Chinese built 1-ton plus excavators.

[4570Man]

I'd love a $300K 10 ton mini-x to have sitting around 95% of the time but the reality is it's cheaper for me to line up jobs and pay $3K to rent a new(er) machine for a week and $600 for delivery! No insurance, no maintenance, if it breaks down they send me a repair guy same day or new machine the next day...and 100% write off in the current year for the rental.

A new 10 ton machine is probably like $150k. But a brand new excavator is pretty excessive for someone that’s not working it full time. 50k would buy a used machine that’s nice enough to work pretty reliably. $25k would get a machine that would work pretty good with minor repairs.

 

[dfkrug]

I measure 3.25" (83mm) CTC for pin-to-pin spacing, and 92mm for the ear spacing. As for 1" vs. 25mm pins, using 25mm pins in 1" holes is doable, but sloppier than I like. I wonder if the person at BXPANDED was only approximating pin diameter. I suspect that both the JD and BX hoes have 25mm pins.

BTW, BXPANDED has several ripper teeth: JD260RT, LSRT, KBXRT, etc. Some of the products seem to have a special kidney link included, and some seem to be designed to fit the QA bracket and not pivot.

Just got another response from BXPANDED: "we do not have any ripper products which utilize 25mm pins."

 

[MattB4]

Just got another response from BXPANDED: "we do not have any ripper products which utilize 25mm pins."

Came real close to just buying one yesterday and modifying the mount myself. I had put it in the Cart to check shipping price ($16-17 not bad at all) and had second thoughts before pulling the trigger. Perhaps in Spring I will change my mind.

I really believe there is a market for someone to provide US based parts and attachments for these excavators. Round up all the modification components such as hydraulic adapters, fans, coolers, buckets, thumbs, and what have you.

 

[dfkrug]

Came real close to just buying one yesterday and modifying the mount myself. I had put it in the Cart to check shipping price ($16-17 not bad at all) and had second thoughts before pulling the trigger. Perhaps in Spring I will change my mind.

I really believe there is a market for someone to provide US based parts and attachments for these excavators. Round up all the modification components such as hydraulic adapters, fans, coolers, buckets, thumbs, and what have you.

I found an old response from BXPANDED in the Kubota forum. Width between ears is 3 7/8", or about 98mm. That would only leave about 6mm of clearance, which can be shimmed with a washer or 2. Still don't like the 1" pin spec.

I still have a bunch of spares for the minis here. Not advertising, but selling them at cost. Dunno who is buying all those machines, but the need for parts and the lack of sources in the US will be an issue soon.

 

[Tom2023]

Saw this ripper on Youtube: But he ends up bending it.

 

[Tom2023]

Here is the video where he bends it.

 

[dfkrug]

Saw this ripper on Youtube: But he ends up bending it.

Yeah, that is the BXpanded ripper tooth. They need to add gusseting to it, as the sideways forces of dragging a stump were too much for it. I wonder how the buyer dealt with the 1" pinholes with his 25mm pins on his mini-X.

 

[MattB4]

Darn impressive results digging out such a huge stump. Not surprised he bent the ripper when he used it to do more than rip roots. Pretty lucky if that was the only damage to the machine done. Certainly seemed that the Bxpanded fit OK. Still seems odd that the company was dismissive of inquiries into it.

The videos does make me more interested in buying one, and adapting it if necessary, come Spring. Thanks for posting them Tom2032!

ETA: Reading the comments on the video I see where the ripper pin holes were modified to fit his GH excavator. He says he used the BX23 model and used a 1 inch drill to widen the pin holes. Seems weird. I likely would go for the BX24.

 

[dfkrug]

Darn impressive results digging out such a huge stump. Not surprised he bent the ripper when he used it to do more than rip roots. Pretty lucky if that was the only damage to the machine done. Certainly seemed that the Bxpanded fit OK. Still seems odd that the company was dismissive of inquiries into it.

The videos does make me more interested in buying one, and adapting it if necessary, come Spring. Thanks for posting them Tom2032!

ETA: Reading the comments on the video I see where the ripper pin holes were modified to fit his GH excavator. He says he used the BX23 model and used a 1 inch drill to widen the pin holes. Seems weird. I likely would go for the BX24.

Yeah, I was asking the poster of that video about that. It seems that BXpanded may actually have 25mm pins. I hope they beef it up on the sides. Or the owner could add couple of gussets.

It is very unlikely that the Chinese rippers will bend sideways in a similar situation. If anyone does bend it, please let us know.

 

[oldrustysteel]

One modification that has really helped in my opinion was welding the side cutters on to the bucket. Mine came with square cut edges so I also ground a bevel to the face of the cutters to help with root busting. With the cutters welded on and bolts removed it sure seems to dig easier. I also welded on the teeth but left the bolts on afterwards. The welded teeth no longer can slew inwards under digging pressure as they did when first operating.

Yes it means easy replacement is gone but in all likelihood I will never wear out the teeth and edges. Though I can't prove it I think those bolts sticking out on the sides of the bucket really increased the force necessary to dig versus a smooth side of bucket.

My bolt on bucket teeth have loosened a bit so I need to weld a little I guess.. I noticed some machines don't have side-cutters. Do the little machines need them? Any advice on the welding process?