Agrotk excavators: Does anyone have one? Opinions/comments/critiques?

[dfkrug]

Teeth are soft and bend in hard dirt,--hard to believe that 13.5 hp could to that!! LOL! Gotta make some decent teeth for it.

Yes, no one "should" buy one of these from an auction site without inspecting them first. But, at $3-4K, wow. Another 55 of them going up for auction locally tomorrow.

Those who read my posts know I do not like the buckets, and their crappy teeth. That is one of the first mods I did, and it was easy and very rewarding. I will never wear out my custom welded-on teeth. A quick look at the buckets on a K008 or 300.9 shows you what they should look like.

 

[D'oh]

Interesting tag differences. Besides the obvious quality of the one in the second picture two other big things I spot. Different weight 830kg vs 880kg and the serial numbers are not in the same format. The first one is simply numbered 422638911 whereas the second is L1223071502H. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that AGT Industrial of America uses the 2nd serial number format and if you talk to them about parts for a machine lacking that type of serial number is when they will say it is not one of theirs. Parsing it to be model L12-date of July 2023 manufacture-1502 made- H series

I also note that the 2nd tag has an American Address and Purpose type to it.

The 422XXXXX VIN# is taken from the Briggs and Stratton, the other VIN# is given by AGT

 

[Sonny580]

I am waitin til they get down to 2,500,---then I will buy a couple more for parts machines. --- Cant build one for that!

 

[D'oh]

Couldn't build one for $4000.00 The B&S alone would run you $1000.00

 

[TripleS]

To me the B&S seems to be a clone or knock off. They have the little logo stamped in them but they are made awfully cheap.

 

[Sonny580]

YA!! Its the B&S clone! or fake or whatever you want to call it! chimineese built copy! --- seams to be a good motor now that I took it apart and went thru it puttin **** where it was s'posed to be and a good clean out of everything.
Cant put parts in right if your eyes are not straight! lol!
Gas in crankcase, intake valve messed up, carb rusty/gummy.
Re-ground the valves, honed the guides, lubed the stems and back together on that part. New oil in it fresh actual gas in the tank and runs like new now.
Life span??? Have NO idea! lol! We shall see!

 

[MattB4]

To me the B&S seems to be a clone or knock off. They have the little logo stamped in them but they are made awfully cheap.

B&S went bankrupt several years back and was sold to a private investor group supposedly out of NY. Likely they transferred the equipment and designs of engines to a Chinese manufacturer.

 

[MattB4]

The 422XXXXX VIN# is taken from the Briggs and Stratton, the other VIN# is given by AGT

So you have Auction machines that no serial number was given other than the engine number. Probably factory seconds or QC rejects.

 

[TimberFarm]

Everybody replaces the B&S with Harbor Freight Predator.
They all seem to like it better and it is supposedly direct swap.

 

[D'oh]

So you have Auction machines that no serial number was given other than the engine number. Probably factory seconds or QC rejects.

No, just 2022 model, none of them had actual Serial #'s, Those started showing up on 2023 Models, on little Tags that the Importer stuck on. In fact, the Tag on the 2023 QH12 I bought, fell off of the Seat Back the day I got it home.

Like I have mentioned, the QH12 (Serial # Tag) is an Exact Copy of my 2022 FF Industrial 12, (no Serial # other than the B&S Sticker) even color. So I think the Serial # is more an American Auction Thing, than a Chinese Manufacture thing.

 

[D'oh]

B&S went bankrupt several years back and was sold to a private investor group supposedly out of NY. Likely they transferred the equipment and designs of engines to a Chinese manufacturer.

My Stand On has a 23hp RATO V twin that shares a lot of features with a B&S Vanguard. RATO Also builds a 420cc Single that other than the Recoil, looks a lot like the B&S XR.

Could be where B&S Tooling wound up. Along with their EPA Compliance Stickers.

Many of the Harbor Freight motors are RATO Built.

 

[Sonny580]

I just bought a Lifan 7,000 watt generator AND the motor looks exactly like the one in the L-12. I think they just make one motor at the factory and stick whatever name on them that you want.--- including the ones hf sells, so IF its chimineese, it came from the same factory. Just my .002!

 

[oldrustysteel]

Interesting tag differences. Besides the obvious quality of the one in the second picture two other big things I spot. Different weight 830kg vs 880kg and the serial numbers are not in the same format. The first one is simply numbered 422638911 whereas the second is L1223071502H. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that AGT Industrial of America uses the 2nd serial number format and if you talk to them about parts for a machine lacking that type of serial number is when they will say it is not one of theirs. Parsing it to be model L12-date of July 2023 manufacture-1502 made- H series

I also note that the 2nd tag has an American Address and Purpose type to it.

A person might be well served to inspect ahead of time before buying an Auction sourced Baby Ex.

ETA. BTW I do like the fully opening back cover on your L12. Much easier engine access than my Typhon.

I know companies in China like to imitate better known brands and pass them off as authentic. Seems to be a common thing on Amazon.. NGK spark plugs are one thing that I had an issue with. The complaints and pics I see, make me wonder if other companies are making cheap copies? Now at 12 hours, not a single loose bolt found. In fact, all nuts and bolts seem to be torqued and have a paint line across them to indicate if they have moved any. Also, the bolts attaching the house swing motor (made by Eaton), has red loctite on them, as do the engine mounting bolts.

 

[dfkrug]

My Stand On has a 23hp RATO V twin that shares a lot of features with a B&S Vanguard. RATO Also builds a 420cc Single that other than the Recoil, looks a lot like the B&S XR.

The B&S and the Honda clones are very similar. Note that even Honda, like Briggs, has at least one factory in China for these small engines. Rato marks their engines and it regarded as one of the better Chonda makers. They are one of the suppliers of Predators from HF. Note that HF has at least two makers of the 420 thumpers, one with a hemi head, one without. You can spend hours on the internet reading about these Chonda clones.

Even my Duromax 420 is made in China for a US company: LCT, which acquired the Tecumseh line after they went bankrupt years ago.

You can buy the B&S new online (US supplier) for $500 or so, plus tax. It is a bit less for a decent Chonda 420. The 420 I bought new to put in my Woodmizer has no maker plate, and it is of lower quality, but overall, OK.

A year or so ago, I bought a new Rato horizontal twin (Predator) from HF for about $900. It is still running well in a DW SK500 walk-behind loader. It replaced a Honda, and it fit OK, except for the muffler and air intake.

 

[oldrustysteel]

It seems its almost impossible to get something made in the good old USA anymore. Here is the spec plate on the Briggs in the L12. China has been slowly acquiring almost any company worth having. I think it started in the 90s.

 

[oldrustysteel]

Something I dont understand is the grease fittings on the blade arms. All the other grease fittings work fine but these two refused to take grease. I removed them and found there is a white bushing in there with no hole for grease. is this a defect? Should I drill a hole in the white bushing?

 

[dfkrug]

Something I dont understand is the grease fittings on the blade arms. All the other grease fittings work fine but these two refused to take grease. I removed them and found there is a white bushing in there with no hole for grease. is this a defect? Should I drill a hole in the white bushing?

That is a feature of poor quality control, coupled with the use of grease zerks that are not in the ends of the pins. In this location, pin-zerks would be harder to service so not ideal either. On my own machine, one of the blade cylinder zerks did not take grease. The easiest solution is to just unscrew the zerk and drill thru the bearing sleeve. There probably IS a hole in the bearing insert, but it rotated when it was pressed in. Or the assembler was supposed to drill a hole.

On any new equipment, it is important to take the grease gun to all the zerks (or needle grease fittings) right away to address this problem.

 

[oldrustysteel]

That is a feature of poor quality control, coupled with the use of grease zerks that are not in the ends of the pins. In this location, pin-zerks would be harder to service so not ideal either. On my own machine, one of the blade cylinder zerks did not take grease. The easiest solution is to just unscrew the zerk and drill thru the bearing sleeve. There probably IS a hole in the bearing insert, but it rotated when it was pressed in. Or the assembler was supposed to drill a hole.

On any new equipment, it is important to take the grease gun to all the zerks (or needle grease fittings) right away to address this problem.

Thanks for the answer. I didn't want to drill holes without checking in here first. i found a minor issue with the choke on the Briggs engine. I noticed it cranked longer than it should when cold. with the choke cable pulled out as far as possible, I checked the little choke knob on the engine. it moved another quarter inch to the FULL choke position when I pushed it with my finger. The engine starts much quicker when you do this. The problem is with the bracket they used to attach the cable to the engine. It is not straight like it should be. I think there is enough room in the bracket for another hole to be drilled and this should solve the problem. I think that many of these machines with the Briggs will have this same issue. I hope this helps someone.

 

[dfkrug]

Well, possibly a new low price in the US for new AGROTK minis: $2600 + tax and 10% buyer's fee. About $3K out the door. QH12R

62 mini-excavators sold today at our local monthly auction in Sacramento, CA. That is down from 65 last month, but this month no larger ones (2-4T).

 

[TripleS]

Well, possibly a new low price in the US for new AGROTK minis: $2600 + tax and 10% buyer's fee. About $3K out the door. QH12R

62 mini-excavators sold today at our local monthly auction in Sacramento, CA. That is down from 65 last month, but this month no larger ones (2-4T).

They have issues but they are worth 3k I buy one for 3k out the door