Welcome to the CCP...... Sany SY18C

[6feetdown]

Pushing the first 50hrs now.... It's not been used as much as I'd have liked..... namely due to a huge amount of wheeldigger jobs.
First the Con's.....

-Fuel filler is a pig....... Granted, other diggers are the same. But you cannot beat the old-style Takeuchi, back-of-cab vertical filler on a mini digger.... It's compounded on the Sany by a small fuel tank.... You will get a day's hard work. No more.... because it only holds 17ish litres. This is a fkn pita. In contrast to the 219, which will do a good day and a half's serious work.... Similar fuel use between the two.

-Tracking pedals are not central to the seat. Fkn annoying in reality. I need to change out the levertops to improve things slightly but it's a weird design qurk and bloody ill figured.

-Underbelly Ram guard...... It's already Fkd because the digger clearly doesn't need to climb over piles..... TBH it's guarding FK all anyway and doesn't need to be there.

-Front window shuts itself when digging hard ground..... In fairness, this is also a Takeuchi issue.... However takeuchi/hitachi etc all have a second latch that we are too lazy to use but exists to prevent this.

-In some ways it seems underpowered.... particularly on dipper ram pull..... but it could just be me.

-I dislike the key switch and long for a digger i can turn off and on without everything shutting down!

Pros!
I like the balls it has tracking about.
It's so much nicer sat on the trailer than the 219..... I put that down to the short blade.... But means I can carry more s**t with me!
Heater/Blower matrix is easily switched off and it then actually blows coolish air. The vents are well placed and actually cool you.

Long way to go yet..... But that's to date.
If anyone from Sany is watching.... two things. 1) Sell me the SY75 Cheap... Because I like it but I'm not convinced I'll like it that much.

2) Let me design you a SY18-Rural..... Because I'm convinced a slightly longer arm, twin lines, a 2.8t undercarriage and possibly the updated SY20 cab would be a gamechanger and best seller at £22,000

Ez26 I do not like the filling point it has a bend in the pipe, too fast in and it backs up

 

[doobin]

I like a light machine on my trailer as do many others. You could put a 1.8t superstructure on the larger undercarriage and have a very capable machine that's still a sensible towing weight with some serious stability and capability. That's what I want.

A 1.8t that won't fit through a 1m gap? Won't have any more capability than a 1.8t if it's the same superstructure? Why?

Moving a 2.8t is not hard with a GH1054. I don't think there's the market you assume for such a machine. And if there is... the TB225 is made for it surely? Or possibly the Wacker 302- they look good, but still pull the tracks in well.

 

[Grahams]

Fuel filler is a pig.......

It is assumed by most designers that everyone uses a pumped bowser these days as the manufacturer would in testing and to be fair most sites I have been on have banned filling from cans to stop spillages.
Get with the 21st century and buy a small bowser with an inbuilt electric pump with auto shut off. Your back will thank you and your customers will think you care.

 

[JD450A]

A 1.8t that won't fit through a 1m gap? Won't have any more capability than a 1.8t if it's the same superstructure? Why?

Moving a 2.8t is not hard with a GH1054. I don't think there's the market you assume for such a machine. And if there is... the TB225 is made for it surely? Or possibly the Wacker 302- they look good, but still pull the tracks in well.

225 is too low to the ground... Which is also the negative with running 1.9's for this work and the reason the ram guard on the SY18 is already kyboshed. Both Cat, and Wacker do make a machine in line with what I'm talking about, however they are pushing 3 tonner money and do not hold their value. There is an opportunity for Sany being as they are cheap enough from the offset to not worry.

Any digger over 2t is pushing luck on towing by the time you carry a set of attachments, specialist gear (auger, pumps etc.) and materials..... You can have a empty pickup but tbh now we have run the utility back it is the answer for the varied works we do. As many others do.

Whilst I'd not sacrifice the expanding tracks on a standard 1.9 the larger track frame and more importantly larger diameter track idlers and ground clearance would be worse loosing a tad of width..... I also like the idea of keeping a narrowed cab/superstructure.

That's my take.

