had a chance to actually do some work with the chinese excavator! it performs well, travel speed is slow, but it is not lacking power at all! for its size it has more than enough power to dig through tough ground.
I’m use to the ISO pattern and the mini excavator that I bought was the opposite control that I’m use too. All I did was swap 4 hydraulic hose around and presto, the machine is digging the way that I’m use to.
Yup it’s not hard! Especially on a machine that is direct valve to cylinder for hoses. Sometimes The pilot control machines you have to be careful switching lines it’ll act funny
I think dig it Starnes did a 100hour review. My goal here was to still sell the machine. So I wanted to review and do some tests. However I can say that the machine will literally fall apart. Most of the hardware is not torqued and loosens up haha
@@AbramsExcavating True, Mine has a diesel engine, the fueltank has already fallen off twice. bu the rest is holding up pretty good, we have hard soil with a lot of rocks, so far so good, Just installed a 10um return filter for the hydraulic oil. Biggest issue i had was a crack in the frame where the boom mounts to the machine (mine is different than yours). Btw i run it on used veggy oil.
I don't think they're intended for hard work, more suitable for a home owner with a big yard, or a landscape gardner on smaller jobs. Not suitable for construction contractors, earthworks contractors etc. Use the right tool for the job, you wouldn't use a claw hammer to break rocks... would you!?
Ive been using a similar model to this for over a year now, no problems at all. I'm a landscaper and use it regularly, servicing was straight forward it has a kubota engine, so spares are easy to get.
I bought a diesel mini digger from a german importeur, i have 300 hours on it and works well. Yes, is loud, hydraulic controlled (no electronic) and it means non fine and exact, but with some practice is good. Spare parts are cheap and easy to repair. For me is just perfect. My lill' business is around garden, private street build and patios.
I feel like they could be good machines if you take care of them and pay attention to the mechanical side of things. But if you just run em they will have a short life
@@AbramsExcavating exactly. I change the engine oil every 100 hours and check the valves too, pump grease every 3 days operation and most important i run it at maximum a third throttle. Enought to for power, save fuel and have a smooth running engine
@@JoshuaRaygoza-b9j honestly there’s not many parts for this unit that you can’t find on Amazon or a small engine shop/hydraulic shop. Very basic machines
I've been looking for a provider for a few weeks now for DONWAY, LKR INDUSTRIAL, AGROTK and VICSEC mini ex parts with no avail. Thanks for the reply though.
I recently bought the QH12 .I also bought the hydraulic thumb kit and it has shipped but no delivery date yet. I also bought two of the 12V 8" fans for extra cooling of the engine bay. My only complaint with the mini-ex is the rubber tracks tear up the yard here in Coastal South Carolina as it is 90% sandy soil.
just posted a video of me operating the same excavator but I put a TMK 150 tree sheer on it. absolutely mind blown with how productive these little machines can be at clearing land!!
The heart of any excavator is the engine. Everything else is just metal, cylinders, pumps, dumps, and hoses - all of which come from China anyway. If the engine was a Chinese knockoff brand, I'd say it would fail. However, Briggs (thought mostly Chinese parts) have quality controls. They have a reputation to uphold. The last things to fail on these will be the motor.
I tried one out at the ritchie bros auction and was impressed with the digging force but the quality of things like latches,key switches and the paper thin sheet metal was disappointing
I was looking for reviews on these mini excavators and came across yours and have to say you are damn smooth operating that little machine for not being used to the controls. I have been looking at the Lanty which looks close to this machine. They are just available close by to me. Thanks for the good honest review.
Thank you! I wouldn’t say I’m ambidextrous on the controls but over the years I’ve been in enough Situations where I have to run controls I’m not used to! Glad the video was helpful to you! I had fun making it!
Hello, hope you’re doing well. I watched about three videos on the excavator and the others said that’s all you gotta do is reverse the piping underneath and that way you can change the control. Hope this helps you
Yea I figured it wouldn’t be hard! I just didn’t bother switching it since I would be selling it. The guy I sold this too actually did switch it! Thanks for watching
I bought it to flip, sold a few months ago. But I’m sure if you kept an eye on things it would last. It you just used it it would literally fall apart. Lots of bolts loosened up on their own in the short time I owned it
@@AbramsExcavating So in other words: If what you are looking for is a light duty excavator, that you are willing to do meticulous maintenance on and never loan it to anyone who may inadvertently push its limits, if you can protect it from the elements and have faith that all the hydraulics will hold up, then this could be appropriate for you. Or, if all you want to do is dig a hole, throw money into it, you don't want to hire a professional *and* have no qualms about throwing lightly used tools away, then this could also be the tool for you. (?)
So I got one Friday and swapped the hoses to sae pattern and swapped right travel with blade control now I can steer with one hand and work blade with other. I think I'm gonna love it and wouldn't have got it without watching you on this one. Thanks.
@@uleftmeout1755do you know where to find a diagram on how to switch the controls up like you did? Or does it just take some playing around to find the controls pattern that you like?
@@RealRionRedinger I knew the lever pattern so I changed the ones to make that happen. You can probably google the two popular patterns or make your own I suppose.
Nah I sold The machine over a year ago. Honestly it was built to the price point. If you expect a $25,000 machine you will be disappointed. But if you expect a brand new $5-7,000 machine you’ll be happy. It’s cheaply built. The steel Quality is cheap and the controls are a little jerky. But it’s better than a shovel and a rake and if you are mechanically inclined enough to keep an eye on things and repair/maintain it as you use it it’ll work well. It’s not something I would take out on a job site to make a living. But if i needed something around my property and had no other equipment it would be a good Choice
@@AbramsExcavating Fair and expected. Thinking a 1 or 2 ton machine would be helpful in my business. Sounds like a E10, KX008, or even E20 series would be a better idea used for longevity - which I expected, just curious. Thanks!
Thanks! Most people just knock it cause it’s made in china. Little do they know most of the big brands are made in china too! But I agree there are better models.
@@AbramsExcavating few big brands are made in China - Korea, Japan, yes. That said, China makes hundreds of thousands of excavators (most brands you've probably never heard of).
No I bought it at auction about a year and a half ago. Paid $5500 You can buy them now off marketplace from a bunch of different vendors for around 4500-6500
You did better on cat control than I do! ;-) I had about an hour on my buddy’s JD excavator. (Cat pattern ironically) and just couldn’t do it. I started on backhoes, and just never saw the advantage to the other pattern.
@@makincash3337 thank you! I bought it kinda just to see what they were all about but also as a way to invest short Term. I used the money to buy something pretty neat that I’m making a video on
So just about any excavator is going to dig and be more efficient than a tractor/backhoe. Just by general design they work better. This little thing had some serious power for its size. I’d say it would out work a comparable sized tractor/backhoe
this actually looks like a good example of this model, I have one that looks identical to this, with a different name on it - built like absolutely garbage, wired by a 4 year old who was told how to wire electrical by a color blind man.
I bring these 1 ton Excavator into Texas once a month.For 10,500 I can sell you one with a Hydraulic thumb,Hydraulic oil cooler,extra 8" Utility bucket,quick change and Auger
Yes you did but you didn't get any of the necessary extras.Not having a Hydraulic oil cooler means your Excavator will not work well in heat.You also didn't get a Hydraulic thum to grab things.And all the different attachments that you can't get.Well that makes your Excavator unable to do alot of jobs its capable of.Im offering different Buckets and an Auger.
@@dirtpro2781 listen, I know what these machines cost brought in from china. I’ve been in contact with multiple producers. I have zero interest in selling these units. They are good for the money but they are not good enough machines to run all day long. I do not need any more of these Chinese machines. I’m glad I was able to show this one off and test it out. I’m also glad I was able to sell it to someone that would be able to Use it.
Ok that's understandable.I was just putting a plug in for people that need parts and attachments for the mini 1 ton.Yes they are cheaper when ordered from China but a person is stuck when they need parts or attachments.Thats why dealers like me sell for a bit higher.We help our customers keep these minis running.That AGT you purchased has no support from AGT Industrial.I couldn't get a bucket from them lol
Just remember this video is over a year old. I bought this machine for 5500 at auction and sold It for $9500. Now you can buy them for like $4500 at auction
Near where I lived, in England, there was a motorcycle training school with a small fleet of used Hondas. They bought a bunch of Chinese bikes because they were cheaper, new, than the second-hand Hondas. After a year of continuous breakdowns, some of them terminal, they sold the lot and went back to used Hondas. Good luck.
