I bought the cheapest mini excavator I could find… and it’s annoyingly awesome!

Yup…. It’s cheap
Nope… it’s not going to last forever
….but….
It’s surprisingly good for what it is, and that is a low cost entry for the average person to have a mini excavator on their acreage that can trench, cleanup, rake, pile, lift, toss, pull, push etc etc…
It’s certainly not big brand name quality… but it’s WAY less money than the big brand name machines and with some patience and a mechanical aptitude slightly above a potato YOU can do a lot of work on a tight budget!
Oh and as always, I’m not sponsored by these guys, I paid out of pocket for it… but if they want to sponsor me they should reach out…. With a fist full of cash… and pallets of attachments… 🤣🤣

[@WinterRider]

You could use any old hitch pin to set the thumb in the other holes

[@shanerogers488]

I HIGHLY recommend you take the seat apart and remove the plastic. I just did that for mine and it was covered in mold on the underside. Yours is in a cab so it might be better off, but you might want to check it nonetheless. Good luck!

[@Goldstreamplacer]

Now I annoyingly want one....................................

[@WaynesAdventure]

Nice little machine to have around the house or do some small jobs. I like it!!

[@CyberFleamarket]

I have one also and Im glad to see you working with it. I noticed you used the bucket to sort of push turn in place to change direction. Thats a little trick I will now try to start using. Thanks for the vid and the walkthrough. Im in SC and if anyone is interested, i do have a Lanty 13 Im selling and its new. I have another one that Im keeping.

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

I should really make a video of how to assist turning with the bucket, seems a lot of people have trouble with it but it’s really not difficult to master and sure saves back blading a lot of ruts! Thanks for watching 👍

[@shakes7333]

I can just imagine the exhaust fumes entering the cabin

[@bmexcavation957]

Thank goodness someone else that know how to run one of these love mine wld like to buy one with a cab maybe in the future good vid I subbed

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Thanks for watching 👍 I’m a Journeyman heavy duty mechanic and I’ve ran equipment on and off most of my life 😎

[@bmexcavation957]

@@PuskwaskaOutdoors certainly I enjoyed your videos. Kind off second generation of the construction myself grew up in it and around it

[@NorthwindGarage]

These things are popping up everywhere! I may have to get me one. I'm spending alot in a weekend rental fee. Pay for itself quickly. Lol! Cute little thing and it's got a cup holder!! I'm sold! Great video Thank You!

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Be warned they are a mixed bag of joy and heartache…. If you can find a brand that you can get parts for somewhat locally it’s worth the extra money in my opinion.

[@justinsmith3050]

Have you considered running it without the tcab during the summer? Is it possible? Appeciate your info, thanks.

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

If considered it…. But I’d need to build a roll bar, it would be suicide without one.

[@MuskratOutdoors]

Oh Man! That's what I need! Until you measured it, I thought it was bigger than that. Only 38" wide? Is it tippy? That thing is cool! HA! Like sitting in a phone booth and digging! It looks like it works pretty well!! VERY NEAT! HA!

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

It’s like a portable toilet stall with a shovel attached 🤣 It’s surprisingly stable, I’ve ran smaller machines that needed the blade down all the time for stability but this one I only put it down when I’m doing heavy lifting! I’m impressed, for the price It’s VERY good.

[@darrenegginton9842]

Need to extract those poisonous gases

[@headpainter1]

Great video. Not sure if having the cab is real much benefit other than fighting freezing wind. Idk. I've been looking at a lot of these and there's one that has an access door for the engine bay. Looks like a great deal for the $$. Was it just my ears or was there like a sheet metal clanging when you were working brush? Ive heard others say to go ahead and get the hydraulic thumb but still not convinced. Looks like it's doing exactly what you wanted it to do. Thanks.

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

The bucket and thumb pins have just enough clearance in them that when you cast away from you and curl out the bucket it makes a bit of a rattle…. And the tin can exhaust of the Briggs rattles the sheet metal a bit too…. It’s kinda offensive on the ears to run actually and i have started wearing my Pfanner helmet with the ear muffs and it helps a lot. If you get the model without the cab you can bolt on hinges and a latch so the rear access panel becomes hinged and MUCH easier to work in the engine bay…. Or buy the model with the factory rear hinged door but they are more expensive due to being diesel and pilot controls… I think they are also 1.8 tons or bigger as well. I’m wrestling with the idea of putting a hydraulic thumb on mine, I can add an 8” stroke cylinder from Princess auto (canadas version of harbour freight) to my manual thumb but the geometry won’t be correct to fully nest or extend it…. I’d imagine a complete thumb with cylinder and correct pin spacing from a dealer would be around $1000…. And I’d still need to figure out if the accessory port has a relief valve I could set so I could have the bucket curl force the thumb back otherwise it would likely bend or break something…. There is certainly lots to chew on when it comes to mods for these little machines.