 

[JD450A]

Get with the 21st century and buy a small bowser with an inbuilt electric pump with auto shut off. Your back will thank you and your customers will think you care.

I have one..... But you cannot beat a 25 litre can for flexibility especially when your machine is under a 20L tank..... Nothing worse than dragging a half full 50L tank everywhere.

 

[Storrsy]

A 1.8t that won't fit through a 1m gap? Won't have any more capability than a 1.8t if it's the same superstructure? Why?

Moving a 2.8t is not hard with a GH1054. I don't think there's the market you assume for such a machine. And if there is... the TB225 is made for it surely? Or possibly the Wacker 302- they look good, but still pull the tracks in well.

I dunno my dad's cat is basically just this. 3 ton undercarriage with the upperstructure 2t size. But I have to say it will dig more like a 3 tonner, Its probably a bit niche but for those who want a very comfortably towable machine with attachments but not so much need for expanding tracks (rural work) I think there is quite a bit of appeal. Like in this photo I had to do some work going up the path ahead of the digger and even though the 3 tonner would have fitted up there just it would have been a really squeeze to do anything useful due to the bulk of the upper body against the banks- the cat was perfect for this. Ive barely even put the tracks in on my Wacker but maytimes I've cursed the ground clearance!

 

[doobin]

I have one..... But you cannot beat a 25 litre can for flexibility especially when your machine is under a 20L tank..... Nothing worse than dragging a half full 50L tank everywhere.

I do like two or three 10l plastic petrol cans. Fits into my Tescos crate organiser system and nice and easy to use to fill all my machines.

75 litre mini bowser comes out when I'm using the T450 or the 86c.

 

[doobin]

225 is too low to the ground... Which is also the negative with running 1.9's for this work and the reason the ram guard on the SY18 is already kyboshed. Both Cat, and Wacker do make a machine in line with what I'm talking about, however they are pushing 3 tonner money and do not hold their value. There is an opportunity for Sany being as they are cheap enough from the offset to not worry.

Any digger over 2t is pushing luck on towing by the time you carry a set of attachments, specialist gear (auger, pumps etc.) and materials..... You can have a empty pickup but tbh now we have run the utility back it is the answer for the varied works we do. As many others do.

Whilst I'd not sacrifice the expanding tracks on a standard 1.9 the larger track frame and more importantly larger diameter track idlers and ground clearance would be worse loosing a tad of width..... I also like the idea of keeping a narrowed cab/superstructure.

That's my take.

Maybe they will make one. 'Legally towable with attachments' is a niche for utility companies etc. The new Hyundai zero tail mini looks good too, 2.2t from memory. Personally I'd rather have max possible on trailer (E27, T450) and take the attachments in the truck. If you're needing a lot of gear there then the extra capacity of a bigger machine soon pays for an extra trip working locally as I do.

Bloody diggers- you can have half a dozen and still not have the perfect one for the days job!

 

[6feetdown]

It is assumed by most designers that everyone uses a pumped bowser these days as the manufacturer would in testing and to be fair most sites I have been on have banned filling from cans to stop spillages.
Get with the 21st century and buy a small bowser with an inbuilt electric pump with auto shut off. Your back will thank you and your customers will think you care.

My ez is worse with the pump because of the mesh filter and the bend

 

[William127]

I do like two or three 10l plastic petrol cans. Fits into my Tescos crate organiser system and nice and easy to use to fill all my machines.

75 litre mini bowser comes out when I'm using the T450 or the 86c.

I do similar but with 3 or 4 5 litre metal Jerry cans in a packout crate. Very easy to handle/pour, the filler spout and some rags also fit in the crate.
Enough to run the 217r for a days hard digging, or a couple of days+ in the sv08.
My tank has only left the yard to be filled.

 

[Furniss]

Maybe they will make one. 'Legally towable with attachments' is a niche for utility companies etc. The new Hyundai zero tail mini looks good too, 2.2t from memory. Personally I'd rather have max possible on trailer (E27, T450) and take the attachments in the truck. If you're needing a lot of gear there then the extra capacity of a bigger machine soon pays for an extra trip working locally as I do.

