I have the same machine and love it. I’ve really worked it hard and it never complains. I used the loader on my tractor for assy. Now I use to load logs on my sawmill. Very easy. You will love this thing.
I have such an excavator. The disadvantage is that the wheels and the support feet are attached at a 45 degree angle. It can be difficult to load onto a trailer. If the wheels were not inserted at an angle but at a 90 degree angle, the width could be varied better. The cylinder under the excavator is also a nuisance, it should be on top. But the excavator is very solidly built and works well. In 2 hours I unpacked and assembled this excavator.
Got mine Sept. 2019. Assembled over 3 day period by myself with use of a chain hoist. First couple of hours of running it is like riding a mechanical bull. Used it to install several hundred feet water pipe over my 2 acres, underground electric to shed and solar panels, and dug many fence post holes.
@@jbmountain4991 Yep, the only thing I hated about it was having to swap the wheels and claws using a 77 year old back. I solved that by installing a removable axle across the front of the 2 claws, attached with some pins. I can use the bucket to lift the claws high enough to get the axle on and pinned. It rolls way easier using the crawling method and I don't have to swap the rear wheels if I am towing with the hitch. It did take some practice crawling though. The front does not steer so to change direction you still have to lift and position the front to aim for a turn. Once positioned the front can be lifted, axle unpinned, and wheels removed with the bucket for digging. I also intend to add a plate to make mounting easier on the feet.
@@jbmountain4991 I could take a photo but I have no idea how to attach it. It's very simple to make. Imagine a 1-1/2 galvanized pipe with old trailer axil stub welded on each end. Now weld up a plate to the pipe that each claw can rest on and drill a hole through the plate and claw. Use a 1 inch hitch pin through the holes. the pins keep the axile from falling off while maneuvering. The weight keeps the claws resting on the plates. Use the bucket to lift the front end and pull the pins. The axle and wheels fall free and can be rolled out out of the way, or picked up in the bucket and moved. After a while I welded some stops on the plates to stop side movement that was straining the pins. Took about 3 hours to build. After spending a week thinking about it and chasing parts.
Gotta give you guys credit for doing all the bull work. Took me about 3.5 hours to assemble mine but I used an overhead hoist that I use for lifting stones that may weigh a couple of tons. "A" for effort.
Cool and very fun to watch. I recently bought a Red Rock version from Princess Auto that was used and needed repairs. I have it all fixed up and ready to try out. Your's looks exactly like the one I have just branded differently and a different seat with a back rest.
Double check your welds everywhere. Mine are complete junk and i've spent hours rewelding and fixing it, but I love the machine. Still going strong 6 years later except for the fact that it's been ripped apart (due to poor welds).
Are there any videos where people are comparing the brands side by side? There are 4 of these similar towable backhoe/ trencher machines out there. I want a manufacturer to step up to the plate and show everyone who has the best features for what each individual needs. Or maybe someone else can do that who has a couple thousand extra to throw around to help the rest of the population out??
Good video I put one here together myself . Hf one , I took off cylinders from boom first, to lighten it a bit. Used jack. Cylinders will expand if you take plastic plugs off . Expect them to leak until it's tightened. 2 days...6 hrs about. 😀
the assembly requests / desires at least two big guys and a hoist. I did this by my self with an over head hoist, took day and a half. this stuff is very heavy and awkward to handle. Right, and it was on a trailer rather than on the ground, makes for even more fun.
If y’all were to pick up a 25 dollar block and tackle… And possibly a large tree might help with lifting duty when assembling. Nice build!! Thanks for putting this out there. Thinking about ordering one of these and this helped greatly!! Thanks again
Oh good, glad it helped! I love this machine. And yeah in hindsight there were definitely easier ways we could have done it haha. It's a good thing, but I definitely underestimated how heavy all the parts were
just out of curiosity have u had to deal with jansen support at all if so how are they? and second did you look at HF and Betsco or others? if so what made you go with jansen? I'm very seriously considering this machine.
Yeah I almost bought thr HF trencher. Very glad I did a little more research. I went with this one because I just seemed a lot more heavy duty that the HF one. Also the controls and boom radius is much better on this one. I've heard good things about bestco too. I had an issue with my boom dropping and Jansen sent the new part right out. Good luck!