Hanix Mini Giant excavator?

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Not sure when I will get back to this project, but thought I would give credit where credit was due in the interim.

After looking a how much work was needed, and all the hassles of transporting it, chasing extinct parts & manuals, machining new parts, cleaning decades of dirt & grime, all in the middle of the caregiver thing, I had pretty much decided NOT to buy this excavator.

But "the ever smarter than me" Mrs. Foot pointed out that I would probably never again get a chance to own an excavator, let alone one this cheap.

So, as usual, she was right, and here we are.

Thanks Babe!

That's because Mrs. Lil foot is really smart!
And Awesome too!

And for others out there, I have had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with her!

 

[ve9aa]

Great thread ! It's almost like Andrew Camarata youtube videos, but in picture format, over months. ;-)

Good work 'Foot

 

[Lil Foot]

Thanks guys!

 

[Lil Foot]

Think I have some wear issues to deal with. That is a 3/8" drill blank.

 

[fried1765]

Think I have some wear issues to deal with. That is a 3/8" drill blank.
View attachment 78070

Li'l JB Weld should work there!

 

[RCW]

Think I have some wear issues to deal with. That is a 3/8" drill blank.
View attachment 78070

Bill - - Ouch....

Can/how do you machine bushings to fix that?

Looks like out-of-round, by a lot?

Been following your great progress with the machine. That machine is in great hands.

You're one of the most skilled craftsmen here on OTT. Look forward to your plan of attack. Betting you're formulating that already.....

Good luck!

 

[Lil Foot]

Bill - - Ouch....

Can/how do you machine bushings to fix that?

Looks like out-of-round, by a lot?

Been following your great progress with the machine. That machine is in great hands.

You're one of the most skilled craftsmen here on OTT. Look forward to your plan of attack. Betting you're formulating that already.....

Good luck!

I won't know till I get into it, but the usual plan is to line bore or line ream the holes, then turn sleeves that will be interference fit (pressed in), then either make new pins from scratch, or turn the old pins down & sleeve them, or turn the pins down making them undersize, and using thicker bushings to make up the difference.
Of course, can't use too small a pin and give up too much strength.
I'm sure I will be stocking up on dry ice & alcohol for those interference fits.
I will also have to drill/ream the "keeper" bolt holes, as they are also wallowed out.
Some pins/bushings will need grease holes or grooves.
A lot will also depend on what material I have on hand or can pick up cheaply. (a challenge these days)
I know I have two pieces of broken axle shaft supposedly from old school farm tractors that I picked up at an estate sale, ($0) one piece maybe 3" x 14", the other maybe 1 1/4" x 12".
I'll probably start with those.
I will document whatever methods I use.

But this will proceed slowly, as we had the funeral for the MIL last Friday, and now we will begin dealing with the estate, the poor condition house, and 70+ years of accumulated stuff. That will take up a lot of time for the foreseeable future.
My wife & her sisters are going to the house this week for a couple days to work alone on some cleanup & working out some family decisions, so I might have a couple days to myself, and I will try to mount the new tracks.

Thanks for the compliment, nice to have one's talents appreciated.

 

[Lil Foot]

Well, thought I would take this free day (at least for me) to do a quick track swap.
The mini ex gods were not smiling one me.

Used the mini to lift itself, released the track tension, stuck a J-bar in the track to push the idler in, and popped the steel track off, all in maybe 15 minutes.

Started cleaning, and found heavy wear on part #14, slide, bed, undoubtably a result of running steel tracks. It is supposed to be flat.
Spent the next 2 hrs getting it off; metric allen screws recessed deeply, and they were too long, and the excess length on the backside was dirty & rusty.

Anyway, I will have to fab something new, and I have no large enough material here. (except aluminum, which would not work well)
Thought about welding it up & machining/grinding it back original config, but I think that would be more work than starting over. Plus, some of that thing is pretty thin, not much left.

 

[Lil Foot]

The difference in idler extension:
Fully extended. pic 1
Fully retracted. pic 2
Because of the worn tracks, the PO had his machinist make longer "axle blocks" to get more extension.
I hope that isn't going to cause me problems with it not retracting far enough.

 

[groundpig]

Think I have some wear issues to deal with. That is a 3/8" drill blank.
View attachment 78070

i have the same kind of issue on my machine... i took the bucket off a while ago (did a little bit of electric-stick-metal-gluing to it) and it seems that its mostly the bucket that is worn out, the boom bushing itself seemed to be still in some circular shape.. maybe yours have the same.

 

[Lil Foot]

I hope so!

Been trying to get the new bed slides machined, been sneaking in a few minutes here & there on setups & an operation or two.

In addition to dealing with the inlaw's house clean up, my wife went down with serious back problems. Specific cause unknown, but 6+hrs in the hospital the other night.
Now I'm playing half a$$ nurse, waiter, food delivery guy, errand boy, etc.

 

[Lil Foot]

The new bed slides are done, first some nekid pics:

 

[Lil Foot]

Then with paint:

 

[Lil Foot]

And finally, what the world will look like before these wear out:

 

[fried1765]

I hope so!

Been trying to get the new bed slides machined, been sneaking in a few minutes here & there on setups & an operation or two.

In addition to dealing with the inlaw's house clean up, my wife went down with serious back problems. Specific cause unknown, but 6+hrs in the hospital the other night.
Now I'm playing half a$$ nurse, waiter, food delivery guy, errand boy, etc.

Hope your sweetie gets better VERY soon!

 

[Tughill Tom]

Then with paint:
View attachment 79397 View attachment 79398

Outstanding work Sir! My hat is off to you.
Can't wait to see the outcome of this project.

 

[Lil Foot]

Hope your sweetie gets better VERY soon!

Thank you!
The first two days/nights were VERY painful for her, and painful for me to watch/hear.
3rd day saw marked improvement, then a little better each day.
Today she is almost back to normal; modern drugs can work wonders when properly used.
(she had meds for pain, inflammation, anti-spasm, and a muscle relaxant)
She shopped with a girlfriend yesterday & drove her to the airport today.

 

[Lil Foot]

Outstanding work Sir! My hat is off to you.
Can't wait to see the outcome of this project.

Thank you!
Nice to have one's efforts appreciated.

 

[Lil Foot]

Forgot to mention that these slides are 3/8" wider and an inch longer than the originals, same height.

 

[Lil Foot]

Mounted the left track today, pretty tough by myself, but it went right on with the better half operating the stick, and me wrestling/prying.
And yes, it fits!

Mismatched shoes: