Hanix Mini Giant excavator?

[Lil Foot]

Haven't touched my toy (tool) project for about 17 days now, been working every day on getting the in-laws place ready for the estate sale in 3 days.
After the estate sale, we will have 6 days to empty out anything that is left in order to clear the house for the real estate open house the following Saturday.
My wife wants at least 2 pieces of furniture (that we are not selling) & they will require my 10 x 6 trailer to move.
I currently cannot get the trailer out of the backyard, because it is blocked in by my track-less excavator.
So, at that point, I will have to take time to mount the tracks so I can move the excavator out of the way to access the trailer.

 

[RCW]

Bill - good luck with the tracks, and the long line of subsequent tasks that follow.

When I went through that in ‘19, the first cleaning/clearing out part was the major part of the work.

The listing/selling part went pretty easy, but for some clean up we had to do at the tail end. That was tough, because I was getting to the end of my rope for hauling trash.

That house was packed with stuff, and looked the same it did when I first walked in the door in 1982…..

The local Salvation Army store literally said “no mas,” as I overloaded them with clothes my MIL had accumulated.

Sounds like you’re (hopefully) getting toward the end of the process. None of it is easy.

My best wishes as you get there. Sincere hopes the rest goes without a hitch.

 

[radas]

Haven't touched my toy (tool) project for about 17 days now, been working every day on getting the in-laws place ready for the estate sale in 3 days.
After the estate sale, we will have 6 days to empty out anything that is left in order to clear the house for the real estate open house the following Saturday.
My wife wants at least 2 pieces of furniture (that we are not selling) & they will require my 10 x 6 trailer to move.
I currently cannot get the trailer out of the backyard, because it is blocked in by my track-less excavator.
So, at that point, I will have to take time to mount the tracks so I can move the excavator out of the way to access the trailer.

You should rent a trailer!

 

[BAP]

You should rent a trailer!

Second that, Uhaul trailers are pretty cheap and with the amount of work and stress you have right now, a much better option than trying to rush putting your tracks.

 

[Lil Foot]

You should rent a trailer!

Second that, Uhaul trailers are pretty cheap and with the amount of work and stress you have right now, a much better option than trying to rush putting your tracks.

I hear you, but this may be my only rationalization for getting back to the excavator work, even if only long enough to mount the tracks.
Then I get to drive it to free up the trailer.

 

[radas]

I hear you, but this may be my only rationalization for getting back to the excavator work, even if only long enough to mount the tracks.
Then I get to drive it to free up the trailer.

Fair enough, looking forward to more progress once you get things sorted out. Your build has inspired me to scour the web for a micro/mini ex - not that I'll get the OK to buy one, but window shopping has been fun

 

[fried1765]

Fair enough, looking forward to more progress once you get things sorted out. Your build has inspired me to scour the web for a micro/mini ex - not that I'll get the OK to buy one, but window shopping has been fun

26 years ago, ( for a hefty price) I bought my freedom from needing "approval" for such purchases.
Fortunately, I have had a much happier life since.

 

[radas]

26 years ago, ( for a hefty price) I bought my freedom from needing "approval" for such purchases.
Fortunately, I have had a much happier life since.

No thank you, I'd like to keep my house and half of my shit I don't mind the "approval" which is more along the lines of

me: "hey, I'm buying this"
her: "no"
me: "we need it for the house"
her: "whatever, I don't want to hear the sales pitch"
me: "ok, I'm buying it"

Sometimes its good to get that pushback to make sure you're not buying something you don't really need. I feel like we all do that to a degree on this forum too, making sure our purchases make sense. On the other hand, we also enable eachother to buy stuff we don't need either. Easy to spend someone else's money

 

[Lil Foot]

As I stated in an earlier post, (#179) the better half pretty much made the decision to buy this little "gem in the rough".

 

[torch]

Oh, and are you a real person or a robot prgrammed to make topical-sounding posts on forums to build a reputation score? Perhaps you would like to share how this relates to the discussion at hand?

 

[Lil Foot]

Finally got the new rubber tracks mounted!
Kinda tough in 108F heat, but not too bad once I had the method figured out.
1st one took maybe 30 minutes of wrassling, second one maybe 10.
(these things are heavy & stiff!)
It took 28 grease shots on one side, and 30 on the other to tension the tracks.
Didn't get to drive it much, but it is way smoother, and way quieter!

