Vicsec VC13 mini-excavator

[zwelch]

This past weekend, I decided to buy a mini-excavator via our local heavy equipment auction house. I had been watching their site for several months and noticed that these were selling for a reasonable price. I wanted to share my journey here, because I could not find any recent threads anywhere on the internet describing the journey of purchasing and upgrading one of these machines. There is one rather epic thread here on the topic, describing the ordeal of importing and upgrading one of these machines. Lots of useful information there, but it's slightly dated and unwieldy (148 pages as of this writing!). Notably, it is no longer strictly necessary to go through the hassle of importing one of these machines to get the best price; several manufacturers now routinely sell their excess inventory through auction houses.

I bought a new Vicsec VC13 unit with "Canopy, Auxiliary Hydraulics, 16" Bucket w/ Teeth, 7" Multi Position Manual Thumb, 37" Backfill Blade, Work Lights, Rubber Tracks". The faceplate on the machine indicates that it was built just last month. I also won a set of nine Vicsec attachments that fit it: a quick connect, rake, ripper, grapple, 20cm digging bucket, 50cm and 80cm clean-out buckets, and an auger with 20cm and 30cm rods. The set came with hoses for the auger and three sets of pins for using the quick connect. With buyer's premiums and taxes, the total price was around $4625, which is far less than these units sell for in other contexts. I probably could have held out and got everything for less, but I am a little worried that we might see a slew of new tariffs in the coming months.

I brought the machine home in my dump trailer yesterday, and I spent some time today going through the machine and fixing some issues:

1. The throttle cable was not secured at the engine, so it slipped through until the engine was "stuck" in idle. After re-adjusting and tightening it, I found the throttle lever only travels about 1/3 of the way before the engine hits the upper limit. Amusing, but not a real issue. If anything, this will keep me from hitting the lever with my elbow.
2. Hour meter was not connected. It runs continuously when the battery is connected.
3. All of the cylinders were fitted with needle grease fittings. I immediately replaced them with standard zerk fittings (8mm). None of the pins were greased. When I attached the quick connect, I used a brass brush to clean out the bushings, as they were filled with some rust and paint chips. Some of the fittings were a challenge to reach with my grease gun, notably the boom pin and the blade pins; however, everything has now been lubricated.
4. The engine came with a full tank of gas and good looking engine oil, and the hydraulic fluid was full and looked clean. I suspect these were filled by the auction yard.
5. The welding on the attachments all looks like it was done by hand. That's surprising to me, given the ingress of robots into Chinese manufacturing.
6. The painting was not well-masked. For example, the manual thumb cannot be pinned into working position, because paint inside the hole prevents the pin from being inserted.

I still spent a lot of time researching the shortcomings with these smaller machines, so none of these issues really surprised me. Moreover, I am planning to make the following upgrades to this machine (in approximate order of priority):

1. Hydraulic thumb (~$200): I have become accustom to this feature on my bigger excavator.
2. Cushion valve (~$125+): An essential upgrade that prevents problems with the swing motor. Once I get the parts, I will have a local shop fabricate a new pair of hoses that fit between the valve and motor.
3. Electric fan (2 for $25): Active cooling should help prevent boiling the gas tank this summer.
4. Hydraulic cooler and filter: These should extend the longevity of both the hydraulic components and fluid.
5. 3-way auxiliary hydraulic diverter valves: These will allow mounting and using the auger (and other powered attachments) without needing to disconnect the thumb hydraulics.
6. Extra attachment pins: I need three more sets of pins to avoid the need to move them around between attachments.
7. Battery charging: At the very least, I'll install a trickle charger, but I want to find a way to attach my shop charger or jumpers without needing to remove the floor panel.
8. Cone splitter attachment: I imagine using one to split both firewood and stumps. Low priority, but they come up at auction from time to time.

As the prices indicate, I already have ordered parts for the first few items on this list, but I am still shopping around for the others. I have found a suitable cooler and diverters from a couple different mini excavator part suppliers, but they currently have those parts listed as out-of-stock. I have been unable to find second sources domestically, but I am continuing to research my options. Suggestions would be welcome. All in, I expect that I will spend another grand on these modifications (excluding the splitter).

I have a fair bit of experience operating and maintaining heavier equipment than this machine, so I am capable and comfortable making repairs and modifications myself. If you are similarly equipped and experienced, these machines are a great value. If you do not have the necessary tools or skills, then I imagine these machines would quickly become a nightmarish money pit. I suppose the jury is still out on that.

The engine runs fine, and the controls are smoother than I expected. After one day, I feel good about my purchase. It fills a gap in my equipment portfolio and will save me countless hours of manual labor. Later this week, I will put it to work on a number of tasks around the farm for which it is uniquely suited, and I will have the wife take some pictures to post for your entertainment. Come Spring, she's looking forward to using this machine in her raised beds and hoop houses, where our other equipment dares not go.

And so the saga begins....

 

[mike0000]

I think you’re exactly the right type of buyer for one of these mini ex’s. Sounds like you understand what some of the shortcomings of the China diggers are. Mine came with a hydraulic cooler and fan but no filter. I added a second fan and a bit of shrouding to improve air cooling as one fan wasn’t enough. Mine boiled the gas and overheated the hydraulic oil with hard use until my modifications. I still need to come up with a filter. You may want to go ahead and drain the hydro oil and inspect the tank for debris. If a battery powered grease gun is in your budget I recommend one, also a lokNLube is a great addition to the grease gun. I grease just about every time I use mine. I have about 40hrs. On mine, I made some anti wear shims out of copper pipe to tighten up some of the slop in some of the pins along the stick and boom. I try to run at about half throttle, it’s a bit smoother to control mine that way, but hours on the machine have really made me a better operator.
Congrats on the purchase!

 

[zwelch]

I think you’re exactly the right type of buyer for one of these mini ex’s. Sounds like you understand what some of the shortcomings of the China diggers are. Mine came with a hydraulic cooler and fan but no filter. I added a second fan and a bit of shrouding to improve air cooling as one fan wasn’t enough. Mine boiled the gas and overheated the hydraulic oil with hard use until my modifications. I still need to come up with a filter. You may want to go ahead and drain the hydro oil and inspect the tank for debris. If a battery powered grease gun is in your budget I recommend one, also a lokNLube is a great addition to the grease gun. I grease just about every time I use mine. I have about 40hrs. On mine, I made some anti wear shims out of copper pipe to tighten up some of the slop in some of the pins along the stick and boom. I try to run at about half throttle, it’s a bit smoother to control mine that way, but hours on the machine have really made me a better operator.
Congrats on the purchase!

I have a digital endoscopic camera that I will use to inspect the tank. These cameras are inexpensive on Aliexpress (~$5), so I have dedicated one for checking my machines. It's great for looking in tight spots, and that describes a large percentage of their innards.

As for grease, I have a pneumatic gun with a quick connect head, as I already had a number of machines that require regular grease. I prefer pneumatic over electric and AC over batteries, because all batteries have a limited lifespan; meanwhile, my air and plug-in tools will run almost forever if maintained properly. I'm okay with hauling a compressor and/or generator around my farm, on the rare occasion that I need such tools away from my garage or shop.

I also often run my machines at less than full throttle, unless I'm doing something that requires their maximum effort. The mini definitely operates smoother at lower power, but I've run it at full power for a few minutes and think I will have it running smoothly there too. In that way, every machine is a little different; it just takes a little time to learn their quirks.

Meanwhile, I have added a few more planned modifications to my list:

1. Motor mount reinforcement: I have got my bigger excavator stuck in the mud more times than I can count. This machine does not have nearly as much reinforcement on its motor mounts, so better to play it safe and add a support that braces the two mount plates. I found a kit for this (out of stock), but I might have a go at making one here from some suitable scrap steel.
2. Anti-skid floor: My mini came with a fabric and plastic pad that covers the floor. It almost blew away on the ride here, so I will cut a piece of 1/4" plywood in the same shape and then coat it with some epoxy paint containing a coarse abrasive. A couple of guide bolts will let it key into the existing holes on the metal floor.
3. Fire extinguisher: My state's fire regulations require one when working with powered machines in the forest.

Otherwise, I have not had a chance to work more on my machine, but I hope the weather will let me get some work done tomorrow. Regardless, some of the parts are slowly heading my way; I expect to have the new thumb installed early next week.

 

[Carl_NH]

Post some pictures of your new digger and also some of your larger ones. My neighbor has the Komatsu D21 dozer 1300 hrs - its a very nice machine great for grading and small enough to tow with a pickup.

