It comes exactly as shown in the picture on this site… down to the plastic strap holding the boom to the ROPS. When transporting, cut that plastic strap and either secure the boom arm as it should be on your trailer, or use a tie down to strap it to the ROPS as shown. I bought mine new from an auction house and it had no fuel in it and the battery was dead. So I had it loaded on my trailer and secured the boom using a tie down.
This equipment is great for landscaping jobs, it will lift many hundred of pounds, and it’s quite versatile. There are many attachments available for it. I’m very impressed by it as a result. For what I need, this is perfect. I have a fair size property and for digging trenches, this will do very nicely.
However, there are a few things that should be addressed by the manufacturer.
The grease zerks that come with on the cylinders a low profile, needle injected type fittings. I’m not fond of them and replaced them all. I realize that being low profile means they are less likely to be ripped/broken off by an object while working, but how often will that happen? Also, they are very easy to replace in those cases. The rest of the zerks are ‘normal’ but sometimes, they are located in an inaccessible location that warrant a 90 or 45 degree fitting. Finally, none of the zerks were greased and some were loose.
The rear panel to access the engine is held with 7 bolts. After removing the panel twice, one of the threaded holes is already stripped. Why not hinge the panel. That would be so easy… and I will do this eventually. Even keep the top middle bolt to secure it, but the way it is with 7 bolts is a pain.
The operation is relatively smooth, but it can be jerky. The boom cylinder is the jerkiest. You have to have a very slight touch to prevent that, and still that may not be enough. So be aware. I love the controls on either side of the seat. Much easier to handle. They are setup in the ISO standard of operation. I guess that can be changed by moving a few lines on the valve unit, but I’m ok with ISO.
The forward/reverse joy sticks are in the front. The peddles are not substitutes for the joy sticks. The right peddle is for the blade. The left peddle is for the auxiliary. So when the hydraulic thumb, or anything else is connected to those lines on the boom, it is operated through the left foot. I wish there was less angle on the peddles towards the seat. It’s a very small cab and if your feet are big, tilting the peddle back can be a challenge due to the bulkhead.
The hydraulic connections are metric DIN, which is fine, but availability is limited & can be expensive. I found a place online that charged twice more for shipping than the actual fitting. I found another place to source quick disconnects. I was able to get metric to NPT adapters at this same site. Only cost $62 including shipping. That could have been included on the unit.
There are no instructions in the tool case provided. No information on the type of hydraulic fittings. The only thing in the toolbox is the engine manual, a 17/19mm open ended wrench, 3 sockets (12, 14, 16mm) with a handle, a small grease gun, & needle adapter for the low profile zerks.
The engine is the RATO engine. This is a great engine. I had the exact same one on a chipper/shredder and it worked great! So I was very familiar with it once I realized what I was looking at. Unfortunately, the fuel shutoff has to be found by feel when looking at the engine from the top, which is accomplished by lifting the seat. I finally found it once I removed the rear panel & recognized the engine.
Note that I never run the engine at full throttle, it’s just not necessary. This is a pretty powerful unit.
What is this excavator should include, and likely a lot of others of this size, is quick disconnect fittings for the auxiliary circuit. Possible variable control valve on the rotation of the house and boom cylinder to smooth out the operation. Quick disconnects on the aux lines. I also welded a chain hook on the back of the shovel. That could be one of the option is the ability to bolt on a hook fitting to the shovel on pre-drilled hole locations. There are already two holes in the shovel for drainage, four more wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
You should remove the carpet as soon as you get it home. Maybe a bolted on aluminum diamond plate instead. it just minimize the wear on the finish & prevent slipping if the floor is wet.
Again, I love this excavator, but be aware and go over the entire unit before you start using it for any length of time. Some hardware could be loose, and you may find other little surprises. For the most part, other than some of the grease zerks, mine appeared to be fine. But it fits in really narrow places (only 36” wide) and it’s remarkably versatile. I would recommend it for the right application.
I had other comments, but the review length is limited.
