Search results

Looks like the other one at that auction in FL went for only $4K. I guess they forgot to install the zerks.

Lotsa folks in the Bay Area own vacation houses in the Tahoe area, or other parts of the Sierras. It is laughable that they call them "cabins", since they are usually 3bed/2bath conventional houses with often more square feet of area than houses they own here. Many owners would rather not rent...

Yes, of course, he should do that very easy test to see if they move separately. It takes much more force to turn, vs drive straight. Small minis with 2-speed wheel motors often stall when trying to make a turn in high range. If RV setting was not verified, he may be starting with only 1500psi.

Which unit did you buy? Does it have a hyd return filter? Did you check and adjust your system relief valve? How many hours on your mini? My current guess is that your machine is not generating the force necessary to make the turn. Since you were able to turn earlier, your RV is prob not...

All good advice above. The factory loader valve is better in the obvious ways (joystick vs. 2-stick, already has PB), but the diagram shows it has float and probably regen as well. Easy choice. I have used both 2-stick and joystick controls for an FEL. One of them stinks.

Sure looks like the assembler zipped all the bolts on with an impact driver and did not come back to torque them properly. Not usually factory behavior.

I wonder what caused those 2 lower bolts to back out and hit the flywheel... Do any of the other similar bolts seem under-torqued? As for the mystery snap ring, it may make sense to pull the three point cylinder cover and look at the trans gears and shafts. A lot of work, I know, but you can't...

Have any pix you can post? I have not been inside a CK20, but I did buy and set up a new one back in 2006 for a friend (RIP). He let employees use it, so it got trashed. When it stopped working, I tried to buy it back. No luck. I think the CK20 has a single-plate, dry, mechanically-operated...

Yeah, and CalFire can bulldoze all sorts of firebreaks to stop the progression of an existing fire. No permits, no policing, no ****.

It is truly a bureaucratic disaster. I have rehashed my story on TBN before, but I did apply for a fire hazard exemption back in the 90s in prep to build my house. The CDF forester at the time denied it. I was forced to get another kind of exemption to the usual THP rules, after appealing my...

That is one of the biggest problems, for sure. I found a way to legally use small burn piles in my county, but I have to pay over $200 to the air district as a tax for the "privilege". Tho cutting up to 10% of large trees (12DBH) is a right on 10+ acre parcels here, you can't sell them...

Is that State Farm, Eric? They seem to have a third of the state's HO policies. I was recently renewed with State Farm and I used stated amount coverage instead of replacement cost +20%, which is the usual coverage. I also have a $1K deductible and no claims. I am at $1200/y. Much more than...

Other than the warranty repairs I did in the first year of ownership of my XN08, this is the first repair I did: My bucket cylinder rod had a small ding in it, probably from shipping or handling. After 20h of use or so, the drip was more than I could live with. So I swapped out the cylinder...

You are welcome to add pix and info about modifications to the modifications thread. Link in post #1.

Tractor HP is very secondary to weight. Your tractor is heavy enough to handle a hoe attachment that weighs as much as 2000# if you mount it to a strong enough subframe. I would look for an attachment in the range of 7-5-10.5-foot dig depth. I talk about the options you have in making a...

Most of the other south bay cities do something like that. In Sunnyvale it was spring and fall, plus you could haul stuff to the dump (SMARTstation) and not pay any fees. Nothing like it in San Jose.

I think San Jose is the last of the South Bay cities to do it this way. Kinda makes parking tough on the weekends in some neighborhoods. Other towns also did something like this before the advent of those large green wheeled bins. I only moved to the Silicon Valley in the mid-80s from San...

These next 2 repairs involve hydraulic cylinders. Overall, I am impressed with the quality of materials used, and both repairs were not due to poor assembly, construction, or materials. The rod finish does not rust readily, as often occurs with lesser units. When the container of 6 black 1T...

Just not too high, or cut a hole in the middle of the blade and install 2x2 receiver in it. As for buying and modifying a shelf-bought trailer hitch for the rear, that's a good idea if making the end brackets to fit the motor bolt holes is factored in. Maybe someone will do that and post a...

They are not high enough. Even my protection should cover more.

Usually because the key switch does not have the connection for ignition ON, like a car has. So, the hour meter and headlight are wired directly to the battery thru the big red tee handle switch. You need a starter switch like those on a riding mower.

You saw my short teeth, right? They work fine. The much longer single tooth I made for my custom 12" bucket works well, too, but longer must be stronger. Lot more welding so they are reinforced against bending.

That is why the design of my tank and filter is so much better. The all-thread rod that holds the strainer onto the tube and the access port cover runs down the middle, so the hose connection is below that on the lid. Very close to bottom of tank.

I buy plain bearing inserts by size, shipped directly from China or a US bearing vendor on the E. coast. You can probably get hundreds of hours on these machines before needing to replace them, if everything is kept greased.

Yes, I remember your posts. I really want to see the internals of your motor. I assume it is a BM1-200. Is it made by Hydro Man, like mine? What did you have to pay for it, total? I wonder if your keyway is also like the unusual one shown by JAMES above. How tough was it to remove the...

