Cheapest Mini Excavator – Buyer Guide

How to find a mini excavator with reliable performance and low price in the market?

If you are in the construction industry, then you absolutely need a mini excavator. From digging and trenching to demolishing and cleaning debris – there’s so much going on in these compact machines. For any contractor or construction company, owning a mini excavator can significantly reduce costs from manpower-intensive tasks.

But while paying off well in the long run, most mini excavators come with a high upfront cost when you buy them. Does that mean you should give up on the idea of buying one? of course not! What you need to do is find a cheaper model that fits your budget without compromising on performance.

So how do you find the best cheap mini excavator that does the job right? This can only be achieved through in-depth research and knowledge of the market. To do this, you must understand the factors that determine the cost and reliability of a particular model. Let’s explore these two factors together!

What are the factors that affect the price of small excavators?

Brand Awareness

If you’ve done your research, you can have a pretty good guess at how much your mini excavator will cost, just by knowing the brand of it. Like all other things, brand awareness is one of the key factors in determining how much something will cost. Just like you would expect a Gucci bag to be much more expensive than the bag you buy at target, a mini digger from a major brand will be much more expensive than a brand you’ve never heard of.

Key Parts

The key components of a mini excavator include the engine and hydraulic system. These factors not only directly affect the performance of the mini excavator, but the quality of these components also determines the cost. If all you need is an average mini excavator that can do some digging, you can probably get one for cheap. But if you’re looking for some quality trenching, you’re going to have to bring in a cannon with a more powerful engine and hydraulics. Of course, this upgrade comes at a price.

Key Hydraulic Components

Additional Functions

The cheapest mini excavators feature a lot, but you may have other requirements that they can’t meet. If a standard built mini excavator can’t do the job you want done, you’ll want to look at a mini excavator with additional features. Side swing arms, zero tail swing, extended arms or extended undercarriage – each additional accessory makes the machine more expensive.

Maintenance And Repair

Last but not least, the maintenance and repair frequency and needs of a mini excavator also largely determine its final cost. A machine that requires little maintenance between uses will cost more in the market, but will end up costing less in the long run. Conversely, mini excavators that require frequent maintenance have lower upfront costs.

What determines the reliability of a mini excavator?

Source

While it is true that simply using a big brand name on a piece of equipment can significantly increase its price, we must also admit that the quality of a machine sourced from big brand components is much higher than that of an unknown brand. This is because big brands need to maintain their reputation in the market and cannot risk producing substandard equipment. So, if you want to buy with ease, it is always a safer route to go for a reputed brand.

Sourcing routes like Kubota and Yanmar are known for their powerful engines. Likewise, hydraulic components from Shimadzu, Hyde, Doosan and Eaton remain unmatched.

Standardized Production

A brand of small excavator, if it is large enough to ensure the standardized production and quality inspection of its equipment, automatically becomes reliable. The company has done all the necessary tests for you, and you don’t have to worry that there might be something wrong with the product you purchased. There are always exchange and return options for equipment in rare cases.

Mass Production Of Small Excavators

Reasonable Industrial Design

If your mini excavator has multiple extras but lacks a well-designed core, you might as well throw it out now. For a mini excavator to be reliable, it needs to be built on a sound industrial design. The structure of the device itself is a very important factor in determining its robustness and reliability.

Emission standard

The emission standard of your compact excavator does not only affect the environment, but also the performance and robustness of your machine. Confused? Let us explain.

Mini excavators that are Tier 4 certified (EPA 4) are designed to burn fuel cleaner and reduce air emissions. This minimizes the dense byproducts of combustion from settling in the bottom of the fuel tank during cold weather conditions and causing potential problems in the engine. Hence, your excavator needs less frequent cleaning and maintenance in between uses to function properly.