Importing and modifying a new mini excavator from China

[oldrustysteel]

I guess the Briggs is one of the reasons I can afford to pay cash for a new excavator. Im sure a Kubota or Yanmar would add at least $3k to the price tag. I cant complain about the Briggs. It has done great so far at 15 hours. changed oil at 8 hours and will change every 25 hours now. Its crucial to change the oil in these engines without a filter and the extra heat that they are subject to. Without an oil filter, you can change the oil for less than $5. I do suggest a temp gauge and tach. Now I can set the throttle to the perfect rpm for the work I am doing. 2000 rpm works for me on almost anything I am doing. I can stall it at that speed but I rarely do. Much smoother with the bucket and boom at that speed.

 

[Fredrik]

Im sure a Kubota or Yanmar would add at least $3k to the price tag.

The 2-ton I'm going to have built will have the Kubota 902 in it. Extra cost was $1250.

 

[oldrustysteel]

The 2-ton I'm going to have built will have the Kubota 902 in it. Extra cost was $1250.

I really expected it to be a lot more than that. I would have paid that much more for Kubota or Yanmar. That would have made my total $7750. A good diesel should outlive 3 or 4 of these lil guys/

 

[jaylast]

Hey Fredrik, couldn't figure how to attach pdfs so just posting here.
Leking pricing fob unless noted:
kv13p. briggs, pilot, 1100kg. 4200$. (~6600 ddp)
kv18. add d722, 1200kg. 40lpm flow. 6800$
kv18p. 1500kg. Slightly larger tracks/base 7500$
kv18p. add 2 speed, d902, 8140$
Kv20. add yanmar 3TNV80F, 2 speed, rexroth 60lpm flow (piston). 12,200$. Would be about +4400 for DDP is my guess. No attachments!!!
The others like ltmg and leite were pretty comparable.
12k ddp sounds awesome. I would hazard a guess it might be closer spec'd in real life to leking kv18p?
Compare measurements, weights, hydro info?
Personally, I look 'gift horses' in the mouth hahah there aint no such thing as free.
As far as DDP, it's highly unlikely the would (or could) add any new change/charge once they've commited so I'd feel good about that with alibaba protection.


More reach and weight, faster travel, and diesel power would be nice but nah for now I'm sticking with this kv13 plus. The mods and adjustments have made it super usable and pretty dam capable.

kv20 rexroth pump 60lpm. Couldn't find a trace of it online though. Behind language barrier wall on WWW probably.

 

[dfkrug]

The 2-ton I'm going to have built will have the Kubota 902 in it. Extra cost was $1250.

Is that the D902, upgraded from the D722 engine? Upgrading from 1-cylinder (diesel or gasoline) would be more like $3k.

 

[jaylast]

Is that the D902

I checked and edited above. They had quoted me +2600 briggs to d722, but the d722 model also has tracks and superstructure that are larger/heavier iirc

 

[MattB4]

Matt - well the RB 3 Ton CFG / Shantui unit went for 20,500 - went up 5 K in last 5 minutes - needless to say I didnt get it. That wasn't a bad deal - but more than I wanted to outlay 0- would have been about $25K to my door with taxes fees and shipping.

I notice that the one on Auction time also went for just over $20K.

 

[Fredrik]

D and J........turns out it was too good to be true. 1.8 ton machine and could never get them to send me a Proforma Quote with all my specs listed. Kept getting Alibaba ordering notices. Finally was able to get in touch with a human at the Co. this morning. Told them " No Specy No Doughy" .Order soon vanished from my "Pending Orders" on Alibaba. I have other contacts. The search goes on.

 

[dfkrug]

For you guys and gals paying attention:

There is an explosion of new owners of these small Chinese excavators in the US, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, etc. With that, many new problems, and many new Utube vids, too.

I just saw one (JT's Okie) where his slew motor lost a bolt and broke its supporting flange. Check those bolts for tightness. New owners really need to open up their new minis and do a thorough inspection.

Another new owner just posted when he discovered these machines will free-wheel when descending slopes. They do not have wheel brakes or planetary final drives. DANGER!

I have learned to live with the free-wheeling problem on my steep slopes, and I have written about it above. But makers should fix it. No name-brand unit has this problem.

Be careful!

 

[vancouver]

Not that I can see. On the bright side, I finally got a manual from CAEL. Have not had a chance to look through it well, but it does have tech drawings and specs. Fingers Crossed.

EDIT- I sat down and looked at the manual that was sent to me today... It is wrong. Someone simply added a photo of my unit to the manual for a different machine... Not a great look for CAEL!

List price is $10000. Can u say what discount you negotiated? I may buy the 3.5 ton from them. Thx.

 

[CADplans]

My neighbor has a Yanmar,, he got it CHEAP, because the Yanmar engine was blown.
A piston/rod came out the side of the block.

He lucked out, and found a used JD mower with the IDENTICAL Yanmar engine.
The mower had a worn out mowing deck, and one of the hydrostatic drives had failed.

The only good thing left was the engine!!

The Yanmar excavator/new-engine runs great,,
He has told me that it is REAL easy to get it off angle enough to starve the engine for oil.
He thinks that is what blew the original engine!!

 

[MattB4]

For you guys and gals paying attention:

There is an explosion of new owners of these small Chinese excavators in the US, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, etc. With that, many new problems, and many new Utube vids, too.

...

My neighbor mentioned to me just a couple days back that on a trip to town he spotted several of the small excavators sitting at a farm supply store along his route. He did not stop to see the price but because he knew of mine it made him notice them.

With the availability increasing and the price dropping into the lawn tractor area I have little doubt that a lot of new to operating heavy equipment will be owning these. With that more problems and likely some dangerous situations in operation are going to happen.

Although these are small they are not something for children to operate. That is unless it is a unusually capable child. Back when I was a kid I did operate all kinds of machines but I sorta grew up doing it.

 

[oldrustysteel]

I would definitely buy my AGT L12 again at 6500. I really think there are some of these machines that are well-made, but maybe not well designed. A big problem with these are the fact that almost all the models I see , are designed to have a diesel engine. When the diesels were not allowed in the USA, someone had to improvise, so in came the Briggs gas engine. IMO they just bolted the engine in as quickly as possible to get the units sold. No consideration for quality or durability. Kind of reminds me of some of the things the big 3 auto makers in the US have done recently. I do think that the Chinese are attempting to make a decent product. It looks like each newer model has a few improvements over the previous model. I would never recommend one of these to someone who doesn't enjoy repairing and improving their own equipment. So far I have enjoyed improving my baby digger. Here are a few pics of what I did with mine Saturday.

 

[vancouver]

I'm thinking of buying a 3.5 ton excavator from cael in Vancouver,Canada. I plan to sell it in a few years. What is resale value on such an item with low hours and no warranty? I guess I lose 30 percent simply because it's not new?

 

[oldrustysteel]

I'm thinking of buying a 3.5 ton excavator from cael in Vancouver,Canada. I plan to sell it in a few years. What is resale value on such an item with low hours and no warranty? I guess I lose 30 percent simply because it's not new?

I am not familiar with that brand. If its a Chinese brand you may lose a lot. The trend now seems to be falling prices. I have heard of machines similar to mine selling for half what I gave. if you could wait a few weeks. it may be to your advantage. Good Luck.

 

[dfkrug]

I'm thinking of buying a 3.5 ton excavator from cael in Vancouver,Canada. I plan to sell it in a few years. What is resale value on such an item with low hours and no warranty? I guess I lose 30 percent simply because it's not new?

For tools, it is all about the make, the hours on it, and the condition it is in. There is very little info on resale of unbranded Chinese heavy equipment. And the market has changed a bunch in the past couple of years. Shortages at brand-name dealers have declined somewhat.

If you have to plan for resale, take care of it, sell it fully working, and plan on taking a 50% haircut, depending on what you paid for it, and when/where you sell it.

 

[Fredrik]

For you guys and gals paying attention:

There is an explosion of new owners of these small Chinese excavators in the US, Canada, Europe, UK, Australia, etc. With that, many new problems, and many new Utube vids, too.

I just saw one (JT's Okie) where his slew motor lost a bolt and broke its supporting flange. Check those bolts for tightness. New owners really need to open up their new minis and do a thorough inspection.

Be careful!

Most of the bolts on my Kat 12 didn't have lock washers even. Some are almost impossible to tighten unless your arms are like pencils. Liberal use of Loctite red is suggested. Improperly crimped hoses happened to me as well as leaky seals on travel motors. Don't expect to work these mini's like a Tak or JD.
There is a good reason they can be bought for the same $ as a quality zero turn mower. Are the junk? Nope. I'm gonna buy a heavier duty China Mini to work "hard". They are very capable for their size and weight but I wouldn't expect the durability of a $40,000 machine.
Pay very close attention to grade and slope ! Maintenance, maintenance and a daily pre flight inspection should keep you safe.

 

[oldrustysteel]

Does anyone know what the maximum allowable temp may be for the Briggs engine on our mini~X machines. My temp sensor attaches between the head and spark plug. I would guess that is the hottest part of the engine but I am guessing. On 50` days my temp gets up around 285. I would appreciate some help here. Can't find any thing in my old Briggs manual.

 

[dfkrug]

Most of the bolts on my Kat 12 didn't have lock washers even. Some are almost impossible to tighten unless your arms are like pencils. Liberal use of Loctite red is suggested. Improperly crimped hoses happened to me as well as leaky seals on travel motors.

You have had about the worst experience I have heard of wrt loose bolts on Chinese minis, Fredrik. Sorry you went thru this. I had maybe one banjo hyd fitting come loose. I am not a big fan of thread lockers instead of proper torqueing and proper use of washers and nylock nuts. Sometimes you need heat to get them off when using products like Locktite. I also like to prelube bolts and the threaded outer part of JIC fittings so I don't have to fight rust when I go to remove them.

Glad to see you have not become discouraged.

 

[dfkrug]

Does anyone know what the maximum allowable temp may be for the Briggs engine on our mini~X machines.

I don't have an answer for you.

5y ago, I was working with a few others who were following my efforts to put a new 420cc engine into a Chinese mini that was purchased without a motor. One guy,a building contractor in SoCal, really worked his machine hard on jobsites. Enough to change the color of the engine oil that day. So he changes the oil after every job. Last I heard, the machine is still running. I think he also removed the house cover in the back so the engine would not get so hot.

I think that if I monitored the engine temp, I would place the sensor in the oil sump.