Surprised you didn't spring for a diesel Mini ex with pilot controls - they are 9-10K now on ebay - I got the Typhon 1.8 with Kubota 722 - hyd thumb. Did some mods like turf tracks, braced and reinforced the thumb, added the hitch plate/motor protector.

 

[zwelch]

Post some pictures of your new digger and also some of your larger ones. My neighbor has the Komatsu D21 dozer 1300 hrs - its a very nice machine great for grading and small enough to tow with a pickup.

Surprised you didn't spring for a diesel Mini ex with pilot controls - they are 9-10K now on ebay - I got the Typhon 1.8 with Kubota 722 - hyd thumb. Did some mods like turf tracks, braced and reinforced the thumb, added the hitch plate/motor protector.

I had a chance to get out on my machine today and get some work done. The pictures that I took (coming shortly) aren't the best to show it off, but they do show why I chose to buy a smaller machine. Plus, I will be out less than $6K for the machine and attachments, even after all of the upgrades that I listed above. A bigger or better machine would have been beyond my current cash-only budget, and it probably would not have fit where I need it to go.

 

[RandyT]

Local auction to me today sold 25 mini diggers and 15 went for under $3K+premium. The VA13 went for $2980

 

[zwelch]

For my mini’s first feat, I cleaned up the sequoia and cedar needles that fall between my house and adjacent cottage. You can see there isn’t much clearance, but I was able to get everything pushed into a pile. I did manually rake along the cottage, but that was nothing compared to the amount of sweat and cursing that were usually involved by doing this all by hand each year.

 

[zwelch]

Performance wise, the machine ran great with the throttle set at 50%. Of course, raking up needles with the cleanup bucket wasn't exactly pushing its hydraulics to their limits, but the lower throttle setting did make it easier to get smooth motion out of the controls. It's definitely more jerky than my Sany SY35U, but that machine cost 10x as much as this one. At any rate, I can see why new operators would complain about jerkiness, but I proved to myself today that it's entirely usable for precision work if one is careful.

On the side of the machine, the hydraulic tank has a window with a thermometer that doubles as a fluid level gauge. With an ambient temperature of around 50°F (10°C), the hydraulic oil temperature ranged between 120°F and 140°F (50°C–60°C). That seems like a reasonable range, but I expect that the mercury would climb much higher on a hot summer day (or if I ran the engine at full throttle). The cooling fans and hydraulic oil cooler will be high on my priority list.

I also noticed that the machine will roll forward slowly on its own when sitting on a very minor slope. I plan to conduct some experiments to better characterize this behavior, but I know that these final drive motors do not have brake valves. In that regard, this very well could be the expected behavior for this machine, but I'm glad that I noticed this quirk before it put me in a potentially dangerous situation.

 

[D'oh]

Not sure why the need for a New Thread but I wwilll assist in the "Gas Boil" issue

Take the EPA Guts out of the Gas Cap, Gas Boiling will be a thing of the past.

There isn't any Brakes per say, your Dozer Blade becomes your best friend working on a Slope.

Cooler would be awesome addition, but the Walking Motors produce the most Heat. Limiting their use helps. Or a break after travelling to the next sight. Remove any Shields/Covers that aren't needed (it doesn't have to look good working) Wrap the Exhaust in Exhaust Wrap helps too.

 

[dfkrug]

I wanted to share my journey here, because I could not find any recent threads anywhere on the internet describing the journey of purchasing and upgrading one of these machines. There is one rather epic thread here on the topic, describing the ordeal of importing and upgrading one of these machines. Lots of useful information there, but it's slightly dated and unwieldy (148 pages as of this writing!). Notably, it is no longer strictly necessary to go through the hassle of importing one of these machines to get the best price; several manufacturers now routinely sell their excess inventory through auction houses.

My thread is long, but it IS searchable and I do get notified if anyone adds to it.

In the US, hundreds of these 1-2T minis are sold every year thru live auction sites. Given the low sales prices (under $4K net cost, incl fees and sales taxes), I gotta wonder if many are imported directly by individual buyers or purchased directly from the few US direct sellers who have US inventory.

The auctions seem to be dumping grounds for full container loads, shipped from a factory or reseller in China. Names are changing often. The name, VICSEC is less than a year old, as I recall, and may be gone soon. The last monthly auction here in NorCal featured units with names, Aboss, TPM, and BTTL. Just a few using the older name, AGT (AgroTK).

I now have access to Facebook groups, but having back-and-force discussions that include photos is clumsy at best.