seems like I can make this something I keep for a long time with mandatory upgrades. It is slow, but I do have to say that even the expensive ones are slow this size too. The Kubota and John Deere mini/micro excavators are less than 2 mph top speed also.
i brought one about 2 months ago with a cab and hydraulic claw for 7800 and it is lots of fun
Nice. I am adding the hydraulic thumb this weekend. I ordered one and will make a video on the install. That is a mst for me. I also got some attachments I will video when I try them out.
How is the cab? I saw those but with no AC I figured I would end up just frying in Texas. Even winter here would be hot in a cab with no AC I think. I do like that cab type of protection though.
I wonder if they sell a small ac unit that would run from the engine?
That is really cool and looks like so much fun to use. I want to review that.
You will. Come take it for a spin.
Great video!
Thanks!
80% off is a nice discount. I wonder how different the cost of operation is between the gas briggs and stratton and the diesel kubota.
Though being a larger guy I don't think I'd fit in one of these anyway so they likely aren't an option. Do you know how wide it is between both control areas so I can see if my butt fits?
Is the motor what controls the power of it? If you wanted more power would you replace the motor with a 25 HP one or would you want to replace the two hydraulic pumps? I assume both spots have some space for bigger versions.
They have these with the kubota diesel option, but the overall engineering on these is pretty low anyway. If they were not so cheap to start with, I would have bought a used name brand one. That said, they have a place if you have the need. For me this beats a shovel and I already have a real backhoe loader for heavy work. It's tiny so it fits in places I could not get my backhoe in.
I expect to get 500 hours of mostly trouble free work from it, then maybe 1000 hours before I need to swap the engine. If the hydraulics hold up that will be fine with me. I have a list of upgrades I will be doing for it soon.
Mine is bigger than the more popular "1 ton" minis, but not by that much. The seat is about 15 inches wide and mine has about 3 extra inches on each side of the seat to "hang over". If that rump is wider than 21 inches when sitting, it will rub the controls area that sticks up a little but not enough to tuck a butt down in. I speak from experience on that. I am losing weight slowly, but if I was much heavier it would be a tight fit. My butt is a lot bigger than it was 20 years ago. The 1 ton minis are basically seat wide in the middle. No extra 6 inches, but also no pilot controls. The controls are only in the front.
The gas motor runs the hydraulic pump(s) which runs the hydraulic motors. Mine has 2 pumps for a little more flow vs the single pump version. I find the motor, even though small and only 10-15hp, seems to have enough power for this size machine. Power/Force in hydraulics comes from pressure, and at the flow that is needed on this machine the gas engine builds that pressure fine it seems. The flow is from the RPMs of the engine, and the pressure is from the torque. Any more "power"/pressure and the machine would probably break itself. The relief valve handles that. Set the pressure higher for more force, but also at the risk of breaking it. That said, even a bigger HP engine would do fine, it just would not use all the torque it has.
The main issues everyone seems to work on is the heat in the engine compartment. Most of these have no fans, not coolers, no filters, air cooled engines and even the muffler is in the engine bay. That creates a lot of heat and can cause issues when running it for longer periods of time. That is another reason I bought the next size up. The 1 tons have everything packed in rather tight back there, so there is not a lot of room to work in or add things. My "1.5 ton" has more room in the engine compartment to add fans, oil coolers, move the muffler and so on.
Hope that helps.
Nice work! Glad to see you’re enjoying the machine! Thank you again for your business!
Thanks. Only have a few hours on it but I expect many more soon.
Where did you buy it from ,we are looking to get one
Where are you located? I got mine from an equipment dealer in Central Texas.
@@SeidelRanch hey' we are in Tennessee
Great video, I think this video is going to do well for you. Andrew Camarata did a video on a cheaper one of these admitting he expected not to like it, but he did.
I want 2 things when I buy one, I want one with widened tracks and a larger weight between the tracks.
My only critique with yours is I don't think the awning is worth anything if you tip it, I'd like to see at least one heavier loop.
I also saw a video on an electric version that looked great, appealing for sure, I might consider an electric one, the advantage of gas or diesel is you can leave the property and go do work with it, an electric one wouldn't be ideal for that and electric may not be the best in winter.
I like the expanding tracks idea. Of course those are more. Keeps it small and widens for stability. I wanted small so I could get it into tight places my backhoe could never go. I have had my backhoe for many years now and have not done anything to it but maintenance. I get this thing and already have a list of things I want to do to it. It's weird.
I am looking at ways to add weight below the turntable. The lower the better really. I will probably add a rear bumper that allows weight to be added to it also.
The canopy on mine is just that. It's not a ROPS really. I am pretty sure it would collapse if rolled. It also does not have a seat belt. It does keep the sun mostly off of me though.
I like electric, but I think it still has a ways to go to be really useful. We have 5 electric cars (I know) and they just are a little premature in my opinion. I like them, but the batteries need a better system. I am sure it won't be long for them to get the kinks worked out in that. Also, solid state should help.
Thank for checking out the video and channel.
@@SeidelRanch yeah, I've seen models that have hydraulically expanding tracks, I've seen some you can order wider. Some of these are meant to fit through door frames for foundation and and basement work. Not anything I care about so I'm fine with a stationary wider track that would give me room for some super low weights.
Electric on one of these things really depends on the cells, if it's lithium batterys, as long as it can go 6+ hours they aren't going to see nearly the charge cycles a car sees and I would prefer to run a machine like that at home. The problem is weather. I'm in Texas now, but plan to buy in the UP of Michigan, running it mid winter might not even be possible depending on the BMS, and even if I could, it might be bad to run them that cold.
What electric cars are you running? I had a leaf, a decent daily for a short commute. I have no plans on getting more soon, the trucks aren't really trucks, just XL commuters.
It's not an LS Tractor, but I have to admit it's pretty sweet. That looks way too fun to play with.
It is really fun to use it.
I have a Chinese tractor that came with an engine manual but nothing on running/ repairing the tractor or implements. fortunately the dealer network has made a manual that helps. but if you have ever used any older small manual tractors (ford) it's the same. the Chinese Jinma Y-diesel has been around forever. I understand most of the older nonelectronic 3-cylinder diesels were either clones of this engine or made by them for others.
Yeah, the Chinese manufacturers like to clone our older machines. Cheap to build and all kind of information available on them.
I have seen these things on Fb marketplace and they don’t say the real price but they have like $3,900 but that goes with all kind of stuff about dealerships and other things so what is the real price
Yeah, it's hard to say an exact price because most people buy these at auction and resale them. The auctions of course vary by region and demand. One may sell for $4000 at an auction in one state and then the same one sell for $6000 just a few states over.
I would say $5000 ish is good for a 1 ton version and $7000 ish is good for a 1.5 ton one like mine with pilot controls.
@@SeidelRanch thank you
I might have missed it what was totall with everything that you paid for
I didn't put the price in the video because it seems to vary on where you are and how you buy it. I bought this one for about 7k for the mini excavator itself from an equipment dealer near me. I also bought an auger, 2 auger bits, a rake, a ripper, a grapple and a larger bucket.
@@SeidelRanch Ok nice thank you did you get get tho hoses changed for controls was it a lot of work