Micro/mini diggers

V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
because they are ancient home build kit things. Look elsewhere.

JCB don’t make petrol engines. Will be a rebadged Chinese thing fitted as a replacement.
powerfab were built in Tredegar Doob ... Knew the bloke who's company it was ... deffo wouldn't want one though - as said - ancient
although this must be a very late one

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DavidL

New member
That's the one.
Yeah, I'll heed the words of the wise and give that a miss. Will focus on the better known brands.
Regarding the king post with a little play, is that something to worry about or is it easy enough to fix on these little machines?
The one in question is a komatsu pc03.
 
doobin

doobin

Well-known member
That's the one.
Yeah, I'll heed the words of the wise and give that a miss. Will focus on the better known brands.
Regarding the king post with a little play, is that something to worry about or is it easy enough to fix on these little machines?
The one in question is a komatsu pc03.
Not easy to fix, most little machines like that are not bushed so you're looking at line boring.

Up your budget by 3k and you're in to some relatively modern kit now at £8k.
 
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DavidL

New member
Hmm. Nice, but they're all between £8k and £13k, so well out my price range I suspect. It'll just be for drainage and small projects around the property, so can't justify blowing the budget that much.
 
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Stroppymonkey

Well-known member
That's the one.
Yeah, I'll heed the words of the wise and give that a miss. Will focus on the better known brands.
Regarding the king post with a little play, is that something to worry about or is it easy enough to fix on these little machines?
The one in question is a komatsu pc03.

....unless you need to go through doorways, don't go for a micro, go for a mini .
 

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CPS

CPS

Well-known member
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Not sure in the year, 3400 some odd hours. Fully re- pinned and bushed front to back, new S30 manual hitch.
Re sprayed although its starting to show age again.
Id say it has done 30 hours this past 3 year.

In the workshop to get IDig put on it today 😁
 
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Brendan

Well-known member
Hmm. Nice, but they're all between £8k and £13k, so well out my price range I suspect. It'll just be for drainage and small projects around the property, so can't justify blowing the budget that much.
There is genuine, cheap machines about but if you do manage to find a genuine one, they are generally they are cheap for a reason. There will be worn pins and lots of play and maybe some "self levelling" buckets, if you can live with the amount of play, you can just run it in to the ground.

Reality is a lot of the older cheap kit hasn't been looked after very well and not wanting to tar everyone with the same brush that's when services are missed.

Would imagine a full set of pins and bushes these days is going to be at least 1k plus some new bucket links and a hydraulic press, if the king post needs line boring you can kiss goodbye to another grand or so, plus at this point there is bound to be a few hoses that will need replacing, if your going to go to all the effort of re pinning, may as well tidy it up and repaint bits as it's apart. Then there's a service on top as it probably hasn't had one At any point in the last few years.
At this point your potentially another 3k plus deep into a machine worth 5k.......

That will still only be worth around 5k

If it's just for a bit of drainage and the odd small project just hire what you need, as and when, or try to bump your budget up and open up your options
 
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Bri963

Bri963

Well-known member
Would imagine a full set of pins and bushes these days is going to be at least 1k plus some new bucket links and a hydraulic press, if the king post needs line boring you can kiss goodbye to another grand or so, plus at this point there is bound to be a few hoses that will need replacing, if your going to go to all the effort of re pinning, may as well tidy it up and repaint bits as it's apart. Then there's a service on top as it probably hasn't had one At any point in the last few years.
At this point your potentially another 3k plus deep into a machine worth 5k.......
Think you’re a bit off the mark for a micro, Brendan, unless they’ve gone up a lot in four years. I did a complete rebush and re-pin on the K008 for under £300. i Haven’t taken much notice of Mitsi or Kommie micros, but if they have fully bushed kingposts, it’s a doddly. If they haven’t it’s not necessarily a line boring job, you can do a lot with a mag drill.

edit: closer to £600 now.
 
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Old Operator

Well-known member
Regarding Powerfab some used a single variable pump & closed centre hydraulics, that pump £1800 to replace, a guy on my welding forum bought a non runner & made this mistake. Gear pumps tend to be cheaper & can sometimes be bought from Flowfit etc. The E10 could be worth looking at. Bri963 also replaced his own slew ring on the 008? Always admired that! Lot of aftermarket pins & bushes for the JCB 8014/16/18 range (I used them slightly modified on my Gopher rebuild as originals unobtainable). Agree anything Chinese a load of rubbish with poor components. I would never put anything of mine on self drive hire unless I was driving another machine on same job.

Going to stick my neck out here & say for occasional use the Pelle HHO kits might be worth a look, the ones made in France have only European components in them. They are available in various states of finish, weld together, pre welded, ditto & painted, or working machine. Main reservations I have is that only brakes are fluid trapped behind spool valve, & fact that only petrol, at moment. The M&S motors he uses do have a brake that can be added but need a 'motor spool' then & the spool he uses cannot be retro converted unlike some.Do not think of buying without trying though. Sadly his English translation is down at present. He did offer me a permanent wide gauge build but neither of us could never resolve the brake issue (as far as I know) Possibly not the machine for anyone without much of an engineering background, Very simple build - off shelf components, no electronics
It is just that I have seen how some of these self drive machines have been misused. No easy answers here
Did not a member on here have a video guide to what to look at when buying a used mini (think Regy53 ?)
 
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Brendan

Well-known member
Think you’re a bit off the mark for a micro, Brendan, unless they’ve gone up a lot in four years. I did a complete rebush and re-pin on the K008 for under £300. i Haven’t taken much notice of Mitsi or Kommie micros, but if they have fully bushed kingposts, it’s a doddly. If they haven’t it’s not necessarily a line boring job, you can do a lot with a mag drill.

edit: closer to £600 now.
Mate had a quote few weeks back 1k for k008 for all pins, bushes and bucket links
 
V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
How do I get in contact with this chap?
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Seller's description​

JCB Micro Plus 1 tonne Micro Digger 2195 hours on the clock, will increase slightly 4 buckets Expanding tracks LED Lights Loads of work done recently, including several hydraulic hoses, ram rods, bushes, ram seals, rebuilt track gearbox, rewiring etc. Good tracks Auxiliary hydraulic lines Very recently serviced Bad bits: Bit of play in some pins, but digs well Tracks slightly slower on one side This is by no means a perfect machine, however its a solid workhorse which has done me a good turn. Reason for sale is a potential change of direction with the business means the JCB potentially has to go! Currently just having fuel lines replaced and will be ready to go once done Also have a breaker that can go with the machine for extra if of interest
 
Bri963

Bri963

Well-known member
Mate had a quote few weeks back 1k for k008 for all pins, bushes and bucket links
Was that genuine? Aftermarket you can do a bit better, if you do a bit of trawling you can find complete re-bush/ pin kits.
 
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