Importing and modifying a new mini excavator from China

[TimberFarm]

Anyone know of a good seller to buy a silt bucket from. Have some cow ponds to clean out. Nothing on Ali express. Could go with Alibaba but don't know how long it would take.

Could try tiller-king.com
They are the ones loading up the auctions with all these machines.

 

[Fredrik]

Thanks Timber, Typed in Tiller King . com And it routes you to AGT Industrial. Must be the same guys..
33" Bucket no teeth out of stock. Might just fab my own . Good price if they had them , $599 Delivered.
Thank god for plasma cutters.

 

[TimberFarm]

I wonder, do all the chinese buckets interchange?
In my shopping for an excavator I found out that quite a few "factories" are really just assemblers of all the same parts that everybody else is using. Then quite a few "factories" aren't even assemblers, they just buy excavators from an assemblers and have them paint it their color and put their logo's on it.
That's what makes me think that the attachments would be interchangable.
Now that is purely speculation on my part though.

 

[dfkrug]

I wonder, do all the chinese buckets interchange?

From what I have seen and owned, the buckets are all the same until you get to the bigger machines (over 2-3T). They are the same thin-wall, 25mm-pin buckets with backwards bolt-on teeth. I have seen 4 widths.

As for the true factories, there are numerous differences in the design of the main machine and body work, but just a few tiny differences in the boom or dipper or hydraulics. Virtually no differences in the buckets or other attachments.

 

[ArlyA]

Has this fellows videos of his mini purchase every been posted here?? I've not noted it. This is his one year of review. He's an Englishman but lives in France.

 

[dfkrug]

I remember when that guy in France bought his unit, and I have watched his learning curve. I comment on many of the small Chinese mini-X vids on Utube when they come out.

Anyway, he did a good summary. But....and I have beat this horse hard...many of the issues/fixes with these machines have been documented here, and are easy to find, with pix. Comments on Utube are chronological and do not allow posting pix. They get lost. Case in point: zerk fiitting features and modifications. Tough to have to figure these all out for yourself when they have been documented on TBN. Specific Utube vids would be more helpful to the new owner. e.g. "Adding an oil cooler to my 1T Chinese mini-X", or "how to add wheel brakes to my 1T Chinese mini-X", etc.

I have operated one of the Chinese 1T minis with the 3-cyl Kubota diesel engine. It is a bit less jerky, but that is cuz it runs at lower RPM. It uses that same valve and pump as do the 1-cyl gas or diesel units. Shock-RVs in key circuits would perhaps improve that feature even more.

 

[ArlyA]

I remember when that guy in France bought his unit, and I have watched his learning curve. I comment on many of the small Chinese mini-X vids on Utube when they come out.

Anyway, he did a good summary. But....and I have beat this horse hard...many of the issues/fixes with these machines have been documented here, and are easy to find, with pix. Comments on Utube are chronological and do not allow posting pix. They get lost. Case in point: zerk fiitting features and modifications. Tough to have to figure these all out for yourself when they have been documented on TBN. Specific Utube vids would be more helpful to the new owner. e.g. "Adding an oil cooler to my 1T Chinese mini-X", or "how to add wheel brakes to my 1T Chinese mini-X", etc.

I have operated one of the Chinese 1T minis with the 3-cyl Kubota diesel engine. It is a bit less jerky, but that is cuz it runs at lower RPM. It uses that same valve and pump as do the 1-cyl gas or diesel units. Shock-RVs in key circuits would perhaps improve that feature even more.

So did he say "I thought I was getting a gas?" and it was a diesel. He was smelling the tank to check what was in it. I thought the tank would be yellow, if it was deisel. His was red.

 

[dfkrug]

So did he say "I thought I was getting a gas?" and it was a diesel.

I did not know he was expecting a gas-powered unit. Looks like he got the usual ChangChai/Koop 499cc 1-cyl diesel, a copy of the old Yanmar L100.

 

[Dunacn]

Can anyone speak to the advantages/disadvantages of the boom cylinder placed behind the boom?

 

[D'oh]

^^^ Less chance of breakage/damage when digging max depth