Hanix Mini Giant excavator?

[Lil Foot]

My BIL recently got the long face from the doctor, and he is beginning to get his life in order. Pretty sad.
One of the things he has to get rid of is a Hanix Mini Giant excavator. A few years ago I saw it, & I had never seen one like it (and I like the odd stuff) and told him I really liked it.
He asked yesterday if I was interested in it, and I said yes, depending on the price.
He said he would get back with me in a week or so with a figure.

I know it's old, it has steel tracks, (anything vaguely recent has rubber tracks) and it is tiny. He said when the tracks got so loose they would not stay in place, there were no tracks available for it, so his mechanic just removed one track pad to shortened them up. That's about all I know, other than he dug 400+ft of trenches when he built his off the grid home, septic system, and metal out buildings. Has an 10" and a 16" bucket.

Anybody have any experience with them? Things to watch out for? Advantages or disadvantages? Parts availability?

Thanks for any input you can provide.

Bill

 

[Lil Foot]

I think it is about this size, but with steel tracks. (and not this new)

 

[Lil Foot]

Wow.
Cricket.
Cricket.

 

[torch]

I know nothing about them, but it's cute. Like a 1/4 scale locomotive that you sit on and ride around the garden. A micro-ex, as it were.

Looks like it would be handy for confined spaces and small jobs though. You could squeeze that in where a tractor mounted backhoe won't fit. Probably dig trenches fast than a BH too.

If the tracks are stretched out to the point that a pad could be removed and yet still get the track back on, I'd guess they are pretty much done. Not gonna pull that stunt a second time, that's for sure! I wonder if it could be converted to a rubber track somehow, but I doubt that would be cheap even if it were possible.

 

[Yooper]

I managed to find this in a search: https://www.rileyplantspares.com/

Maybe they have parts for your model. I think they are made in Germany and one I saw for sale had a Mitsubishi engine. Interesting!

 

[Yooper]

They are Japanese:

Nissan Nagano and now Hanix are well known brands in Japan all coming from the same quality manufacturer. Originating from the Handozer Industry Ltd co in 1963 they were one of the first true 360 excavators built in Japan

 

[Lil Foot]

Thanks for the info. From what I can gather they are more common/popular in England than the US.
BIL said he used to worry about parts availability, but he claims it never breaks down and it has been pretty bullet proof.
I don't worry too much about hard parts, (shafts, sprockets, track pads & pins, etc) because I can make stuff like that; but seals, bearings, electronics, carb rebuild kits and the like might be problematic.

It's funny, when I searched "removing track pads from stretched tracks" I found pages of opinions ranging from "I've been doing it for 50 years with no problems" to "You will ruin sprockets & drive line components is short order." Seemed to be about a 50/50 split.

 

[Lil Foot]

Looks like it would be handy for confined spaces and small jobs though. You could squeeze that in where a tractor mounted backhoe won't fit. Probably dig trenches fast than a BH too.

One of the main reasons I'm interested; my land is heavily treed, and most of the work I've done so far with my B7100 could not have been done with a larger machine without dropping some trees. (and I like the cover)
Besides digging speed, another advantage is that it is a lot more powerful than my B670 backhoe. It isn't physically much larger than the B670, but BIL showed us pics of it lifting generators, battery packs, solar array frames, wind mill tower components, LP tanks, and such that I know my B670 couldn't budge.

I have a digging job sometime in the future it ( about 105' of power line trench from the cabin to my storage container) and this would be superior to my tractor mounted hoe. (hard ground & lots of rocks)

 

[Lil Foot]

Been a while, but I think I am proceeding with this purchase. (about 90% sure)
It is rough, but seems to run well, and everything works.
I have the price down where I need it, and there seem to be two possible stumbling blocks.

One, it is about a foot too tall to fit in my garage, so I will have to look at shortening/folding the ROPs &
top.

Two, I am getting conflicting info on whether or not I can replace the old, worn out steel tracks (no longer available) with new rubber tracks.

If I can firm up those two questions, I will purchase it.
Here is a video of a slightly newer one, same model, but with rubber tracks:

 

[torch]

That one looks bigger than the top picture. The blade is wider, the rest might be illusion due to the ROPS.

 

[Lil Foot]

It IS bigger, I remembered it smaller, but it is the same unit as the yutoob vid.

 

[Lil Foot]

Well, I bought it. The price was so low I just couldn't pass it up. Sorry in advance for the long post.

The steel tracks are worn out, the bucket pins are completely shot, and it is the dirtiest machine on the planet. I dug out the owners burn pit before I loaded it up, and it is a powerful digger. More on that later.