Yeah, that's right. Filter too far one way or the other, and starvation will happen one way or the other. That is what I was trying to say. Also, it seems that some units, like those from AgroTK (L12), for some reason elected to have a pickup port on the tank that is not very near the bottom...

Yeah, it is not clear to me how it is supposed to work, and why the tube is threaded. I posted these pix a long time ago, and my setup uses a long threaded rod, welded at one end, to hold the tube and strainer together. The tube in my photo is welded to the cover plate. Isn't the tube there...

I will figure out a way to get a better vid. I think what we see in the photos is the shaft of the motor above the pinion gear, so no room for set screws. In this photo, you can see how the motor is mounted inside the house. There is a square weldment that limits the movement of the motor if...

Believe-it-or-not, there is another 1-tonish Chinese mini sold at recent auction called the MS13. I don't think the name was intentionally a joke, but I suspect they don't use that name anymore. A friend just bought a barely used L47, which he is bringing over to do some maintenance. One...

I doubt there is visible play in the keyway. But your query makes me think I should do another vid with the camera underneath and a helper pushing back and forth on the bucket. If I had a helper. Another possibility is that the hoses expand and contract under pressure from forcing the motor...

I have my crossover valve now. Before I get started installing this, I video-ed my house rotation play up where I am working. Not too much slop, thankfully. Nothing like the other posts I have seen so far. My ring/pinion gear play is minimal, so I am less concerned about breakage here, but...

You have an electric mini-X, apparently. Can you post pix, especially of anything inside that reveals how it works? I have seen a few Utube vids that show electric 1-tonners, but I think they were powered by an A/C cord.

Yeah, they do work. Biggest reason to change for me is I use only one grease gun (Lincoln, battery-powered) with a locking nipple-grabber on the end. Works great, and I do not want multiple messy guns.

Here is another repair I did years ago. When my mini was new, I found one of the grease zerks did not take grease. I checked the zerk, which was fine, but the plain bearing insert grease hole did not align. So I removed the zerk, drilled thru the bearing insert, and reinstalled the zerk.. In...

When I first got my machine, the factory replaced any faulty parts I had under their one-year warranty. I had one poorly-crimped hose, and a damaged seal on one of the valves in my main stack. The parts came quickly by air, though the hose replacement required access inside the house, up on my...

I have now had my Rhinoceros (Xiniu) XN08 for nearly 6y, imported from China in 2018. My main TBN thread so far has been about importing it, and modifying it to do what I want, and not get damaged...

Don't forget to integrate some hose protection into your design. Looks good.

When my track came off, inward, I struggled for hours with crow bars, and other levers, after backing off the track tension. Not until I removed the sprocket was I successful. I have not tried using a strap. Definitely worth a try if this happens. This is why we post these success stories...

I like this vid cuz it shows the reinforced wheel mounts (frame tails). And it shows you don't really need a helper, which is a luxury many of us do not have. This method only works when the track comes off outward. If inward, the drive sprocket has to come off. I have had no tracks coming...

Well, maybe he will report that. In his video, you can see his blades stop when he operated a different valve. But he did a lot of feathering. On my tractor, I use a small hyd motor to run a mixer on the FEL. Only at idle, since the long 1/4" hoses really can heat up the oil. I estimate at...

I have tried this as well, with other Utube postings. Sometimes, I just want to show the Utube member and other commentors a photo I have posted on TBN that directly addresses their issue. I mention "TractorByNet" without the ".com" in case URLs are blocked. The guy, Cam, of...

You're funny, Rusty. Thx for the support. I have to care for my wife who has been battling cancer for a long time. She is not doing well, and she has top priority. No mini-X time this week. (Tho I did get a new cushion valve in the mail from Canada)

There are dozens of factories in China that make these small excavators. Importers get the factories to put any name on them that is requested. Some will come with a generic operator's manual, with essentially nothing service-related that is specific to the machine. I have only seen one...

I stand corrected. My XN08 mini has pen marks on numerous fittings inside the house. I don't have them on my external hoses that I can see. Good to see.

There are some really springy forces involved, so some caution IS recommended. Also, a 1/2" bend in a 30mm rod is gonna be less risky than say, an inch bend in a 50mm rod. For additional safety, the operator might consider using a large visegrips with jaw guards to keep the rod from rotating.

Ouch. If you have a decent press, then it is not a hard fix at all. I have done several bent loader bkt rods on JD 420 loaders (ex-rentals). 20T HF press. Carl is correct; you have to over-bend it slightly to work. Be cautious. Just try a little bit and increase pressure as needed.

I would guess those are rental or borrowed machines? I don't lend much of anything out, tho I once did. I would rather not borrow anything, either, as if it broke under my use, I would feel obligated to repair it or pay for repair.

Don't forget that these small minis have only one hyd pump, so using hydraulic power is not practical unless you get a second pump or a flow divider. Using a gas-powered (or electric) power head is a way around that limitation.

A small displacement motor direct-driving a carbide-tipped miter saw blade (10 or 12") would work here. For woody stems. For grassy stuff, I would go for the metal swing-blade trimmer head. Surplus Center has a 0.8 ci motor for sale now for $30 plus ship and tax. It would give you just over...

