#miniexcavator — Public Fediverse posts

China excavator upgrade: Hinges and latches for the rear door.

Because in order to get to the engine you had to unbolt four big bolts, two of them from underneath, then lift off the door. Then lift it back on and fiddle in the bolts. Made it super annoying to check the oil level or hook up a battery booster in winter.

I ordered these parts just after getting the machine last year and finally got around to installing them.

Fits nicely, the door swings open wide and can be lifted off the hinges if need be.

Now the oil can be checked as often as it should. And it saves precious time.

#Excavator #MiniExcavator #ChinaExcavator #DIY #Hinge #Tap #Homestead

#ExcavatorThumb progress:

Clamped and aligned the thumb sides with the help of two bricks that happened to be the right width, then tack welded the tubes on.

Next part was the adjustable support leg. Figuring out the length of both parts was easy, swing the thumb up and down, measure distance between pins and copy it to the two parts on the workbench.

Making the inner part slide smoothly into the outer took ages as I had to grind down the thickness of the entire outer surface, then polish it smooth.

Solved the problem of the outer tube having a seam weld inside by hammering on the inner one until it bowed inwards just enough to allow space for that seam.

Fits very nicely now and almost no play.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #Welding

Thumb update:

Made the thumb wider so it fits better between the bucket teeth, which required cutting new reinforcements. Cut the ones for the support leg as well and decided where to attach it to the thumb.

Then worked on the adjustable support leg. A cylinder each welded to the end of a box section. The lower fitting was easy, just an approximate half-circle with three shallow cuts of the angle grinder and then bend it back and forth until it breaks out.

The upper fitting having the added challenge of being narrower than the box section, so it got tapered a bit by cutting some wedges out and banging on it with a hammer.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #Welding

Always keep your hole saw plugs, in case you need to Ctrl-Z a hole you just cut so you can make it bigger 😆

Sure wish there had been room for the drill press in the car last time we went to the old place!

Four biggish holes were cut through 10mm plate, eventually. Of the right size this time.

#DIY #MiniExcavator #ExcavatorThumb
#SalvagePunk #Homestead #Metalworking #DrillBabyDrill