What did you do with your Chinese baby digger today?

[dfkrug]

The L12 has the cooler and fan installed at factory. no filtration.

I see you can get a decent oil radiator and fan kit for $55 on eBay, delivered. Adding $30 for filter and mount, plus a couple of hoses and adapters, both systems can be had for $100 or so in parts.

 

[Fixastuff]

IMO, it's nutty that the Chinese don't include filtration systems from the factory.

Maybe they don't expect the rest of the machine to last long enough for it to matter?

 

[oldrustysteel]

I see you can get a decent oil radiator and fan kit for $55 on eBay, delivered. Adding $30 for filter and mount, plus a couple of hoses and adapters, both systems can be had for $100 or so in parts.

Thats a great deal IMHO

 

[2manyrocks]

The cost of the parts to install a hydraulic filter at the factory wouldn't be very much, especially since they aren't having to ship the parts separately to the US, and it wouldn't take much time to install it OEM, either compared to people having to track down the parts that fit the machine later here.

 

[CaverDave]

I'd suggest you consider hiring a forestry mulcher to grind them up for you.

Thank you for the insight @2manyrocks !
Id spoken with 2 different folks side hustling "forestry mulchers". My understanding based on them, was they'd take the stumps down to ground level *AND* only want $4K to do it ... which doesn't meet my needs considering: I've already taken down 1/2 of them, would still need the area "pruned" (leveled) and rotting stumps would leave me with a bunch of sinks/trips a few years down the road?

Looks identical to the Diggit EM15, including no hour meter, and no ballast. It is the longer mini that has 41 track links (instead of 37), and the blade and rear are extended. House clears the blade.

Note how he got around the hour meter killer switch by installing an inductive hour meter.

What's your thoughts on "comfort" given the joystick position and armrests?

The 1-ton machines do more than what most people expect. If you have plenty of time and patience,
you will be able to do maybe 85% of what you want to accomplish. If you are handy, and get satisfaction from maintaining, repairing, improving things yourself, you may enjoy adding a baby digger to your toolbox.

As a 4th generation hack (GGGF was a clock maker/repairer, GGF was a "loom mechanic"/mason, GF was carpenter/diesel mechanic, and late father was small engine mechanic), believe I've the braincells & tools to fix their shortcomings. Have been doing the same thing for 20+ years on my old Jeep...

 

[2manyrocks]

Maybe worth mentioning that the first guy that showed up to bid arrived in a new truck and had a nice website for his forestry mulching business. His bid looked like it was about double the next guys who charged $185 hour with a four hour minimum who don't have a website, only a FB page. Having them do the mulching freed up my time to work on other things.

 

[dfkrug]

What's your thoughts on "comfort" given the joystick position and armrests?

I think that controls on the armrests are clearly superior in comfort to joysticks on the valve console in front of you. You can do that with pilot controls.

The minis like the Diggit EM15 with the longer house and pilot controls is a jump in complexity over most of the 1-tonish Chinese units. That can be a bit troubling for the DIY person and the near-total lack of service documentation. Now you have an hydraulic flow-divider, accumulator, 2 or 3 RVs, solenoid valve(s), and a more complex pump to deal with.

I enjoy that stuff, but not everyone does.

 

[CaverDave]

I think that controls on the armrests are clearly superior in comfort to joysticks on the valve console in front of you. You can do that with pilot controls.

The minis like the Diggit EM15 with the longer house and pilot controls is a jump in complexity over most of the 1-tonish Chinese units. That can be a bit troubling for the DIY person and the near-total lack of service documentation. Now you have an hydraulic flow-divider, accumulator, 2 or 3 RVs, solenoid valve(s), and a more complex pump to deal with.

I enjoy that stuff, but not everyone does.

Interesting... I assume that means the various valves are solenoid actuated (the controls aren't physically connected like the other models)? What's different about the pumps?
Depending on overall cost, I'm bigger on comfort than that bit of additional complexity... at least today

 

[dfkrug]

Interesting... I assume that means the various valves are solenoid actuated (the controls aren't physically connected like the other models)? What's different about the pumps?

No, the EM15 only uses a solenoid valve for the safety cutoff. Having pilot (servo) valves means you have to have 2 pumps instead of one. Or a flow divider that acts like two pumps.

The spool-type valves in each armrest operate tiny cylinders (actuators) mounted on the main valves.

 

[2manyrocks]

I think that controls on the armrests are clearly superior in comfort to joysticks on the valve console in front of you. You can do that with pilot controls.

The minis like the Diggit EM15 with the longer house and pilot controls is a jump in complexity over most of the 1-tonish Chinese units. That can be a bit troubling for the DIY person and the near-total lack of service documentation. Now you have an hydraulic flow-divider, accumulator, 2 or 3 RVs, solenoid valve(s), and a more complex pump to deal with.

I enjoy that stuff, but not everyone does.

What are your thoughts on this when it comes to reliability and future parts availability? If the basic 1 ton Chinese units can be kept repaired with commonly available parts, that would seem to be in their favor so far as many of us? Proprietary parts get to be expensive and can disappear altogether over time.