Hanix Mini Giant excavator?

[minthral]

I need a lot trenching (150-175ft) at my place up north- very hard & rocky ground.
It is certainly not a commercial level machine, but it is at least 2 to 4 times more powerful than the B670 on my B7100.

I also plan on moving some big rocks out of a planned fence line. Lots of them are in the 100-200lb range, and a few are in the 2500lb range. I'll move what I can, then hire a big machine to move the rest.

Of course, there are always tree planting holes to dig, stumps to dig up, & culverts to clear.

If it works out, I may pull the BH off my tractor, and put the box blade back on.

And somewhere down the road, if I decide to sell it, I will probably double (or more) what I will have in it.
Equipment always sells high out here.

I'm sure it will dig and will get get job done, but I honestly don't think the difference will be too significant better than your backhoe. Limitation factor is weight... that equipment probably weighs 2500-3000 LB. My L3301 with BH77 is around 5k LBs and I can dig a 3 foot deep trench (6 inch trench bucket) 60 feet long in about 2-3 hours. I probably could do 150 feet in 1 day, but that's going to probably wear my patience to operate the thing that long. If I hit rock, it wont go through it, but very hard compact soil it will (hard as in you'd need to use a pickaxe to go dig by hand). The backhoe is lifting the whole machine off the ground when I'm trying to dig the dense stuff or trying to rip a large root it pull the whole thing. If the weight was cut in half, I would be really disappointed...

I do think it will do what you want, but I'd have expectations set on the size of tool. It's something that seems appropriate for garden work (redo a flow bed etc), but not long trenches...got what you're talking about, you really want something bigger...

 

[Lil Foot]

It outweighs my backhoe tractor setup by nearly double, cylinders are much bigger, and the hydraulic pump has huge capacity. (sized for a hydraulic hammer)
Besides, I don't think I can buy something bigger for $3200.

 

[Daren Todd]

I'm sure it will dig and will get get job done, but I honestly don't think the difference will be too significant better than your backhoe. Limitation factor is weight... that equipment probably weighs 2500-3000 LB. My L3301 with BH77 is around 5k LBs and I can dig a 3 foot deep trench (6 inch trench bucket) 60 feet long in about 2-3 hours. I probably could do 150 feet in 1 day, but that's going to probably wear my patience to operate the thing that long. If I hit rock, it wont go through it, but very hard compact soil it will (hard as in you'd need to use a pickaxe to go dig by hand). The backhoe is lifting the whole machine off the ground when I'm trying to dig the dense stuff or trying to rip a large root it pull the whole thing. If the weight was cut in half, I would be really disappointed...

I do think it will do what you want, but I'd have expectations set on the size of tool. It's something that seems appropriate for garden work (redo a flow bed etc), but not long trenches...got what you're talking about, you really want something bigger...

Actually you may be surprised what one of those little buggers can do. Especially if you put some teeth on the bucket. Compared to a similar sized tractor with backhoe attachment, the trackhoe usually has a larger hydraulic pump and more butt for the size.

With a mini x the biggest difference between that and the backhoe on a tractor is set up time between digs.

With the mini x it's just a matter of walking backwards a little bit, and then dropping the blade if you have it.

Backhoe you have to raise the stabilizers some. Then either shove the tractor with the boom, or drive it forward. Then reset the stabilizers.

 

[Lil Foot]

After bonking my head on the engine cover several times, I grabbed a piece of stock from the stash and made an extension for the engine cover prop rod. It raises the engine cover 7+ inches over stock.
Maybe I'll have less a less lumpy head in the future.

 

[Lil Foot]

When I got this machine, the battery was not secured in any way, except that it was stuck in grease, dirt, & oil. The battery cable ends showed evidence of having been rubbing on the frame & radiator support, and worse yet, shorting also.
I took some 1/2" white polypro and cut it to fit the battery "tray" area, then milled a 1/4" DP recess the size of a 52R battery. This will keep it located where it needs to be. Had some 1/4-20 battery hold down posts in the parts stash, and drilled a piece of black polyacetal for a hold down strap.

 

[Lil Foot]

Added a little insurance:

 

[sheepfarmer]

After bonking my head on the engine cover several times, I grabbed a piece of stock from the stash and made an extension for the engine cover prop rod. It raises the engine cover 7+ inches over stock.
Maybe I'll have less a less lumpy head in the future.

View attachment 74031 View attachment 74032 View attachment 74033

While you are working on this aspect of your project, if a solution to my problem comes to mind, please let me know? That is, on the B2650 there is no spring or gas cylinder to help lift the hood to the height needed to insert the support rod in its slot. It is bloody awful heavy especially when lifting from the side to reach around the brush guard and when there is a snow blower on the front. There isn't much room to install anything. There was a post several years ago that someone was going to try a gas lift but he never came back to say if he had found one that worked. The L size has a spring coil. Any ideas?

 

[Lil Foot]

The only thing that popped into my head was a solution that a one-time co-worked used on an old WWII military truck that he used on his gold claim. He was older, and the hood was heavy & awkward to lift, and I think it had a hood prop rod also.
He would park it under a lift frame at the claim or in his garage at home and use one of those small pulley hoists, like for deer hunting. (link below)
He put a small hook on the hood, and it didn't even need to be perfectly centered.
Worked for him.

180 KG Poly Rope Hoist Pulley Wheel Block and Tackle 400lb Puller Lift Tools New | eBay

400LB Working Load Capacity. Zinc Plated Drop Forged Eye Sling Hooks With Clip. Rugged 2.5 Nylon Pulley. Rest assured thatHORUSDY always has the right product for you. WithHORUSDY, you are buying smart and save smart.

www.ebay.com

 

[fried1765]

Added a little insurance:
View attachment 74539 View attachment 74540

The plastic handle on that extinguisher is truly only a "little insurance".
Plastic valve or plastic handle extinguishers are prone to breaking/failure, but........NOT until they are actually needed to extinguish a fire.
That sweet little Hanix deserves an extinguisher with an all metal head!

 

[Lil Foot]

The plastic handle on that extinguisher is only a "little insurance".
Plastic valve handle extinguishers are prone to breaking/failure, but........ONLY when they are needed to extinguish a fire.

Yup, it's only temporary, until I can get to my usual supplier, on the other side of the city. (130 mi rnd trip)
At least the head isn't plastic.
This thing has such huge amounts of grease/oil/dirt/sticks/leaves/dead possums/etc on it that if a fire ever got rolling, an airport truck with a foam cannon couldn't put it out. So I have that extinguisher and 3 others (bigger) within grabbing distance, and whenever I have time, I scrape, trowel, shovel, spray, and wash greasy crap off of it.
I think the only way it will ever be fully clean is if I can beg, borrow, or steal a hot water pressure washer.

 

[fried1765]

Yup, it's only temporary, until I can get to my usual supplier, on the other side of the city. (130 mi rnd trip)
At least the head isn't plastic.
This thing has such huge amounts of grease/oil/dirt/sticks/leaves/dead possums/etc on it that if a fire ever got rolling, an airport truck with a foam cannon couldn't put it out. So I have that extinguisher and 3 others (bigger) within grabbing distance, and whenever I have time, I scrape, trowel, shovel, spray, and wash greasy crap off of it.
I think the only way it will ever be fully clean is if I can beg, borrow, or steal a hot water pressure washer.

If the goop is is bad as you suggest, you REALLY do NEED to get your hands on a hot pressure washer.
Can you rent one close by?

 

[Lil Foot]

$275/day for a small one, $450/day for a large one. (everyone tells me I need the larger capacity)
In addition to the expense, I have nowhere here (where I live) that I can do it- the resulting mess will make wherever I do it unusable.
I could dig a shallow pit on my property in the mountains, and just bury the mess when I'm done.
But that means renting it, hauling it 185mi, getting the mini out, washing the mini ex, putting it away, and driving the washer back 185mi; not likely to happen in one day. Crap.

 

[Lil Foot]

Swing bump stop missing, grabbed a piece of stock from the stash, and a couple extra bumpers from my toyhauler door.
Another odd point- the (4) threaded holes where the stop bolts on are 3/8-16, not metric. Only SAE threads I have found on the machine so far.

 

[Lil Foot]

Grabbed another piece from the stash and an extra SMV sign.

 

[RCW]

Grabbed another piece from the stash and an extra SMV sign.
View attachment 74672 View attachment 74673

Just reminded me my SMV sign is broken from vibration...Need to put some washers on it...

 

[fried1765]

$275/day for a small one, $450/day for a large one. (everyone tells me I need the larger capacity)
In addition to the expense, I have nowhere here (where I live) that I can do it- the resulting mess will make wherever I do it unusable.
I could dig a shallow pit on my property in the mountains, and just bury the mess when I'm done.
But that means renting it, hauling it 185mi, getting the mini out, washing the mini ex, putting it away, and driving the washer back 185mi; not likely to happen in one day. Crap.

You are certainly in a difficult hot pressure washer predicament.
I think the distance issue might be bad in my area also.
Luckily,..... I have my nearly 50 yr. old Hotsy, and ........it works great.
FWIW I think it has only 3 gpm capacity.

 

[aaluck]

Swing bump stop missing, grabbed a piece of stock from the stash, and a couple extra bumpers from my toyhauler door.

Your going to have this think better than new when all is said and done. Great work.

 

[Lil Foot]

Finished the dash.
First, some parts that needed to be made:

Adapter to use modern switches in old, oversize holes:

 

[Lil Foot]

Painted the dash plate:

 

[Lil Foot]

Blank out plate for dead fuel gauge: