Importing and modifying a new mini excavator from China

[dfkrug]

Hey this thread is great. Chinese excavators are on my radar.

Have you encountered any design flaws or quirks? I had imported an engine powered flail mower from china and i know there were some little things i had to take care of like loose bolts, design flaws, and reinforcing certain areas.

Sure, lots of them. I have noted many in this thread.

Coming from China does not mean a product is poorly-made. My Lenovo computer has been excellent, as is my cheap Korea-designed, China-made LG cell phone.

Quality control is one of the processes that suffer when a myriad of factories are competing to make the same thing and export it all over the world. The shared design for this 1-ton excavator has been improved an amazing amount in the 4y since mine was made.

The short-comings of the buckets are something I just addressed above. I continue to make my own improvements, but the various factories have been amazingly fast and responsive to customer demands. Markets at work.

 

[dfkrug]

I recently completed this improvement, a guard for the wheel motors.

Whenever working on steeper slopes, as I have been doing, you will need to operate in a blade-downhill posture. That means that any rocks you dislodge will likely roll down and hit the wheel motors and their plumbing. There is no protection from that. In a few cases, I tried using a piece of plywood, but that is not ideal. I have taken a few hits, but so far, no serious damage.

With my luck, the next 10# rock is going to bend a fitting.

I welded ears onto the base frame of the undercarriage. I considered using the motor mounting bolts, but I would have to remove the tracks to get at the nuts. BTDT. No fun.

The guard is just a piece of 1.5x1.5x1/8" angle steel, salvaged from the shipping crate.

 

[dfkrug]

Another improvement found on some of these machines are wheel-braking valves, which are essentially cross-over relief valves on the return side of the hydraulic motors.

My unit does not have these, and that allows the unit to travel too fast when going downhill. This is not really an issue if the tracks are not directly-driven by the hyd motor. In that case, there are planetary gears in the final drive, in a gearbox full of oil. That is the way larger excavators drive the tracks.

My motor does not have a maker plate, but it does have unused ports. I fantasize about adding braking valves.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Your journey with your excavator has been quite fun to follow, I hope you have it for many years to come!

 

[Dragnet]

So glad to see this thread. I am about to jump into a .8 from Alibaba, but I want to make sure I know what I am getting into before paying the deposit for a mini excavator. Anything good or bad on Shandong Nuoman Engineering company? I have a quote for 2980 plus 460 shipping "CIF". That seems fair given used prices for name brands that I have found, but I don't know for sure. Anyone in US have any advice that I might heed before sending the 30% deposit? Thanks a bunch in advance for help/suggestion.

With CIF do we pay "import" fees when buying one from Shangdong?

 

[chsdiyer]

I didn't order through that company but mine supposedly just got to port. The Vanguard Logistics company sent me an invoice for about $550, but of course they wont answer the phone or respond to emails to let me know they received the payment and everything is good to go. You'll still pay the %25 tariff, i assume when it passes through customs. My import broker feels will likely be several hundred dollars more. If it's on schedule mine should arrive locally in a few weeks. If you haven't come across this youtube channel, Jason has a lot of great content on the process and other things to consider..https://www.youtube.com/user/jasonyeh99

 

[tman1020]

I looked into this a bit as well and decided that I think it would be better to buy one from someone that is importing them on a larger scale. Even if it costs a bit more money
I feel they would have a bit more experience and pull in knowing what to upgrade and what parts to keep in stock that could potentially be problematic. I like the idea of getting a namebrand engine in it like Kubota/Yanmar or Briggs & Stratton. And hydraulic fittings that can be sourced here in the US when you break a hose. Because you’re going to break a hose sooner or later. They sure do look handy especially for the price. Keep us updated how it works out And good luck.

 

[dfkrug]

In the US, an already imported mini-X in the .8-1.0T size range, with single-cylinder gasoline engine is going to run about $10-12K retail. Sales taxes, more. There are many folks who have imported container loads, and applied their own name. There is a lot of money to be saved by the DIY person, but there is also a certain amount of stress and unpredictable costs.

With the supply problems, it has been extra-hard to get a name-brand unit (Kubota, Cat, IHI, Bobcat, etc.), and you are now probably looking at $30K for the smallest ones, new.

I bought a lot of spares, which seem to be of decent quality. Selling them off now. I even bought an extra 8-spool stack valve, the most expensive part of the whole machine.

 

[Dragnet]

Craigslist I am finding for exactly what OP stated $12.5k. Would be great to buy locally, I agree, but the mark-up is too much for me. Excellent idea for OP to grab those extra parts now while you can. I will wait a couple months for one to arrive and save the local mark-up fee. Ebay is around $9300 (state tax included). These are with a mechanical thumb at best. For what I need a machine for and the prices I can't even consider a new name brand machine. Would like to get one with swing boom but I am struggling even at the price I have been quoted below.

For the NM-E08 I am looking at:
1. CIF: $4600- includes; $2980 base price, 460 shipping fee, 90 narrow bucket, 150 loading bucket, 0 standard bucket, 370 auger, 350 hydraulic thumb, 80 oil cooler, 13.5 B&S and state sales tax;
2. Broker Fee $150
3. Tariff $1150 at 25%; and
4. Destination Local Charge $600-Appears to include chassis fee, CFS fuel surcharge, CFS Port Security fee, truck loading charge, CFS docs, CFS PTT, Delivery Authorization Document, Facility Window Fee, wage adjustment fee, LSS, Port Congestion Fee, and CFS Congestion Fee. Is this the same thing Jason referred to as Freight charge?

Estimated Total: $6500. Anyone see a fee that I have not accounted for?


Maybe if I strip the attachments it might make the purchase more feasbile for me at this point ($5460). Thinking that I should get the attachments now though.

Hoping to hear back tomorrow from a broker to learn about any other fees.


I have been through something similar with car auctions before and I learned my lesson....due diligence! Hope to start the adventure soon.

 

[dfkrug]

4. Destination Local Charge $600-Appears to include chassis fee, CFS fuel surcharge, CFS Port Security fee, truck loading charge, CFS docs, CFS PTT, Delivery Authorization Document, Facility Window Fee, wage adjustment fee, LSS, Port Congestion Fee, and CFS Congestion Fee. Is this the same thing Jason referred to as Freight charge?

The CFS is the Container-Freight-Station, which is a warehouse near the port that the container is brought to if it has to be opened up to be divided among different recipients. Inspections may happen there, too. And lots of fees that make no sense.

Then, there is a freight charge for shipping from the CFS to the final destination, or some intermediate shipper. That could be anyone you can find, including common carriers, or others chosen by your logistics company. Or, you can pick it up yourself.

Might have to pay DHS special inspection fee, and your local sales tax, too, if any. The state will know, since you have to give your SS# or TIN, if you are in the US.

 

[Dragnet]

Insane! $2000 more after paying CIF AND state tax to import this machine. Still cheaper than buying a used brand name machine, but I don't think now is the time for me. They certainly seem worth the money but the duty of 25% just ruins it for me.

 

[chsdiyer]

I received mine this week. Minus the frustrations dealing with Vanguard Logistics (CFS), it was pretty painless process. Everyone always suggests buying as many attachments as you can, but I figured I didn't "need" some of the other things like a wider bucket or a tilt bucket and now i've already got things i wish I would have bought those for.

 

[tman1020]

Nice! Keep us posted how you like it I’m curious to see how these little China diggers hold up overtime.

 

[dfkrug]

I received mine this week.

Congrats. Did your Hightop come with hyd oil cooling and return filtration?

Protect your boom cylinder hoses by flipping the cyl around. Newer units have 30mm boom cylinder pins. Mine are only 25mm.

 

[chsdiyer]

Congrats. Did your Hightop come with hyd oil cooling and return filtration?

Protect your boom cylinder hoses by flipping the cyl around. Newer units have 30mm boom cylinder pins. Mine are only 25mm.

Yes, it has the cooling and filtration on it. Feel like i need to add another fan in there to "try" and keep the engine from heating that whole compartment under the seat so much.

 

[dfkrug]

Yes, it has the cooling and filtration on it. Feel like i need to add another fan in there to "try" and keep the engine from heating that whole compartment under the seat so much.

Yes, an electric fan helps a lot. Also, most of the gasoline conversions do not duct the flywheel fan to get outside air, as they do with the diesel. The B&S 2100 engine should have plenty of output to run a fan without discharging the battery. My own Duromax 420 has only one charge coil, so not as good.

Oh, and routing the muffler outside of the house is important, too. It gets hot inside there!

 

[mxr662]

Twenty-nine of these just sold at Richie Brothers in Dunnigan CA. Around 5000 + tax and fees. I registered for the auction but missed it somehow. Probably best to miss as I do not need one anymore.

Andy

Link to Auction

 

[Mini_EX]

A question for owners: do you happen to tow anything with your mini excavator? What could be the towing capacity of these small machines?
My machine has the 2-cylinder diesel EV80 engine, weights around 1.1 metric ton, and thinking about to attach a small trailer behind it, and try to carry some gravel on it. I live on a hillside, so it has some incline too.
Tried find some info on this topic, without luck. Thank you in advance.

 

[4570Man]

A question for owners: do you happen to tow anything with your mini excavator? What could be the towing capacity of these small machines?
My machine has the 2-cylinder diesel EV80 engine, weights around 1.1 metric ton, and thinking about to attach a small trailer behind it, and try to carry some gravel on it. I live on a hillside, so it has some incline too.
Tried find some info on this topic, without luck. Thank you in advance.

I tow my trailers with my KX-040. I think you could tow a trailer equal to it’s own weight on fairly flat ground. The biggest problem is excavators have weak final drives. They aren’t like other equipment that can put good power to the ground. They barely move themselves.

 

[Mini_EX]

Thank you for your response. The Kx-040 is a monster compared to my little machine. As I read here, these chinese machines could have problems with descending on a slope without any extra load, since the motors drive the tracks directly.