But it has been an adventure so far, and I am learning lots of important things.

Transporting, for instance. I have moved similar machines before, but not with steel tracks.
Tried to drive it up the ramps into my dump trailer, but the tracks just spun. (should have been my first hint of trouble coming, but I was too excited to think it through.

Backed the trailer up to a slope in the driveway, so the ramps were at a lower angle. This put the trailer nose down about 10-15 degrees, No big deal, right? WRONG!

It slipped a little going up the ramps, causing a little pucker factor, but not too bad. As the front of the tracks came down & settled into the bed, I released the controls. As soon as it was fully off the ramps,
it rocketed forward, tracks locked, slamming the dozer blade into the front wall of the trailer, and tipping forward dangerously like it was about to fall boom first into the bed of the truck. Apparently, worn steel tracks and flat, powder coated steel trailer beds are not compatible. Who knew? (not me) After my heart re-started, I attempted to move the excavator into the center of the trailer, but the tracks just spun. Even moved the trailer so it was tail down, but the tracks just spun.
Resorted to hand winching it to center it up, and then chained it down. Hauled it over 9 miles of rough dirt road, at about 10mph, then 130 more miles to my place in the woods. Arrived at 9pm, so just parked it for the night.

Next morning, we decided hauling it home (where my shop is) and trying to unload it in the street would be a disaster, so we decided to unload it there, and get a better trailer before hauling it home.

I backed up to a steep driveway slope, ramps were around 20 degrees, jacked up the front of the trailer so it was level, tried to back out, and the tracks just spun. Crap.

Shoveled in a bunch of driveway cinders, and sprinkled some on the ramps, and it began moving. It was a little hairy, but we got it unloaded, parked it in a group of trees, and headed for home.

Phase two next post.

 

[Lil Foot]

On the second day home, tried to rent a wood deck lowboy trailer, and found NO trailers available (at all) at the 5 nearest rental places. Finally found a place (35mi away) that had a drop deck trailer, which they recommended for steel tracks. $170 per day, but at least I would be able to move it. Pics in the above post were taken after an hour of pressure washing. It was so dirty, you could barely tell what color it was, and you could not even see the model number on the side. I never even attempted to clean the boom/stick.
Loading, hauling, and unloading went smoothly.

The owner could not find the manual, but finally I found one online, digital download for $5. After download, I find it is in norwegian, not english. THEN the company admits they don't have an english version. Since then I have found about 5 companies that sell the manual, but it is the same norwegian manual, from the same guy, using different websites. I will keep searching.

Drop deck trailer pics:

 

[Tarmy]

Keep the updates coming…interesting find OP.

 

[Lil Foot]

On the plus side, it has an 849cc Mitsubishi 3 cylinder that starts easily and runs like a top, no smoke, only 5 second glow. These came in two versions, one setup for a hydraulic hammer, the other without, so they have two different size hydraulic pumps. I have the hammer setup version, with the bigger pump and large lines to the end of the dipper stick. That is why it digs so well. The one in the video above has the smaller pump and no hammer lines on the stick. It also has the larger bucket that I got with mine also.

It came with three new bucket teeth, some spare parts, a fuel can, and a tub of hydraulic fluid. Most of the idiot lights and gauges aren't working, but the hour meter shows 2087.9 hours, was only 2086.7 when I first saw it, so that appears to be working. Overhead & boom lights don't work, and the engine cover latch & fuel cap were locking, but they lost the key and just broke them.

Another plus is that it originally came with rubber tracks, so fitting new ones should not be a problem. The steel tracks are not correct for this model, not sure what they are supposed to fit, but individual track pads & pins are still available, but they have a JD part number.

Lots of work ahead, for now the priority will be new rubber tracks and repairing the bucket/pins/stick problems, really sloppy.

 

[Lil Foot]

Oh, the dent in the front wall of the dump trailer is only cosmetic, but that first dent in anything new always hurts a little.

 

[fried1765]

On the plus side, it has an 849cc Mitsubishi 3 cylinder that starts easily and runs like a top, no smoke, only 5 second glow. These came in two versions, one setup for a hydraulic hammer, the other without, so they have two different size hydraulic pumps. I have the hammer setup version, with the bigger pump and large lines to the end of the dipper stick. That is why it digs so well. The one in the video above has the smaller pump and no hammer lines on the stick. It also has the larger bucket that I got with mine also.

It came with three new bucket teeth, some spare parts, a fuel can, and a tub of hydraulic fluid. Most of the idiot lights and gauges aren't working, but the hour meter shows 2087.9 hours, was only 2086.7 when I first saw it, so that appears to be working. Overhead & boom lights don't work, and the engine cover latch & fuel cap were locking, but they lost the key and just broke them.

Another plus is that it originally came with rubber tracks, so fitting new ones should not be a problem. The steel tracks are not correct for this model, not sure what they are supposed to fit, but individual track pads & pins are still available, but they have a JD part number.

Lots of work ahead, for now the priority will be new rubber tracks and repairing the bucket/pins/stick problems, really sloppy.

I am very envious of your new toy!
Even at my age (81) I would love to have it!

 

[Lil Foot]

Not had much time lately, (story of my life these days) but I have begun puttering with fixing it up.

Made a new part for the fuel cap, so now it works, cleaned/replaced the battery cable ends & battery cutoff,
replaced the rubber mounts for the electric fuel pump, have everything I need to replace the lines & clamps for the fuel lines & injector return lines.

The glow plug switch died, so it has been replaced with a higher amp waterproof one that I had on hand.

Removed & cleaned to radiator overflow tank, and I have (I think) identified the coolant leak. It appears that the radiator drain plug is leaking, one of those plastic abortions with two finger "wings" for tightening/loosening- except the wings are broken off flush. I'm sure I can replace it, if I can figure out how to get the radiator out. It is so dirty (everything but the fins) that I have not been able to find the mounting bolts so far. I will pressure test it when I get it out. Thankfully it has clean antifreeze, so corrosion does not appear to be a problem.

I have drilled out & removed two broken off bolts, and see at least 4 more to do, probably the result of trying to put SAE bolts in the metric threaded holes.

I will send all the pertinent info & dimensions to the track manufacturer after the holidays, they are closed currently.

The adventure continues.

 

[Lil Foot]

Pulled the engine cover for better access. Spent hours trying to figure out how to pull the radiator, finally succeeded once I figured out where all the bolts where. The radiator support, held in with (4) bolts, none visible under all the dirt, also supports the hydraulic filter. Hydraulic line goes through the support, (poor design, can't pull the support without breaking the hydraulic circuit) and the radiator & shroud is bolted to the support with (4) bolts, none visible under all the dirt. Radiator drain cock was broken off as I suspected, but came out easily with a LH drill. I had a couple new ones on hand, so easy fix there. Radiator has no leaks. Upper, lower, & bypass hoses all recently replaced, but clamped with wire hose clamps, which will be replaced with worm drive band clamps.
Now if I could only figure out where the block drain is.

Fan belt was not much more than a few cords with blocks of crumbling rubber, so have purchased a new one along with new hydraulic, oil, fuel, and air filters. Air filter happens to be the same one my B7100 uses.

The pics below showing the engine, radiator support, & radiator are all AFTER (5) rounds of engine degreaser, putty knife, scrub brush, and pressure washer.

Electric fuel pump is currently not installed, waiting for time to change all fuel supply & return lines.

PO did not know there was a hydraulic level gauge, it was leaking & covered with approximately 1/2" of dirt & grease/oil. Simply tightening the two chrome bolts & PWing and it is working & visible.

 

[Happy Jack Dave]

Pulled the engine cover for better access. Spent hours trying to figure out how to pull the radiator, finally succeeded once I figured out where all the bolts where. The radiator support, held in with (4) bolts, none visible under all the dirt, also supports the hydraulic filter. Hydraulic line goes through the support, (poor design, can't pull the support without breaking the hydraulic circuit) and the radiator & shroud is bolted to the support with (4) bolts, none visible under all the dirt. Radiator drain cock was broken off as I suspected, but came out easily with a LH drill. I had a couple new ones on hand, so easy fix there. Radiator has no leaks. Upper, lower, & bypass hoses all recently replaced, but clamped with wire hose clamps, which will be replaced with worm drive band clamps.
Now if I could only figure out where the block drain is.

Fan belt was not much more than a few cords with blocks of crumbling rubber, so have purchased a new one along with new hydraulic, oil, fuel, and air filters. Air filter happens to be the same one my B7100 uses.

The pics below showing the engine, radiator support, & radiator are all AFTER (5) rounds of engine degreaser, putty knife, scrub brush, and pressure washer.

Electric fuel pump is currently not installed, waiting for time to change all fuel supply & return lines.

PO did not know there was a hydraulic level gauge, it was leaking & covered with approximately 1/2" of dirt & grease/oil. Simply tightening the two chrome bolts & PWing and it is working & visible.

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Looks like you are making some progress Bill. Can't wait to see it working. Later, Dave