[@headpainter1]

@@PuskwaskaOutdoors I'm looking at the agt L12 which is a 2 post canopy but has a rear deck that lifts up with 2 hydraulic supports. They all look like they are mechanically the same other than the wrap and counter weights. I had initially thought the 2 post ones were inferior until I saw my friends L12. That's a tight machine. Engine bay access is definitely a plus. Saw too many people fighting the sheet metal and bolts. Plus the l12 sports a hydraulic oil cooler and fan. I have about 30 acres with gravel driveway and rain kills it when turnouts fail. Can't wait to get one and put it through the paces. Thanks for the reply.

[@dougadams9419]

There is hydraulic Thumb Kit on the 4-color buy/sell website. I can't tell you the name or youtube deletes the comment. It costs about $350. I have the QH12 and the hydraulic thumb I added, also cooling fans inside the engine bay on either side vent.

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Yeah I’ve looked at the T y Ph On thumbs and might pick one up but so far the mechanical has done everything I need it to…. I’ve added a cooling fan to the side panel to help keep things running cool but haven’t noticed the hydraulics getting hot enough to warrant a cooler yet….

[@maryatsealevel2]

i want one, but my mechanical aptitude is not even potato level

[@thejames3431]

The only way you get better at something is by doing it.

[@tracy419]

I'm in the same boat, but if we get some land soon, I'll get one anyway. I figure I've always wanted to learn to weld and to tinker, and from everything I've read these things are pretty simple. So one of these, a cheap harbor freight welder and my Ryobi tools and I just may be able to turn a well running machine into a useless chunk of metal. But MY useless chunk of metal 😂

[@kluge4206]

Where's da corrffee maker

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

It’s close…. Real close.

[@huhcom]

Is it possible to re-route the control hydraulic hoses so it controls like a John Deere?

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Yes, pull the sheet metal off the console and swap the hoses around.

[@joshkuper6817]

Would you consider taking off the top

[@esbrasill]

@2.44 you say the teeth are upside down. What is the reason this should be inverted? on my machine they also came "upside down"

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

If you flip the teeth it gives the bottom of the bucket a smooth edge for finishing work… from what I’ve seen in other videos not all buckets will let you flip the teeth because of the way they welded the leading edge of the bucket in place tho….

[@TheDustbinofHistory]

Nice. How deep can you grapple?

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

I’m not sure, I’ll need to wait for the ground to thaw out to really test it but I reached over the bank last weekend to fish out some broken trees and could go down about 4-5’…

[@esbrasill]

Ha, i have a machine like that, a bit smaller still, mine is the 10 version, not 13. It runs on diesel, i can work with it the whole day on 2 or 3 liters of diesel. Runs fine on cooking oil also. Mine does not have the tumb, im missing that, its hard to grab wood without it. Been dragging 40cm diameter 6 meter long eucaliptus wood with it today.

[@BackCountryWrenching]

Seems ok, I give it a month before it’s collecting dust with the other things 😂😅😂😅😂

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Well it’ll be -40 in a month so yer probably rite…. Don’t you have a Jeep that needs fixing? 🤣🤣

[@BackCountryWrenching]

@@PuskwaskaOutdoors I’ve paid for all my Jeeps by fixing them, passive income my friend 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

@@BackCountryWrenching Pssssst, your envy of all my parking space is showing 😜

[@EugeneFir]

I would love to see a test of its maximum load capacity. What is the biggest log you can safely lift/move? (i.e. could this be used for moving (up to) a 16 foot x 10 inch diameter log from the (ground) bunk to the sawmill (which is only a foot off the ground)?

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Biggest I’ve moved so far was just over 20” diameter 10’ long dry spruce, it was about it’s safe limit weight wise where the log tried to slip out of the bucket and thumb and I could still lift the log high enough to get it onto my mill…. I don’t have much for bigger logs at the moment and my load cell is broken so getting an actual weight would be difficult but I suppose I could get an estimated weight from a log scale calculator….

[@richscott2483]

The AGT QH12 has a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engine that works the hydraulics and tracks. It is slow and bounces and vibrates and it is noisy. Depth is 5.4 feet but I recommend not to dig deeper than 2 1/2 to 3 feet for safety reasons. Parts are made in China. If taken care of and not abused and not left outdoors uncovered, it will last several years. You will need earplugs, hopefully you do not have back problems, this machine is not good if you have kidney problems. It takes nearly 2 hours to dig a 6 foot long and 2 1/2 foot deep trench. As mentioned it is not fast. It is not a child's toy and needs to be careful around objects because it is made of steel. Cost ranges from $6,000 to $8,000 New and Used is $4,000 to $5,000. If you paid more than $6,000 then you have been had.

[@TheJhon6969]

Just bought a brand new 2023 AGT L12 for 5600 and it's a little monster! Love it for what it's capable of doing.

[@kschult12]

I just bought a 2024 ff13 from Ritchie bros and I was 4600 all in

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

Canadian or American?

[@kschult12]

@@PuskwaskaOutdoors American

[@PuskwaskaOutdoors]

@@kschult12 yeah I figgered as much… thats $6200 Canadian dollars at the moment so it’s not much difference here to there.

[@TheJdecker11]

Idle it down bro… no need to max throttle