Does yours look like this? I can't tell you since I have not installed my crossover RV yet. I suppose you can trace the hoses, but it is not obvious on the main valve stack which is right or left. Note that the Summit valve comes pre-set really low (1300-1500psi). You might try backing one...

That's it, yes. Reversible allows abrasive cutting in confined spaces when the spin direction really matters. Come with diamond blade as well as cutoff wheel and shoe. Uses standard 3/8" hole, 3" diameter discs.

If you want a serrated edge on the original ripper tooth, you could just weld on a strip of plow steel, then cut slots in it with a cutoff wheel on an angle grinder. I love the 1/32" discs that I get online. 1/16", not so much. When the slots get dulled by rocks, just clean them up...

Good to know. I love the serrated edge, but I agree, it should be tough or hard steel. Any wobble to your pin connections?

Cheap Chinese set. eBay. Good enough for what I do. Not Snap-On. As for the Milwaukee M12 series of battery tools, I love them. Super small, light, and powerful. Hopefully my "last" series of battery tools.....

Could be a damaged O-ring. Easy fix. You are right not to over-tighten.

Are you talking about Santa Clara, Eric.? I lived there briefly, many years ago. San Jose wants to go city-owned as well. Urban/suburban city-owned electric may be a better deal for local residents, but they don't have to deal with rural locations and transmission lines.

I have a bunch of crows foot wrenches, up to 50mm, but I could not find my 17mm. The 15mm is slightly smaller, and I prob would never use that size. So I ground it out with a Milwaukee M12 3" reversible angle grinder (nice tool!), and finished it with a file. The body of the 17mm crows foot...

Oh, I get it. You were trying to get in there thru an access panel. My low-brow early-generation mini has no such thing. Off with the entire console. Now that AgroTK has sold a bunch of machines over about a 2y period, I can already see a bunch of changes, which are really improvements. If...

Funny you mention the crows foot wrench. I took a 15mm crows foot wrench and ground it to be 17mm. It is still a very tight fit on one of the hose fittings. And I needed a universal link for the ratchet. I was going to post in a Repairs thread. As for stack valves, I have had some where you...

That's good news. I have yet to see those marks. AgroTK is a reseller that gets units from multiple factories.

Easy enough to calculate: 8760 hours in a year, times per KWh rate and usage. But that's incremental cost (your next KWh of energy), and is way different than total bill divided by KWh used. That's due to base amounts at lower rates, and garbage fees that are not per KWh.

I hear ya. I have used mine to pile logs, but I still find it easier to use the tractor forks for the WoodMizer and Lucas mills. The forks are the ONLY way to move my slabs when chainsaw milling. I do fantasize about making a small rotating hyd log grapple for the mini-X. It certainly can...

Excellent book. Read it last year. Everyone should read it. Gives a balanced look at energy sources and tradeoffs.

I am all for discussion. I also know that there is a lot of obfuscation thru jargon that is somewhat exclusive to those on the outside of every industry. Sometimes the jargon is even company-specific. John Deere calls all their AUX hydraulic valves on their tractors, "SCVs". Other makers...

It is OK to pick on California; our state has earned that. But not everyone here approves of the crop of bureaucrats who run our government. That said, dope prices have been dropping since legalization in '97. Sad thing is that most is grown in buildings that use tons of power for lights...

It's no joke if I posted online that I did some illegal burning. In the woodstove or outside burn piles. Even tho enforcement is all by complaint. That said, I did 8 outside burn piles this winter so far, but I also paid the $200 tax to our local smoke-authority to do it legally. This...

How bad was last week's power outage for you in the E. Bay, Curt? 4.5 days no power here, but we have a generator, a wood stove, gravity-fed water, and a gas stove. Others not so fortunate. Thousands of urban and suburban residents out of power for days and they rarely have woodstoves or...

No. Visual feedback by the operator of the position of his control lever is not enough in your case. If that action is amplified or powered by a secondary power source powering a secondary mechanism, then it is a servomechanism. If the operator used some kind of motor to turn his gate valve...

I think #1 or #2 support my usage of 'servo'.

First, welcome to TBN. I deliberately used the term "servo" to describe what are usually called "pilot-operated" valve. The term, servo, short for servomechanism or servomotor describes a system that uses a secondary power source to operate a primary power source to operate a device that does...

First, welcome to TBN. Ejected? Did you tip over? Good to see you already flipped your boom cylinder around to protect the hoses. Or did it come that way?

Hearing about bending the frame is a really new thing for me. I am on the lookout for unexpected failures that can be possibly avoided. I thought more would show up with higher hours, but that seems not to be the case. I have only had to fix a few failures so far, and that's good. My machine...

I agree that a counterbalance valve (crossover RV with anti-cavitation check valves) is superior to a crossover RV alone. I asked HeChuang (thru our local importer who speaks Mandarin) to see if I could retrofit my wheel motors with the wheel-braking valve in my above photo. (Answer: no)...

The way I would approach it is to take a plasma cutter or angle grinder and cut a slot most of the way thru where the bend is. It looks to be 9/16" plate like mine. Then, I would use a ratcheting chain-binder or beefy come-along and pull against the other frame tail. When straight, I would...