Yea haha I bought this to flip it. It’s been gone for a few months now but I figured I’d make a video to show what it’s all about. Build quality isn’t great. But it is better than a shovel
So I can’t really say, I never use the blades on excavators to push material. I’m sure it would push loose material alright. Your biggest issue would be the machine only weighs 2200lbs so it’ll spin the tracks out pretty easy if you push too much.
yea definitely haha! i bought this one at auction for $6800 but you can get them cheaper direct through china. It was a last minute choice for me to buy it and i was already at the auction.
Yea I could of easily done that. But I was planning on selling this and a lot of Guys run cat here. The guy I sold it to actually did switch it to deere
similar but not the same. there are a few companies that make these machines. they are all basically the same but have slight differences mostly in the body work
@@AbramsExcavating so mechanically they're the same? Reason for asking there's so many out there it's confusing. Here in lower Michigan I find very few to go and test out
It could probably handle smaller stuff like 4-6” the biggest issue is it doesn’t weigh a whole lot. So you don’t really have much weight to push against the trees with.
I don’t care where it comes from or how ugly it is as long as it gets the job done and it’s reliable enough it’s good for me!! Thanks for the video!👍🏽🇦🇺
It's a Briggs & Stratton engine, pins is just pins, measure them and go and buy one of the same. It's not very much on these.. but I think you will need a welder in the long run.
Seems like a cool machine with good power for the price. I like others wonder just how long it would last if someone did use it say once a week for a day to dig? Too bad it doesn’t have a Honda engine. However I just hate the thought giving China any of my money because it could be made in America and Support 🇺🇸, instead of communism! Bring back made in U.S.A. manufacturing again! Thanks for the nice video ✌️😎👍
I think if you pulled the chunk of concrete right up against your blade and then rolled it so it was sitting an its edge you would have had a better perchous and the centre of gravity would have been more in your favour , then by crowding the stick and lifting the blade , you would have had enough clearance from the ground to move it around , great little digger !!!
i bought mine at a local equipment auction, im sure you could buy direct from the manufacturer or there are a few other resellers around. Just start searching for AGT excavators
They can be bought at auction around $8000 after fees. I have this one advertised at $9500. Have been getting a lot of interest in it but it’s honestly not the best time to sell something like this right now. I bought it to resell because I was already at the auction with a trailer. I also figured it would be a good thing to make a video on to show you guys what they are all about!
@@dirtpro2781 I've seen you comment here several times trying to advertise and leave no contact information. Would you like people to actually contact you and purchase these machines?
I have a Harbor Freight towable .. SAME job for 1/2 the price. I move it around my acreage with my golf cart or my small John Deere. I'll stick with My trencher/back hoe..
It may be half price and I’m glad it works well for you! But you can’t beat a tracked excavator for versatility. While these Chinese knock offs may not be the greatest pieces of equipment they are still pretty handy!
I am going to install a hydraulic thumb on mine, have to re engineer a thing or two but should be done quite easily. I have had mine for over a year. Done multiple jobs with it, actually it has paid it self back. Soi am net zero for the cost of it now. Yeah 👍.
The rigging on that large rock was never going to work without a cross strap … kind of blows your “in the business” credibility if you tried it the wrong way 3 different times
I’m not in the rigging and lifting business nor did I give much of a damn if this worked or not. If I wanted to I would have gotten the proper slings and shackles to make it work. Clearly you thought too hard into this
@@AbramsExcavating Nobody needs to “think hard” when the error is as obvious as your error… don’t waste the time of the audience demonstrating incompetence. If the goal of the video segment was to test the lifting strength, then do it half assed correctly so the test can do what you promised.
They are nice machines for about half the cost. I purchased one about a month ago from Denny. I had mine shipped down to TX. It works perfect the work I do.
Honestly, this is probably the nicest of these little machines I have seen yet. the controls seem nice and positive and smooth as well. That briggs is what? 9-10 HP? seems to be plenty of power.
we bought one of these machines and have used it for a year without any major problems - basically works well but you will find things it doesn't want to move because they are too heavy. some of the handy attachments are worth considering like the power thumb.
