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Does anyone here have any scoop on the Chinese mini excavator market in the US?

hwy17

hwy17

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Posting in ground mount forum because I'd like one with an 8" auger attachment to speed up my process.

Anyone looked into it or purchased one?

I don't know if it's accessible to order one straight from china or if it's more like importers are handling the paperwork for a container full and you have to buy from a reseller.

I guess I'll go search on aliexpress and then maybe click a buy button without even contacting the seller, that's probably best.
 
Did YouTube research and found you could get a nice unit, or a unit poorly constructed with every joint in the boom having an inch of wobble and hydraulic fluid leaking everywhere. Retreated for now. :eek::fp2

Edit: oh, and I meant to say they looked exactly alike. A real wild west of (not so) heavy equipment.
 
hwy17 said:
Posting in ground mount forum because I'd like one with an 8" auger attachment to speed up my process.

Anyone looked into it or purchased one?

I don't know if it's accessible to order one straight from china or if it's more like importers are handling the paperwork for a container full and you have to buy from a reseller.

I guess I'll go search on aliexpress and then maybe click a buy button without even contacting the seller, that's probably best.
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Bought a Typhon Terror X last year off Ebay. Lots of information from folks on these over on the Tractor By Net Forum in the Excavator area. Although you can import one the price differential is not so big that getting one from a reseller in the US may be preferable. I had a Thread here on This Forum about it. See If I can dig it up. ETA: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/justifying-new-tools-for-the-solar-off-gridder.67000/
 

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A friend has bought several new "1000 lb" units from an auction in Kansas City that has them regularly. Sold the first one for a little bit of profit after using it for ~6 months and just picked up the 2nd one. Maybe 200 hours total on it. He had to add an electric fan to it because it got so hot after ~30 minutes the engine block would be glowing red and fuel would vaporizing before it got the carburetor. That and adding a hydraulic filter are pretty common upgrades from what I gathered.

It had an air cooled gas engine about the same size in my 60" ZTR. From my take it wasn't too bad but no where near the Mini EX machine that I can rent for $250 weekend with a trailer from my local rental place. Not saying that's good or bad just offering that as a data point.
 
OzSolar said:
From my take it wasn't too bad but no where near the Mini EX machine that I can rent for $250 weekend with a trailer
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That's a good reality check, I've realized it before, I should stop dreaming about what I can buy and sort out my towing ability to access all kinds of stuff at the equipment rental.

We have a 2nd gen Lexus GX which I think should be able to do stuff like mini excavators, but it never had a tow hitch yet (does have tow electronics).

Do you think buy a trailer or rent the trailer? Trailers are an extra fee at my rental, but I guess then you always get the right sized one for the equipment.
 
OzSolar said:
...

It had an air cooled gas engine about the same size in my 60" ZTR. From my take it wasn't too bad but no where near the Mini EX machine that I can rent for $250 weekend with a trailer from my local rental place. Not saying that's good or bad just offering that as a data point.
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There is no question that if you have a nearby equipment rental yard, with one or two projects to complete, you are better off renting. For larger projects hiring it done is better economics than buying one of these 1 tons.
 
hwy17 said:
That's a good reality check, I've realized it before, I should stop dreaming about what I can buy and sort out my towing ability to access all kinds of stuff at the equipment rental.

We have a 2nd gen Lexus GX which I think should be able to do stuff like mini excavators, but it never had a tow hitch yet (does have tow electronics).

Do you think buy a trailer or rent the trailer? Trailers are an extra fee at my rental, but I guess then you always get the right sized one for the equipment.
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Check to see if they will deliver. Often for the larger equipment it can be arranged.
 
Mattb4 said:
Check to see if they will deliver. Often for the larger equipment it can be arranged.
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Even better. I've been standing in the line hearing them talk about deliveries so they must do.

1 Ton Kubota is $340 a day at ours though. Trailer is $85, maybe delivery is $85+.
 
Mattb4 said:
There is no question that if you have a nearby equipment rental yard, with one or two projects to complete, you are better off renting. For larger projects hiring it done is better economics than buying one of these 1 tons.
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And if something breaks you don't have to pay for it, assuming you didn't break it.
 
Bluedog225 said:
I believe the repairability is an issue. Non standard parts. And many “fixes” to make them right. May end up with an unusable, unfixable pile of yard art.

I suspect it will get sorted after a few years.

My guy with a 3 foot bucket charges $150 an hour.
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That's the first thing I said to my buddy and he assures they are off the shelf parts. Of course the trick will be finding the shelf they are on since you aren't going to have any part numbers to cross reference.

hwy17 said:
Even better. I've been standing in the line hearing them talk about deliveries so they must do.

1 Ton Kubota is $340 a day at ours though. Trailer is $85, maybe delivery is $85+.
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That's sounds pretty reasonable for California. That $250/day or $250 for the weekend as long as I don't go over 8 hrs on the meter is ridiculously low, even for around here but it's locally owned non chain single location place.
 
I ocassionally watch a Youtube channel about an English couple who have retired in the Pyrennes and they bought a mini excavator from China. They are building a home and there are not enough episodes yet to know if it will last throughout the entirety of the project.
I agree with others, that if there is a nearby rental yard, the best strategy is to rent one. Fortunately I have a towing hitch or they can be delivered.
 
Ampster said:
Pyrennes and they bought a mini excavator
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It's funny how the youtube algorithm feels like it sends you down a rabbit hole. But then it turns out any 30+ year old guy with our sort of DIY proclivity we're all basically watching the same videos. My cousin told be about this guy he saw try to run his house on the F150 I said yeah the redhead one.
 
If you have an ongoing need for one Id shop the auctions and buy a brand name unit that has parts available. Oftentimes you can buy and use it for hundreds of hours and resell for what you paid for it. Just make sure its not beat when you buy it. But it will likely need some repair over a period of months of use. If you cant fix things, forget it. But since you are doing construction work, you likely have some skills.
If you just want a machine for x days. Rent it.
 
Micah Toll (Electrek) made some nice YT videos on the subject.
He imported a container full of small electric Chinese construction machines and now he's setting up a company in Florida to import and resell them.
 
Nice! Did you import that yourself? Looks like an articulating steer machine. Have not seen that in a loader backhoe setup.
 
Mattb4 said:
Nice! Did you import that yourself? Looks like an articulating steer machine. Have not seen that in a loader backhoe setup.
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Yes. Imported and included a lot of attachments. I’ve not had time to really check it out yet, but everything seems to be very good quality. Thick steel and double plated on the buckets, etc.

Here are some pictures from factory before they shipped it.
 

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