Interesting link. Thanks for posting. Different names for some of the same kinds of valves Of even more concern should be the wheel motors. You should look into adding cross-port RVs (counter-balance valves, or wheel braking valves) to the wheel motors. This was done by request to the maker...

Thanks for posting. I had no idea that the Kub had such a low cushion valve relief pressure. IDK if I want to go that low, but I may be on borrowed time with 150 hours on my Xiniu. It does seem that my machine is assembled better than many out there. What are the "overcenter" valves you...

Looks like a Kubota mini-X manual. "Safety lock"? What is that? On a 15-degree slope (27%), my house will rotate faster than those specs.

Thanks for posting, JAMES, and welcome to TBN. Before the pinion gear broke, was there noticeable slop between it and the ring gear? How many hours on your mini? Since your machine came with the boom-swing option, it sure seems that that circuit needs some cushioning, too. The...

It seems to me that the only way to test the shock-RV settings accurately is to TEE in a gauge at the IN port on the valve stack (or pump OUT) and operate the house motor to relief. This needs to be done after adjusting the main RV up to or above the target setting of the cushion valves. My...

Maybe, but if you set the shock-RVs to lower than system pressure, you will not be able to utilize full system pressure when the valve is actuated.

Well, the factory setting of 1300psi is way too low, as you found out. I suspect that without some cushioning, it is inevitable that the ring/pinion or motor shaft/mount will get hammered to death. Maybe after 200 or 300 hours. Who knows? Maybe those posted failures were on units with way...

Oh, you mean a dual crossover RV. I was thinking individual shock-RVs, but they drain to the tank. Yours is a Summit DCRV45-06N, which seems to be preset at the factory to 1300psi, with a max setting of 2600. Looks like that would work, and be a simpler installation. I would probably set...

Here in CA, the new CARB regs have been enacted last month, at least partially, to stop the sales of new gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment. I don't know if that applies to standalone engines, or generators, or other large equipment. Lots still to be settled. And, nothing about the...

If matching is important just have a paint store match it. My first machine was yellow too. That is why we got the next ones in black.

That is only a 1-ton machine. I also have a subframe-mounted backhoe on my tractor. Both are useful.

Which one are you looking at? All of the sub-2T minis seem to have direct-drive wheel motors. They do want to go too fast when traveling downhill. Not free-wheeling, just too fast. Discussed here on TBN. Let go the handles, instant stop. Only one I have seen has dual RVs that act as...

Where did you install it in the hydraulic system? Add a tee and 2 hoses for each RV? Got pix of the RV you used? I don't have that kind of slop in the ring/pinion gears on my XN08.

Where did you install it? Looks like you have some excess play in the house ring/pinion gears. Can you reach the foot controls?

Yeah, I have not been inside a distribution valve, either. Mine even has a case drain to return leakage to the tank.

Cab models, totally different, as you state. Also, diesels have no choke (and no throttle, technically).

...and finally the choke control: I purchased a new generic choke control "cable" of the solid wire type seen on mowers ($10). This type is very superior for push-pull control. These newer thumpers are set up very lean and they are very sensitive to having a fully closed choke in order to...

There are 2 problems with the throttle control that immediately becomes apparent: it is a cable, so it pulls well, but does not push well. That means good control depends on a good spring return to idle. The second bad thing is that if you use one or the other of the 2 default cable...

Here is the Ouke machine showing inside the house. The throttle cable needs more slack, even after I re-routed it above the choke cable. The choke cable is a solid wire that goes thru a drilled hole in the choke lever on the carb, and exits the back panel of the house. On my machine, I did it...

I want to talk about the engine throttle control and choke control, and how to improve them. I have just re-routed my choke control cable, which I show here soon. Most of the one ton-ish minis come with this engine speed control lever, a relic of the 1-cylinder diesel engines that normally...

Looks like Cam at TheGarageConnection on Utube is selling a kit to help protect the wheel motors. I suggested he may want to add plates to also protect the hoses and fittings.

Do you mean the block at the end of the AUX hoses on the dipper? Or on the left end of the valve stack? I have had machines with 2 different hose sizes on the AUX circuit. Did you get a shipment of parts and attachments via LCL to a local container port?

Power from fusion (combining heavy hydrogen atoms to produce heat) has been "almost there" for many decades. Power from fission (splitting large atoms like Uranium to produce heat) is a lot easier, and can be done very safely. Storage of spent fuel on-site of land-based reactors has not really...

Parts all seem off-the-shelf but access to the hydraulic parts in particular is not secure if there are few clear parts nos or suppliers. Complexity can lead to more problems. The only parts on my machine that could fail and I would need to buy replacements for are the house motor and drive...

Can't tell from a photo. You need to look at a thread ID table and use calipers. I use bolts of known thread pitch to ID the threads. DiscountHydraulicHose has free thread guides. 2 pages excerpted here. My guess is a 9001 metric to metric, or a 9004 BSPP to metric.

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.

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...

What is the model of that old McCulloch saw you want to fix?