 

[torch]

Finally got the new rubber tracks mounted!
Kinda tough in 108F heat, but not too bad once I had the method figured out.
1st one took maybe 30 minutes of wrassling, second one maybe 10.
(these things are heavy & stiff!)
It took 28 grease shots on one side, and 30 on the other to tension the tracks.
Didn't get to drive it much, but it is way smoother, and way quieter!

View attachment 82191

Sweet!

(The tracks, not the heat)

 

[Lil Foot]

Making slow progress.
Thought I would grease the three zerks on the ring gear, but could only find two.
Manual clearly shows three.
So I spent an hour+ underneath in 105° heat scraping the outside of the ring gear, revealing the two recessed zerks I already knew about, and a non-recessed allen set screw.
I could replace the set screw with a zerk, but it isn't recessed, so it would be sheared off when I swing the house.
Must have been a design change that the manual doesn't cover, so two grease points will have to be enough.
The (2) #12 are there, #13 is missing.

 

[Lil Foot]

Then I attempted to grease the last zerks for the undercarriage, only to find them missing.
These are (3) zerks on the front of the house directly under the connections for the jackhammer lines.
I thought they were just hidden by grease, dirt, and dead possums, but they have been removed. (or lost)
They connect to 3 plastic flex lines that feed grease to the swing gear, the swing ring, and the inner bolt swing cylinder.
The zerks were threaded from the outside into tapped holes in the frame, and there are brass compression fittings threaded into the inside of the frame, with the flex lines attached.
Thankfully, the dirt & crap only entered about 1/2 way through the compression fittings, so the lines are clean.
None of the zerks I have on hand appear to fit, so when the compression fittings come out of the ultrasonic, I hopefully will be able to ID the thread and get some proper zerks.
The adventure continues.
1st pic is from the manual, (zerk is #3, x 3) 2nd is a blow-up of groundpig's machine.

 

[Lil Foot]

Crushed acorns:
(tried to type "crushed nuts" but it just sounded too painful)

 

[Lil Foot]

Then I attempted to grease the last zerks for the undercarriage, only to find them missing.
These are (3) zerks on the front of the house directly under the connections for the jackhammer lines.
I thought they were just hidden by grease, dirt, and dead possums, but they have been removed. (or lost)
They connect to 3 plastic flex lines that feed grease to the swing gear, the swing ring, and the inner bolt swing cylinder.
The zerks were threaded from the outside into tapped holes in the frame, and there are brass compression fittings threaded into the inside of the frame, with the flex lines attached.
Thankfully, the dirt & crap only entered about 1/2 way through the compression fittings, so the lines are clean.
None of the zerks I have on hand appear to fit, so when the compression fittings come out of the ultrasonic, I hopefully will be able to ID the thread and get some proper zerks.
The adventure continues.
1st pic is from the manual, 2nd is a blow-up of groundpig's machine.
View attachment 82358 View attachment 82359

It appears after much cleaning & inspection that the original zerks were all sheared off.
Nothing remained of them, or the first & second threads in all three holes.
(plus a couple more threads bunged up)
Threads are 1/8-28 BSPP.
I have the proper zerks on order, and even found the correct tap to chase the threads from the inside out.
Hopefully everything will be in in 2-3 days.
Flexible plastic lines are 6mm.

 

[fried1765]

As I stated in an earlier post, (#179) the better half pretty much made the decision to buy this little "gem in the rough".

I like the way your better half thinks.
My ex-wife would have harangued me over a Hanix buy, for the remainder of my life.

 

[aaluck]

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!

Excuse my ignorance...but I have been loving this thread and your wonderful ability to bring this back to life better than original, in my opinion. But I have a stupid question....

The new track looks like it has rips in the middle. Am I seeing things? Is this normal?

 

[Lil Foot]

You are not seeing things, completely normal, although not technically "rips".
During the casting process, there are "X" shaped slits purposely put in. These allow the sprocket teeth to poke thru slightly, but more importantly allow any rocks, dirt, or debris that get trapped on top of the teeth to be pushed out thru the slits, keeping the track in close contact with the sprockets.
Some brands have a single slit, some a round flap, and some are completely open holes.

 

[Lil Foot]

I just moved the Mini in & out of the backyard yesterday, spinning it in its own length each time.
The area is 3"-4" dp in 1" minus granite. I went out & checked and found these rocks pushed thru from the inside. (not staged)
The rest of the holes appeared clear.