Chinese Mini Excavator Review after 1 year
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2023
- Check out our review of the Chinese Mini Excavator that we purchased brand new 1 year ago. Find out how it is going and what we thing but most important would we buy one again is answered in this episode.
/ jtw2a
That's a good thorough review, thank you. I got a 1.2ton Chinese digger and to be honest I hated the thing. On my rough and rocky property I was either going to break the digger or break me.
The dealer had a 2 ton demonstration model there, same brand with only 50 hours on it so I upgraded to that. It certainly cost me a few bucks more but I've never regretted it. The bigger machine is so much better built, plus much better to operate and way more stable. Thanks again for the video, cheers.
Thanks, glad you liked it. I am eying a bigger machine as well. Unfortunately where I got mine the place does not have anything bigger. Will probably get a used one since I am already used to all the work that these things need. I bet you appreciate the bigger version much more than if you would have gone straight to the 2ton :) Thanks for watching and the great feedback!
With all the reviews I have seen I think I need the 2 ton . As it would be the right size I need. Seems they are not that much more expensive.
@@ErickSowder I think the 2 ton will give you all the extra size and power to keep you happy for a long time. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
LOCTITE so the issues are minimal, the auctions around here they go for 1,200 to 1,700 so for this price its beats a shovel.
Wow, that is very low for a machine like that. The ones that go for that low of a price have they been beaten up? What conditions are they in? Thanks for watching and commenting!
Where are these auctions. Would like to go pick one up!
Yes
I agree. A very comprehensive and fair review. Look forward to your next video!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Great information for people looking at owning an excavator, I do agree with the size issue, about no manuals or info. There is literally zero to none on some of these over seas machines, you need to be very much mechanically inclined and know how to research. Thanks for taking your time much appreciated.
Thanks for the comment and watching. It’s greatly appreciated!
Very good review on the machine. As far as the cage that you call a roll bar, I don't think that is considered a roll bar. Think roll bars have to be certified. Normally if a machine has a roll bar you would use the seat belt. I have heard from operators that if a machine doesn't have a real roll bar then they say you don't want to wear the seat belt. Been looking at the minis and looking forward to buying one at some point in the near future.
Thanks :) I don't think this frame is certified but if it was certified to their standard I still would not trust it. I am not sure about the seatbelt and rollbar situation how I feel about it. Not using a seatbelt and falling out in a tipping situation doesn't sound fun. The risk of the unit landing on you would be very high. I am not so sure it can actually roll when it falls over. It is so tall with that frame. I think staying in the seat and holding on while it falls over is probable the safest move. Now if it does roll it would be bad to be inside the unit. Either way, something I am highly avoiding :) Wishing the best with the purchase, I am sure you'll love the mini. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
No, having seen these fall over, that is a canopy... as in you can replace it with a pool umbrela for the same safety factor. They are intended to give you a limited shade working during the day. But yes, that is why the very cheap seatbelt. If the machine is tumbling, you want to be able to jump clear, because when it goes over, that weight will be on top of you, with nothing protecting you.
As you pointed out, fit and finish are basically unherd-of in Asian or Lat-Am machines... I lived and worked in Brazil... and they assume you will spend about 1/4th of your time on maintaining it. My ex-service friends get along best, because best practice is a walk-around and service once every week or 2 to keep it from dropping something or breaking, just like their mil-spec gear was. Thread glue and grease are your friends.
@@leechowning2712 Good point. Do they actually tumble or just fall on their side. They are so tall that it seems they don't easily tumble. Thanks for watching!
It's not a "claw", it's actually a "thumb". Yes, even the big guys will bend if the force is side loaded. They are not designed to yank stuff sideways. Thumb buckets are made to simply pick stuff up.
You are right, it is a thumb I miss-spoke. I am not sure why a called it a claw. Good point about thumb buckets only being for pickup. I will keep that in mind as I use it in the future. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment.
@@jtw2a as me how I know about the big boys bending if side loaded! Hahaha!
Can't imagine the force that would take LOL
great review!
Thanks!
I use mine mostly for tree work. Great for loading quad trailer with logs and cleaning up piling the waste. Not great at digging stumps particularly big oaks enough to dig around so can be cut below ground level
Yes, big stumps take some time. I also found pulling out ferns with it works really well when we are clearing an area. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment.
BETTER THE CLAW BENDS BEFORE BENDING OR BREAKING THE ARM
Never thought about it that way. Good point! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@jtw2a successive failure is better than catastrophic
Hi nice video. I bought a similar machine last year and am still getting used to it. I subscribed and will be watching for your future videos, especially if you do one on how to prepare and operate the augur. I got one too with a tank and pressure gage... but have no idea how to make it work. Like you, I have no manual. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Thanks for watching and subscribing. We will definitely be using the auger quite a bit when we start our fence project and will be posting how it goes. All the best, jtw2a!
a simple pilot operated holding valve can be added to the base of the cylinders to hold the boom in place when shut off.
That is good to know. Once I have little ones come around I will probably look into putting one of these in place. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment.
I'm 6'4" and thanks for the size info, ive been wanting to find this!
Too tight for me!😮
I am glad the review helped. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment. Have a wonderful Sunday!
How many hours did you put on it after a year?
I am not 100% sure since mine did not come with an hour meter. It always feels like you worked more excavator hours than you really did. Taking brakes, filling up gas fixing things as you go can make it feel like you put in 10 hours in a day but in reality it was closer to 6 - 7. If I had to guess probably somewhere between 100 & 200 hours.
You said there was basically no warranty. You could weld a plate on the front blade so you can push more dirt. I went into the local Chinese excavator dealer and was originally looking at a 1.8 tonne machine but saw a 2.0 and there is no comparison for the difference in how heavy everything is built. 2.0 tonne for me. I already own a John Deere 120 but it is too big for a lot of projects I do and requires a lowbed to transport anywhere. With the smaller 2.0, I can take it anywhere with a 3/4 ton or 1 ton pickup pulling a trailer.
Wow a John Deere 120 that is a huge machine. Nice to have, that thing can get big jobs done fast. Not easy to transport. The 2 ton is pretty good in size as well. For me I think the sweet spot would be around 5 tons. I am thinking about adding to the blade on the top but haven't decided. Kind off still playing with the idea of getting a bigger one :) Thanks for watching an commenting. Greatly appreciated!
. . If you want a better build pay more for the product . It's built cheap because it's cheap . If the engineering was better it would cost more Being built in China is not a con
Thanks for watching. Yes, I do understand the fact that it is cheaply built and I state that I am ok with that. Since I am making a review for others to know what they are potentially getting into I put it in the con list. I specifically mention that if you don't like dealing with the issues that come with it being made cheap, to buy something made in the US or somewhere that makes higher grade equipment. Also getting parts for something build in China can be complicated which makes being built there a con unless you are ok with that. Which I am. Thanks for commenting and I hope that makes sense.
Where would you get the hydraulic pump?
I would either get one on amazon or find a dealer in my area that deals with parts for kubotas or john deer equipment. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment.
Where is the fan you talked about. I have one of these and don't know where it is ?
Thank you
Mine is on the right hand side when you are standing behind the excavator facing the machine. I am not sure if they all have one or if it is an upgrade and depends on who you are getting it from. I am currently out of town but can take a picture when I get back. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
I was told. The larger the equipment going to cost more and faster job get done.
The smaller it is cheaper cost. Will take more time. On the breaker its easy. You do need the extra hoses
That is very true. I guess it comes down to time. If you have a lot of time and are not in a hurry the small one will do just fine in many cases. I have the extra hoses for the breaker but am not sure how the CO2 Bottle comes into play.
Wow《☆》Nice review👍🏾🍺I'll have to see it in action. I luv Chinese guitars. You can't beat em for the price. It's quite admirable that it has B&S engine✌😎☯️
Thanks for watching and glad you like it. Yes, Chinese stuff is hard to beat in price and love that it comes with an engine I can get parts here in the US.
I like Chinese handcuffs
@@angusblack9900 Chinese Checkers are ok👍🏾🐵🍺
Where did you get the hammer from? Will it use any mini excavator hammer available?
The hammer came with the excavator. I think as long as you can fit the hammer to your excavator connectors and hydraulics it should work in theory. I have not used the hammer yet but am planning to do a video about the attachments that came with it. We will see how it works :) Thanks for watching!
What size excavator is this one (in metric tons)?
I think this one is 1500 lbs., since I did not receive any document besides the engine documentation I am guessing at this. In metric that would be 0.68!
@@jtw2a Thanks for the reply! I just put a deposit down on a 2.0 ton one. We'll see how it goes!
@@CameronHall1 Good luck and let us know how it goes! It takes some getting used to on those tiny machines. Lots of power in them and they are very jerky until you've played around with them for a bit.