Last summer, a friend also bought an EM15. There are at least 4 other EM15 buyers who have posted on just this thread. Go to Post #540 to see where I opened it up and adjusted the RV, which was way too low. Lots of pix.

Did you get a LogWizard? There are also de-barking chainsaw attachments that utilize a V-belt, rather than a chain. Here is a Homelite XL-powered chainsaw winch I bought years ago. It worked flawlessly hauling building materials up my mountainside. This is the later final vintage of these...

See my post #100. Congrats on the EM15. You have another option since you have servo (pilot) controls. You can do the swap on the main valve, or you can swap hoses in the arm rests. You need to open up the machine anyway to tighten bolts, adjust the main relief valve, sleeve hoses that rub...

I have had a bunch of those small tophandle Homelite XLs. I do like them, and the parts you are likely to need are available new (carb kit, bars, bearings) or used on eBay. Give it away if bad piston/cyl. I still have one runner left. That said, are you considering a LogWizard for this saw...

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.

Yeah, in the old days folks would buy those reddish shop towels, then wash them in the clothes washer. I still know one old dude (older than I am) who does that. I never do, as that makes no sense, and I have plenty of clean rags that get burned when too far gone.

Wow. I am always on the lookout (CraigsList) for sheet metal, flat or rolled into roof panels around here. CL still big around here where it originated, but lost a lot of ground to FB MP. I have scored some real deals on new steel on CL. Some sellers want crazy prices. Some are just...

Mid-70s in the Bay Area today, too. Congrats on 20y since joining TBN, OREZOK

More hose and fitting protection. This time for the blade cylinder. Naturally, I waited until I damaged a hose before I did this modification. It is nearly impossible to avoid getting dirt and rocks in this sensitive location. I used some stainless steel plate that I had. You can't see...

A ripper tooth is way better for roots, rocks, and very hard soils. A serrated inner edge would make cutting the roots even easier. I also find the implements for my mini are the easiest to change with just pulling the 2 pins. No need for a QA mechanism, which reduces your ripping or digging...

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.

I just added some more protection to my nearly 6yo XN08 mini-X. Mostly, I was adding protection from bending the wheel motor supports. Photos on the internet (FB) of bent frame "tails" are concerning. My guess is those users have upped their system RV pressure above the 2400-2500psi...

Very nice. It is amazing what kind of LCD gauges you can buy these days, cheap. Your engine probably puts out plenty of current for these. I got this LCD AC/DC voltmeter for my old Onan generator I refurbished. It was only $10-15.

I went and looked at his new vids. $425 is a lot of cheddar for the return filtration system and the hyd oil cooler and fan. I guess folks will pay a bunch not to have to figure out what adapters to buy and what length of hose is needed. One of those 2 minis deleted the ballast, but I suspect...

If you can lift when engine is a high RPM, then your connections are OK. You have probably blown a piston seal on one of the lift cylinders. If you want to know which one, just put your hand on each lift cylinder when trying to lift. You will feel/hear the fluid bypassing. A laser temp gauge...

Sorry to hear of your house motor destruction. What does AGT in Chicago say? They are supposed to stock a lot of parts. I would remove and reassemble the motor and compare it to photos of pumps from other importers, or directly from China. Is the maker plate missing or not readable?

Sure, but removing/reinstalling tracks is no fun. BTDT Everyone should check frame for straightness here if track comes off for any reason. Or take an above measurement and watch for changes.

Are you kidding? I don't see good data, or trust what the seller puts in their advertising docs. That's one of the reasons I am always asking for first hand reporting by someone who actually has one of these machines AND opens it up to see what's inside. Can't even get reliable weight specs...

You will lift a lot less weight, but it should dig deeper. 5.5' dig depth is pretty wimpy. If AGT upgraded the depth spec, that would be good.

Corrected my spacing above. 21 15/16" between wheel motor mounting plates. My plates are 9/16" thick. Photo attached. 19" is your motor mounting plate spacing? 6.5" between motors?

I see what you are saying. This newer, strengthened design seems to weld some curved plate all around the wheel motor support tail on the frame. It seems a lot harder to do, versus just a bar across the back. Are both the pix you posted from FB? I am saving them. It seems to me that there...

Better hurry up, Rocks. Those auction prices can't last.

Yeah, that one seems to be like the Diggit EM15. Different design, including some pins that are center-drilled for grease.

Yeah, that's really thick. My exhaust wrap was barely as thick as a business card. Here, I am about to re-wrap where the rats chewed thru it. I think I am going to make future oil changes the Andrew Camarata way: open the drain and let the oil vomit forth over the floor of the house...

The Rhino factory salesperson quoted me $50 for rebuild kits for all 4 cylinders, including air shipping to the US. Sadly, paying them required wiring the funds to China, as there was no other way to pay them. I told them they should list it on Alibaba or AliExpress, but got no response. I...

...and you can buy a snow blower version in the US for $350 (no air cleaner), or a complete one for $700, delivered. B&S 420cc horizontal.

Those are some serious markups in SoCal, esp for the parts you can get here much much cheaper (e.g. B&S parts). I also see they marked up the crappy rake attachment 7x from what it costs in China.

RV and test ports for HST charge pump, forward, and reverse should be accessible without splitting, but I do not know NH tractors. I have accessed them on JD, Kubota, Kioti, and McCormick. You should get a service manual. Worth getting, esp for hydraulic system. Yes, stuck charge pump RV...

Would that be "Moose"? Other than hydraulic tensioners, how else can you tension tracks on such large and heavy equipment? Are spring tensioners what they used on earlier crawlers?

I have had hoses last for many years after you see the outer reinforcement matrix. Old Kubotas for some reason. Then, I have had new hoses I bought develop cracks and leak in 3 years. Crappy rubber. If your tractor sleeps outside, it is best to keep the sun off the hoses. UV and ozone both...

I also really like the improved blade cylinder with hardlines to protect the vulnerable hoses and fittings. Also note the tie-down holes in the blade. Nice. Tiedowns in the rear sure would be nice, too.

Good find. Thanks for posting. I have been working on tying my rear hose protection into a lower plate. I was going to use some stainless steel plate, but now I think I will go with a thicker bar like in the photo. Esp after seeing pix of that bent frame. I wonder why the MachPro folks did...

Yeah, looks like Rhino removed the vid they posted about getting the tracks back on. There are now several other vids that show getting the tracks back on, both inward and outward. I bought spare tracks (only $100 each) but I don't see wearing them out as long as I limit turns on my paved road.

In my experience, that does not work going up a steep slope. The friction of the bucket on the ground acting as an outrigger keeps you from making any headway.

The most important dimension is the ID of the bucket cyl. Your thumb cyl has to match that. Then the most important dimension it closed length, so you can retract your thumb up against the dipper adequately. The open length is less critical since the fully open position of the thumb should...

Wow, that is an impressive bend, And needs more bracing. Looks like it is made of the same 12mm mild steel plate that was used in the floor of the house. I may have to start a thread on Repairing Small Chinese Excavators.

My 6yo sprocket has no holes and weighs 21#. Seems more robust than the new ones. What does yours weigh? I bought spares of most things I thought could break and not be fixable locally. The frame bracing I have is on the outside and is not very stout, due to interference with the sprocket...

Most folks know by now that a bunch of factories in Shandong Province are making 1-tonish minis off the same set of plans, with some variations. One thing I noticed on my Rhino XN08 was that 2 welds were missing on one of the 2 bucket links, but not the other. Very strange. When I contacted...

My parcel is 19 mountain acres in the coastal rainforest, and I use a mile of trails to access my water tank and septic drainfield, plus cut down dead trees, and clear ladder fuels to reduce wildfire risk. Plus clear fallen trees along my creek. Can't walk most of them right now, due to acute...

It is the same basic size, but built in HeChuang factory, not Rhino factory like mine. This particular one has the Kubota D722 10hp engine, hyd thumb, and swing-boom, added at the factory at his request. Filtration and cooling, too, IIRC. Later ones of the dozen or so he bought from HeChuang...

That is a traumatic video. View with caution. That said, on steep slopes, there are ways to safely have the boom uphill, or boom downhill. Swinging the boom around from uphill to downhill leaves you at risk of rollover because then the downhill boom has to be used as an outrigger and there is...

That amount of wear at only 5hr or so is not too surprising, but still outrageous. And avoidable. Thanks for illustrating what I have been preaching. Already, the user is getting leakage past the pump's gears, and that adds to the heating of the oil. I know some owners of small name-brand...

Interesting. Of course you can go faster if you use a bigger pump, but you can also run a smaller wheel motor. There is a penalty, however. A smaller wheel motor gives you less torque unless you up the pressure to compensate. I do like the ability to climb 40% slopes. SurplusCenter has a...

You could make your own oil sand for casting. I have not done aluminum casting since shop class in HS, and that was in the early 70s. I did enjoy it. Now I want a lead weight to add to my steel plates. 100# more weight would be great. I would prefer a sand mold with just the right curve and...

Anytime you can run an experiment after changing only one variable is a good thing. I would not have expected that adding 15% ballast in the back of the house would have such a noticeable effect. The best ways to reduce the jerkiness further would be to lower the flow rate by installing a...

Did you make a mold for the molten lead, or improvise and cut, as JAYLAST did? Very resourceful on the lead scavenging.

Gonna weld on some gussets, Matt?

Super important. Your weights prove the assertion that weight (mass) of these tiny minis is what makes them jerky. Good job!

Since you were able to bend the wheel motor tails back with just a come-along, my guess would be that you pre-loaded the track tension by getting debris under the sprocket teeth, then drove over something that pushed up on the bottom middle of the track, giving you increased tension. Looks like...

Remember that the tank side of the return filter is low pressure, so you can use anything. I used the OUT side of the filter to support it, and therefore avoid having to fab up a support bracket. Also, filter upside-down is OK, and may allow for easier servicing.

I wish. See my post #303. I sent my wheel motor pix to the one maker that did install wheel brakes, but they used a different brand. That maker is HeChuang, and the brakes (just 2 RV valves) were installed at the request of a local importer, Jason. He is the guy who sells the Landscape Buddy...

You want to measure the OD of a male threaded fitting. These are DIN metric O-ring fittings. Here is a chart of the ODs for DIN Light: https://learnfittings.com/light-oin-metric/ The OD is going to be 12, 14, 16, or 18mm. The thread pitch will likely be 1.5mm per thread. I doubt you have...

Brand-name excavators use a planetary gearbox in their final drives. Each has its own gearbox oil. Our Chinese minis use a simple gerotor hyd motor that uses the same oil that the rest of the hyd system uses. No gearbox. This is one area where money is saved, and that is why wheel brakes are...

Wow. Sounds like the rocks getting caught under the drive sprocket pulled so hard, it bent the frame. I did not expect that. Gonna make some protection for the rear motors?

Excellent. melting and forming your lead into the best shape is a great idea. And adding steel tubing or studs for mounting is also excellent. I can imagine some curved lead plates that match up perfectly with the inner rear floor of the house. When I installed some lead ingots on the rear...

I would mount to the inside floor, as far as you can to the rear. Even if you have to use steel plates, instead of lead ingots. As for the house, every one I have seen is made of fairly thick steel. So, a well-mounted weight of 100# or so could be attached to the rear of the housing instead...

Does your HighTop have spring or hydraulic tensioners? I run my tracks tight. Some minis have a bar that the top of the tracks ride on, helping to keep them from coming off. I don't have that. Everyone will eventually have their tracks come off. I am very vigilant to keep that from...

Is it certified as a ROPS? He77 no. But I am sure that it will help a lot in a rollover. I like the movement to 4 posts from 2, tho many still have only 2.

I just replaced one of my blade cylinder hoses, and man is it hard to get at the inboard connection underneath. From that perspective, I can see that pulling with the blade cylinder (lifting the blade) too aggressively is going to be way more likely to break the mount, vs. pushing. As we saw...

Your machine probably has the longer house, with 41 track links instead of 37. You could add some weights inside like my early mini has (3 25# steel plates). If your local recycler sells lead ingots, those are even better.

Another great vid from AC. He tried to break it and failed. Maybe the 2nd or 3rd time he uses it, he will. Any doubts about the lifting capacity, watch him lift a V8 engine.

Nice. HighTop seems to be a reseller, selling product from different factories. I see you have the pilot controls. Are you going to open up the house to check bolt tightness and if you have oil cooling and oil filtration? Your hyd pump looks like a larger (greater than the usual 6.8cc)...

Yeah, who will do the labor? As for 320mm tracks, that's pretty wide. Mine have all been 180mm. I am sure you will post when it shows up. Congrats in advance.

Mostly we are trying to avoid the impact of a rock or big chunk of wood into the cylinder-hose connections, the rod, and the hoses themselves. The cylinder body is less vulnerable. I try to make a plate or bracket that stands off from the cylinder and the other sensitive bits, so it just bends...

I have not welded anything onto my mini that is just for holding it down on a trailer, if that is what you mean. If I trailered it now, I would put chains or straps around the blade mounting beams, and the boom base on the other side with the house turned 180-degrees backward, and the boom...

That BladeBuddy looks great. Another modification to consider: cutting a hole in the front of the blade and welding in a 2x2 receiver. Note that the lifting capacity of the blade is huge, but that places a lot of pulling tension on the cylinder's upper pivot mount. Excessive lifting with...

Very interesting ProjectFarm video. I, too, would love to have seen hydraulic oil included. I use it exclusively, and I use a LOT of bar oil when chainsaw milling. I use an oiler tank at the end of my 52" bar to feed oil under the chain, and it only has gravity flow pressure. At only 24"...

Yeah, it is not easy. I have years of practice with simple one-gear-pump systems: first my homebuilt CADDigger 728, then my backhoe attachments on my tractors. These are much harder to use, vs. fancy modern hydraulics, with load-sensing and multiple HST-type pumps. I use loader float all the...

At least your loader has a float function. When scraping the surface of my trails with the mini, I try to float the blade by feathering it at the same time I use the drive motor valves, also feathered. It can keep the blade from digging in. Not easy to do. Doesn't always work. Redneck float...

Yeah, he needs a float function on the blade valve. But very interesting test. I have watched that guy's vids and he gets a lot of credit for innovation. I also like the trimmer vid.

Check your local Craigs or MP. Many newer corded AC electric push mowers for sale around here, cheap. Battery power has gotten much better just in the past few years. If you had one, it would probably take a 5000W generator to put out enough starting current.

Well, it is a start. The designer, where ever he is, needs to try it out to see how it works, then improve it. I think it could work if he went battery-electric, and used side plates instead of chains. Hyd power not practical here. Imagine just taking one of those 80V Greenworks lawn mowers...

In the center of your photo is the system RV assembly. The gold colored part is the body, the black nut is to lock the setting, and you adjust the end with a hex key. Clockwise is higher pressure. On more sophisticated equipment, you will have a work-port RV, aka shock-relief, on some of the...

Well, someone asked, so they built one. Looks pretty impractical for these small minis with one pump. I see the blades hit the chains when tilted.

I try to rat-proof my poor machines that don't sleep indoors. I usually use 1/4" steel screen, but I do not see how to safely screen off the open place in front that hoses go thru. I once actually had a rat chew into the transparent plastic fuel filter on my UTV.

The only explanation I can think of is that the shaft is included with one of the other parts, esp a part that has to be pressed onto the shaft. Do you have a friend with a lathe?

You can try my tipping trick. I tip the whole machine on a slope, then open the drain plug, insert a hose, then tilt it back up to drain. I fantasized about installing a drain valve, like you see on some riding mowers. But I just could not get it to fit. So my machine has had some spills...

Well, it's time for an engine oil change, and Rhinoceros was nice enough to provide this drain hole in the base of the house. Looks like I have rats. Nuts. :-( I think they get in around the hyd hoses entering the house from the boom. It is a good time to do some more inspection of hoses...

I can't think of any maker that currently sells all the internal parts to a water pump. Even getting them apart to replace a seal, shaft, or bearing is often not possible without damage. This is an aftermarket pump I put in an FD620 on a Gator. It was not expensive, tho not OEM, either. I am...

Pls post a photo or 2.

Unless your welds are poor, the weakest link will likely be the carcass of your bucket.

It is not necessary. If you don't want to wait overnight, then use some compressor air, blow into the tank with it upside down. The gas evaporates very quickly. I wait overnight with the cap off upside down, and no more gas. No water.

You can install a fuel cap gauge, like a Rotary 12074. Dunno if that one fits, but they are a simple easy addition. Your engine may have the evaporative emission hole for the charcoal cannister as well. If you want a better electric gauge, and want to cut a separate bung hole, then just...

Yeah, aw46 or 32 is cheap, and you don't really need anything special (no wet brakes, no HST). But I buy bulk in 5-gallon refillable pails, and I get Service Pro THF from an oil disti. I might save just a few dollars with aw46, assuming I buy 5 gallons. You might consider the cheap stuff...

I have not heard those particular numbers on degradation of hyd fluid with higher temps. He calls out 140F (60C) as recommended max temp. I usually try not to exceed 50C, and I watch it closely. I suppose the rate of degradation with temp is commonly known, but have not looked it up...

A good question. I am an eBay buyer/seller, and that is how I first discovered these machines 6 years ago. Not very many parts there, yet. I may end up selling some of mine on eBay. I expected they would go locally. Still may. The pumps, I would source from SurplusCenter or eBay, esp since...

Just measure the charge current. It will probably be max output just after you start it. If you spring for a DC clamp-on meter, the test is very easy. I do not have one, so I just did it with a cheapo HF meter in the 10A setting. As for substituting 420cc B&S parts for Chonda parts, some...

ChongQing Rato has been around a long time. The 420 motors are affectionately called Chondas, as they copied Honda GX390s many years ago. If anything, Briggs engines have gotten more like Honda GXs lately. They used to be considerably different. Who copied whom? Rato has been one of the...

Yeah these thumpers run a simple, self-exciting electronic ignition, all contained in the coil housing next to the flywheel. The charge system charges the battery. All lights and fans and instruments run off the battery. When you get to the small twin engines, some run more complex ignitions...

Good video. I am glad GarageCon has responded to my comments on Utube. I am the "gentleman" he refers to, suggesting he does not want to run fans like he did. Those fans are 80W each, or about 6.5 Amperes. They would not work even if he did have a 10A alternator. I would love to have even...

Why do you think that they are not genuine Breaks & Scrapum engines? And the 9A alternator? I would not trust that spec until measured and verified. Super easy to do if you have access to a Hall-effect clamp-on meter to take a DC current reading. B&S engines are made in factories all over...

You were just trying to get me to say something, weren't ya? :-)

I am disappointed in you, Rusty! Didn't you read and look at the flywheel fan ducting I did? It is very effective, and not hard to add. 3A and 10A alternators are the options offered on the B&S product page. I suspect the 10A option is a multi-coil stator, and would add significantly to...

Early gear-drive compact tractors mostly did not have pressure-return filtration, as far as I know. Many/most of these old machines had low-pressure implement pumps to run the 3-point lift cylinder and a loader. Pressure was often limited to 1200 psi or even less, until the 70s/80s, when...

There is no adjustable flow. That is fixed by the gear pump. There IS an adjustable system relief valve, and I give that 95% chance it is set too low. One wheel motor will run slower than the other when operated simultaneously, due to the system having one pump, and a single main...

Not even close. Not to mention that at max lift capacity, your tractor's hoe needs to be stationary, with outriggers down. And have a subframe. My hoe is a ruggedized copy of a Woods 7500. The minis are very tippy, and lifting max weight is best done on flat ground with blade in front and down.

The 1-1.5T minis lift an enormous amount because they use an under-boom cylinder, rather than an over-boom cylinder. You can get yourself in trouble with how much they can lift. There are Utube vids showing in excess of 750#. BTW, I also have a 7.5-ft backhoe attachment on my tractor. I can...

I did not see one on that unit. What does the importer say? They have so many variations now. Some new owners are going nuts installing fans to cool the house, without considering how much current the B&S alternator can supply. Maybe someone with a 1-1.5T AgroTK or CFG can measure the max...