Bloody diggers- you can have half a dozen and still not have the perfect one for the days job!

you can have close

 

[JD450A]

I'll add the other thing.

You can obviously take a portable pump and cans.... I don't because it's an extra Faf.

I may (when I finally do my Hi Cap 110) fit a transfer pump from the landy fuel tank for said scenarios. But then that only works if the digger is where the truck is parked and not half a mile off pist...... Again a rural spec machine on bigger tracks could potentially excel here... Wider fixed trackframe yields an opportunity for a tank integrated somewhere.... Say the side rails..... For the record the side rails on the SY18 are a bit thin.... But again that's like may other makes..... You could also gain a bit of tool space and with a well spec'd bigger undercarriage be able to drag a trailer about without dogging the s**t out of everything.

The question does of course come of whether you need a bigger engine/pump...... In all honesty I think you'd get away with what's on the SY18.

Overall I like the SY18 so far... But like any digger it's a compromise. The 1.9's for me cover anything they can fit in through to what others would use a 3 tonner for and equally go and tidy up bulk jobs from the 7's and wheeldigger.

 

[Grahams]

I have one..... But you cannot beat a 25 litre can for flexibility especially when your machine is under a 20L tank..... Nothing worse than dragging a half full 50L tank everywhere.

I had a couple of these in 10l version for when I couldn't get bowser close enough. You just push spout into filler and it dumps the whole can in seconds with no spilling. Use 10l so knew it would all fit. They are advertised as auto shut off, but it only works if the cans are vertical. Very good cans.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405741613361?shprz=EBAY_GB_131090&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&toolid=20006&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338986375&loc_interest_ms=&loc_physical_ms=9192491&adtype=pla&customid=CjwKCAjw7KvTBhA6EiwAWnutYUpHzTasFnmNPB2a7cKGS3hWw-PGCCyCGHPM5CSNdcm9hKfpnaVGURoCCu8QAvD_BwE|null|null&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20235104847&gclid=CjwKCAjw7KvTBhA6EiwAWnutYUpHzTasFnmNPB2a7cKGS3hWw-PGCCyCGHPM5CSNdcm9hKfpnaVGURoCCu8QAvD_BwE

 

[Smiffy]

The other option for 20l drums are these pumps.
No faf of carry an electric transfer pump as the just live in the can.

https://ebay.io/m/VCg29S

Alternatively just buy a spout

https://ebay.io/m/9dQf4A

 

[Storrsy]

I wouldnt be without my parker 60l tank now. No messing with cans and generally ties nicely with when I fill the truck up. Doesn't take a lot of space up either compared to the same quantity in jerrys

 

[Furniss]

is it a big job to add a pump setup to the machine and suck it out of drums ‍♂
ot maybe no room on the 3t and below machines ....

 

[Gunners]

Why would you want a 1.8t machine on a 2.8t undercarriage?

Should think you could buy a 2.8t sany for 22k.

You cant, but you can buy a Shantui for that money!

 

[JD450A]

On an update.... Our glorious leaders at the CCP are willing to share the location data the spyware fitted to my machine provides

 

[Gunners]

Pushing the first 50hrs now.... It's not been used as much as I'd have liked..... namely due to a huge amount of wheeldigger jobs.

Sorry to hear your backhoe has been more useful than the mini digger. I'd like to say its been the same for me, but mine is currently undergoing a full restoration. Very difficult to use it when its in the paint shop...

Sounds like you should have bought a Takeuchi, all these issues your having with the Sany. Although many of them can be solved by having an expensive fuel bowser taking up half of your truck space

On a serious note, glad its going well. I think we are all waiting for it to be as old as one of your 175's - then we will know if the machines any good!

 

[Stroppymonkey]

I have one..... But you cannot beat a 25 litre can for flexibility especially when your machine is under a 20L tank..... Nothing worse than dragging a half full 50L tank everywhere.

25l cans and small trolley mounted pump unit with battery works for me . Very flexible / portable and super easy to maintain fuel hygiene .