Help please deciding if this is a good buy.

[etpm]

Hey all you Chinese Mini Excavator owners,
My son wants me to spend my money on a mini excavator and I don't know if I should consider buying a certain machine.
The machine in question is a Lanty lat-13. The engine is a RATO R420 15 HP. Air cooled. The machine is supposed to have only a few hours on it, less than 20 apparently. I don't have a link yet because my son hasn't sent me one yet.
It does have a thumb but it is not hydraulic. I don't know how hard or expensive it would be to make it hydraulic. About 15 years ago I rented a small excavator that was the same approximate size as the one in question. A little bigger but not that much bigger. It was a diesel powered machine. It had a hydraulic thumb and it was a joy to use. The machine in general and the thumb in particular. Like the FEL on my tractor the hydraulic thumb was super useful. I rented the excavator to dig a ditch and ended up moving a bunch rocks after I dug the ditch. A stationary thumb seems like it would be much less useful. But I don't know. I also don't know how hard it would be to add a cylinder and control to the stationary thumb. The thumb appears to be the type that can be locked in various positions.
The price for the excavator is, I think, $4500.

 

[jodieadair]

Hi, I would consider just spending the extra $1000 to get a brand new machine with a Briggs and Stratton engine. You can get one delivered to your door for around $5500. To many ifs when it comes to buying one of these used especially with the Rato engine. The Briggs parts are very much available here. Of course if something happens to the Rato engine you can replace it with Predator from Harbor Freight for less than $500. Of course this is just my opinion and the used machine may be in great condition. The Lanty is almost the same as the AGT's and Hightop machines so the quality and parts should be the same. Adding a hydro thumb is not hard but requires welding if you buy a kit. I can link you to some how to's on adding a thumb without welding if you like.

 

[Sonny580]

I had to junk the thumb on mine cause it was always in the way! Never found a use for it anyway! IF ya gotta have one make sure its hyd. and NOT solid.
Dont get stuck with a used unit!!!! Just go buy a new one to start with.
20 hours of abuse and these things are JUNK so dont fall for it!
I bought an L-12 AGT that was S'POSED to be new, ( long story), and after I fixed the motor I have done some serious work with it. Just gotta remember you are NOT on a CAT 225 when you run them and use caution and you will be fine with them.