If the claw steel was thicker , then something else would bend or break, best the claw bends then a frame breaks.
Valid point. Makes total sense. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
Great review
Thank you and thanks for watching and commenting!
Lol use the blue locktight on the nuts and bolts
Yes, that works for all of the bolts on the arm except the one I mentioned in the video that is a bit to short. The blue part of the nut never grabs. I will get around to tracking down a longer one eventually. There are others that do not have the option to be lock tight and they constantly loosen. It's just part of my maintenance. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!
How many flower pots can you fill an hour .
I am not sure. But I would assume thousands since it moves lots of dirt.
What is the brand name and model of this machine?
I am not sure that there is a specific brand. These all seem to come from a couple of manufacturers with Briggs & Stratton engines in them. Mine had a logo on it that a local place just stuck on the Excavator trying to establish themselves as a dealer. I've seen these pop up all over the place with different names and logos on them. Sorry if that does not help much. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
Good review!
Please turn up the mic when talking, not easy to hear even with volume maxed out on this end.
Thanks for watching and the feedback. I may have to get a mic the internal one just seems to no pick up audio very well.
Is that a h15 ?
If you are referring to the AGT H15, it is not. These are all so similar in how they are put together and where they are made. I got mine from a local dealer (if you can even call it that). Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
These things are so simple if you can build a model, you can repair it. You can get anything you need to replace from ebay, tractor supply or harbor freight. If i had 6k laying around, i would buy one today and have it today.
Agreed, anything can be easily fixed on these machines. 6k is starting to look a bit more like 4k from what I see on e-bay. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
Just got one with fan up grade. 6500 delivered. 3 hours. Putting it post for river deck. Fair price for what I am going to do with it. I put my 2 flat point shovels and wheel barrel behind the shed. I am thankful for any thing at this point.
@@SURRYHOUSE2 The fan upgrade is great. Without it you would be cooking on top of the excavator. 6500 is a great price. These things are so practical and beat any shovel/wheel barrel :) Saves hours of back braking labor and is so nice for lifting heavy things where you would need more than one person. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
@@jtw2a building a deck on the James River Tidewater Virginia.
@@jtw2ano more shovels.
You should have thought of those kind of things. Before I got mine, I knew where it was coming from. So i had no real surprises. It all comes down to money and size of machine. I have a 5 ton Cat. It is great. But size , tracks will tear up anything. You seemed to have miscalculated your size and expected use of it. I also payed extra for a Kubota in mine. Very sweet machine. For like you said, size and speed will but heads if you expect too much from a lil machine of any brand. Nice review.
I did quite a bit of research but until you actually sit in the machine and do real work you don't get a feel for time and capabilities. I can see what you are saying that a 5 ton can tear up quite a bit with the tracks but out on our property I could deal with that. For now the small machine will do :) Kubota's are nice but the price tag scared me off a bit. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I got a 1 ton one and the blade does suck so I built removable 8" side wings for the blade and added to the top and now its so much better.
That is what what I am thinking to do. Did you make make them bolt on or how did you get that rigged up to withstand the forces pushing against it? Thanks so much for watching and commenting :)
@@jtw2a I took 3/8 plate steel bent the radius , welded inch and half by three by 14 inches long channel to the back of that than clamped to the machine blade and drilled through both the machine blade and the channel to create the attachment using 1 inch grade 8 bolts, cutting the bolt head off and welding flush to the front of machine blade and now it bolts on from behind the blade. I tried uploading photos/video but the resolution is to high according to my phone.
Thanks for the detailed description. That is awesome and helps me quite a bit when I plan to extend the blade unless I decide to upgrade to a bigger excavator.
you get what you pay for. Chinese made or not.
Very true. You have to decide if you are willing to fix things as they break when you buy cheap. I am good with that :) Thanks for watching and commenting!
Are you typing this on an electronic device made in China?
@@markusr1308 Probably so but like I said, not everything made in China is bad. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment.
The Chinese have never figured out how to heat treat steel…
how much was that little thing? 😂
With all the attachments it was 10k. You can find one without the attachments on eBay for around 5-6k.
1 yr means nothing. How many hrs has it done.
I depends on what we are talking about. 1 year in the sense of a machines life cycle or actual runtime, probably doesn't mean much. In a sense of me using it for all the work on our property and other projects and giving my review based on that it probably does come out alright. I am not 100% sure on the exact hours since mine did not come with an hour meter. It always feels like you worked more excavator hours than you really did. Taking brakes, filling up gas fixing things as you go can make it feel like you put in 10 hours in a day but in reality it was closer to 6 - 7. If I had to guess probably somewhere between 100 & 200 hours.
@@jtw2a a bit of advice. Fit an hr meter. Ive had a kobelco sk13sr (1.3ton) for 15yrs as i live on acreage property. It had 1200hrs on it when i purchased it. It now has 2500hrs on it. 1300hrs in 15yrs. 1300hrs doesnt sound alot but ive done a shitload of work with it & has been dry hired out many many times. Like i said yrs mean nothing. You,re only guessing hrs. Hr meter needed for servicing.
@@moe2470 That is a ton of hours. Yeah I tried putting a digital one on the machine but it turned out junk and just lost power to quickly. Going to replace it this spring with something better and more reliable.
@@jtw2a if your machine has an engine oil pressure light wire it so the hr meter only runs when you have oil pressure so you,re not clocking hrs if the key is accidently left on.
@@moe2470 Unfortunately mine does not have that. I may need to wire it differently. The one I tried had a small battery and also showed the temp of the engine. Going to avoid having something that needs a battery change on the meter itself.
Chinese steel is not quality steel.
Yeah, that’s my guess! The tooth should not have bent like that. We’ll see how long the other steel parts hold up.
Everything is Chinese steel today. Almost all scrap steel goes to China today. Can't get away from this. The Chinese make good steel and poor, it depends on the foundry.
My guess it's they just put one on that is not thick enough for the power of the machine. You are right not just most of the steel but must of what we buy in the US is Chinese made in some form or fashion.
The Chinese make all the parts and frames for Cat, John Deere all of them including the Japanese brands. All are made in China. China makes as good steel as anyone. China is on Mars, the moon and have a space station 300 meters by 300 meters. The US has no money and a lot of debt we cant pay
it's cheap for a reason. what a surprise.
That doesn't mean it's all bad! The things it can do for the price is worth it. In my case I could use the next size up a bit more. Thanks for taking the time to watch and commenting.
🤣
awful clean rig for 1 year
I do clean it every time I am done working. Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!
All talk, no tractor action. ☹️
Sorry! I have several videos of the action on the channel. Feel free to check them out. My review was purely my thoughts on the excavator.
Very great review. But the big question is how much will you get out of it? 4grand? Big loss. Get a u17 for 0% for 3yrs. The blade is great in it and the attachments are too! 17.6hp. Why buy the china crap? You still have resale in the Kubota if you don’t like it!! Plus a dealership with parts etc!!!!! Cheap equipment with zero service makes you think you are saving money or even making it. But in the long term that machine didn’t do it. It wasted your time! Time is money
I am not sure how much I will get out of it at the end. So far I have had 2 different people wanting to buy it from me for the same price I got it for but it's only a year old. In several years it will be probably 5-6k with all the attachments I have. The work we needed done was quoted at about 10k for land clearing and working on the road. By doing it myself we pretty much got the mini excavator for free and I can use it for other things. Time is the biggest factor and knowing what I know now for my case a bigger machine even if it is used would have been better. Even the U17 might be a touch to small but haven't seen one in action. 0% is pretty good though :) Thanks for watching and your insight.
Lets be realistic... a Kubota U17 runs about $33k. At 0% and 36 months, that's $917 a month. People who make these kinds of comments obviously have that sort of money to buy a Kubota, Deere, etc., and that's fine. But the reality is, most folks can't swing that kind of payment to do some small jobs around their home/farm, etc. These little Chinese machines run $5-6k and get the job done just fine.
That was my initial thought. I did not want to commit that much money even at 0%. There are so many things that are eating up cash at the property that this was a good option for us at that price! Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@jtw2a Sure they offer 0%, but the sale price is considerably higher than cash price!
@@jaylast1958 Yeah that is very true unless they also make money on the financing side but usually cash does make a price difference. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Currently I'm trying to put together an oil drain line so I don't make a mess next time, and next is fans, I ordered two last night. I'm going to try to fit a 9-inch fan on the side to pull air in and I'm going to run a 10-inch fan fastened to the rear grill. This thing has pilot controls, so all the hyd. lines are right in my way where I want to place my fan on the side. My Miva has a 13 1/2 hp Blowup & ScrapIron of Chinese quality. There aren't any factory fans, so I'm going to heat proof the muffler and try to find a small piece of pipe so I can exit the business end of the onboard Bunson burner out the back of the machine.
Oh don't get me started on the oil-change mess :( I am still working on a solution for that. Funny how you start fixing the engineering issues once you have one. It's almost like they don't actually use their own product. I am working on a better exhaust solution as well. The dinky little pipe thing is a joke and is a pain to put back on. I am also working on potentially adding a filter to the hydraulic fluid. Not a priority but something I think will preserve things in the long run. Best of luck with the fans.
@@jtw2a Slit exhaust manual with twin stacks. I have a hyd, filter somewhere on my Miva but I guess it's a secret to where it is, at least they gave me a filter so I guess it has one.
Another thing that would be great is foot controls for the tracks. That’ll take some figuring out. So many times I would love to just move a bit back or forth without having to grab different controllers. One day I may get the urge to solve that problem.
@@jtw2a After reading some reviews here on the Tube I've decided I'm going to suck the oil out and when the oil is drained I'm going to put a rag/paper towel under the drain plug so I can get the shiny debris out of the bottom end. I bought a couple of 5 inch long thin wall stainless pieces of pipe off Ebay, now I have to come up with a way to fasten it because there isn't enough room to use a clamp. I think I might just drill the pipe and use a couple of self-tapping screws. One thing I really dislike on my Miva is the controls forward/reverse! On the left side is the blade control lever and on the far right is for the aux control and there is so much side to side slop in these control sticks every once in a while when moving I hit the control for the blade with the forward control because of the side-to-side slop and doing this is just like locking up the brakes on your car, it totally sucks!! I'm gonna have to tell the Potato that homesteads/occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. about it and make them install airbags on these things!
@@markmeister2444 Airbags would be the winning touch on these LOL I need to come with something better for the oil change as well. The way it is now is not fun at all. My controls are somewhat tight and I have not had the issue of hitting the blade control. I am still dreaming of foot pedals and a hydraulic thumb at this point. Maybe Christmas will be early. More leg room would be amazing as well. I do feel like I am way to big for that thing.
Thats not a roll bar that just holds up your sunshade.. I wish my blade would lift a little higher I have to be careful as to where I travel because the blade will prevent me from moving forward., I'm already scheming as I look at my welder and cutting torch. I only have about 4 hrs. on my mini so I've been trying to be careful with it I've been running it about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle before I have to shut it off and let it cool down. I've been trying to dig out some scrub bush's and they give the little mini a hard time, I need to make a ripper tooth for it.
LOL well I hope the roll sunshade holds up if I ever roll but not wanting to test my luck. I am not very confident in that structure. I run mine on half throttle and it goes quite a while before I need a break from the uncomfortable seat and heat coming up from the engine. How big is your engine and do you have a fan in the engine area to help cool? Mine has a fan and I think it helps quite a bit. I also added some insulation inside the engine compartment to buy me more time before it gets to warm under my butt and legs. I have been able to pull up entire large fern and smaller tree stomps with roots. It is in one of my other videos. I have not had any problems with my blade being to low but I wish it was wider and much taller. I have to make too many passes and dirt keeps falling right over the blade onto the cylinder.
Yea that’s definitely not a legit roll bar. I think they mention in most Chinese excavators that’s it’s not to protect you. Also is why a lot of people in that size with not cage will not wear seat belt so that at least you have a chance of not getting crushed. Good review though. I’m still definitely considering buying one.
@@travismorgan4249 Yeah I am not very confident in that contraption LOL Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment :)
I don't think I would want a seatbelt. I would jump if it rolled over.
That is what I was thinking before I ever messed with heavy equipment but from everything I've seen staying in the excavator when it goes is safer. In a rollover situation you are most likely realizing it's happening when you are already at such an angle that you are probably not jumping in the opposites direction of the roll. Jumping into the same direction as the excavator will possibly cause the machine to fall on you or roll right over you. I came across a youtube video example of a guy jumping into the fall of the machine and I am not sure if the guy was OK. It was very eye opening for me. Thanks for watching and commenting. Greatly appreciated!
Just get a seat belt and don’t jump out of it tips over. I saw a video of a guy in the same size of machine jump out last minute of a roll over and he was in some major pain.
I know a person form my past church that died do to a mini excavator roll-over. he was not wearing a seat belt and ended up being pined under the rop's.
turned out he died from. drowning in puddle of water being he couldn't move. that would be a horrible death.
seat belts are highly advised