Excavator problems

[Cornbread]

Im new on here lurking around reading about Excavators. I was that is was, gonna buy one. But I see ton's and ton's of problems. It seems that the problems are in the valve block, of these excavators with pressure not being directed to where it needs to go inside the little Valve blocks. And being servo run wow that is a whole can of Noodles. What I see should be done is, someone needs to do is Machine a clear acrylic valve block to see what the **** is going on inside of it, Just my two cents..
Corny...

[Rimrock]

It's actually quite simple; there is no free lunch. Or let me put it this way; driving down the highway on the rims, with no tires on your pickup truck to save money, may take you some miles, birds are singing and life feels good....
Hydraulics made by non professional machine shops ; 'just rims, no tires'. Cheap.
Hydraulics made by professional hydraulic machine shops; 'rim + tires'. Less cheap.
A often used option; by a cheap entry level machine, rip out the original pump and valve block as quick as possible, install the real deal from a high end supplier. Still got a reasonable priced machine, but now it WORKS. It's always a joy when stuff works as intended.

[bigford]

what my friend is trying to say is you get what you pay for
my china kat cost me $1800 plus shipping. now its got $900. more into it with rc4wd parts. still far from perfect but doable

[thebigo]

Agree with Rimrock and bigford, but my xl4200 is bone stock, and I have 80 hrs logged on it, and about the same on the 870K loader , (bone stock). Have had no problems whatsoever with the pump, valve prv or rams and that is working in regular dirt, 2" rock and sand, "working hard". Although I have snapped tracks about 4 times, busted turntable drive, busted two gear reduction drives. and have had a turntable and drive ESC fry. The only problem I have had with the Loader are axles, they were replaced with upgraded ones for free along with almost everthing on the excavator. RC4wd Has been very good to me...

I like to work on my Models to, But being on this web site does help alot with all the knowledge these guy's have to offfer. Although because I am waiting on a new Premacon 960 SME, precision is also important for me.

[osikasculptor]

My 4200 has been no trouble except for one servo and a leaky piston that needed a new o ring. But the real test in my view is Martin Hough "Digging with Martin" I asked him how his original 4200 is holding up:

Tom:

I have ran mine a whole lot more than maybe most everyone for 6 yrs and its still the same everything except......... here is the list of parts I have replaced;

3 or 4 track motors (due to my own fault of forcing them)
3 dig lights, they just wear out
1 radio, dropped it
both boom lift cylinders, seals wore out
4 servos, they wear out & burn up
1 curl cylinder, seals leak from wear

I had over 7,000 videos uploaded and the google+ switch over did away with half of them. and consider that I only post less than half of the vids I actually take, I probably have filmed over 18,000 videos or more. I would say its a pretty tough machine for less than half the price of the others. but, mine has a very worn, loose boom and swing from all the yrs of use.

Martin

[Rimrock]

Great to hear that some machines are performing good over the years with the original set-up. On the other hand many owners are not that lucky, that's just a matter of fact. It's a bit of a lottery purchasing the low end machines, IMO, but as long as the local dealer is willing to replace no good parts with new ones for free, it's naturally great.
7000, 18000 videos, 6 years. Wow, that's numbers way beyond my imagination. Okay, it's all about having a great time, enjoying the hobby)

[Lil Giants]

Originally Posted by Rimrock

It's actually quite simple; there is no free lunch. Or let me put it this way; driving down the highway on the rims, with no tires on your pickup truck to save money, may take you some miles, birds are singing and life feels good....
Hydraulics made by non professional machine shops ; 'just rims, no tires'. Cheap.
Hydraulics made by professional hydraulic machine shops; 'rim + tires'. Less cheap.
A often used option; by a cheap entry level machine, rip out the original pump and valve block as quick as possible, install the real deal from a high end supplier. Still got a reasonable priced machine, but now it WORKS. It's always a joy when stuff works as intended.

That just cracks me up Great analogy

[osikasculptor]

Yes agree with the seeming hit and miss on the 4200 I actually asked Martin again after hearing of a few new ones in England where almost everything seemed to fall apart within a few weeks! Overall though it seems if the parts are assembled well (based on Martin's use) they last.

[Lil Giants]

Mine didn't last 10 hrs either... at that time I (& no one else either) had any idea where RC4WD was sourcing the model from (& they wouldn't say), RC4WD had no clue what they were selling so technical assistance on failed parts was a dead end, only option was buy more of the same from RC4WD & hope for the best... ta heck with that!!! I cut my losses & parted it out.

[thebigo]

Think alot the first machines that came out were not tested enough, and were released without inspection?

[thetractorfan]

Originally Posted by Cornbread

Im new on here lurking around reading about Excavators. I was that is was, gonna buy one. But I see ton's and ton's of problems. It seems that the problems are in the valve block, of these excavators with pressure not being directed to where it needs to go inside the little Valve blocks. And being servo run wow that is a whole can of Noodles. What I see should be done is, someone needs to do is Machine a clear acrylic valve block to see what the **** is going on inside of it, Just my two cents..
Corny...

What I would do is buy a premacon, damitz or fumotech excavator. Here's why:
. Premacon, damitz or fumotech excavators are much stronger and more reliable than some of the other brands on the market.
. They can come with auxiliary hydraulic valves and quick couplers.
. They never use thin metals that are weak and always use high grade metals.
. They require fewer maintenance.
. Very good cutomer service.

Now the competitors equipment:
. No auxiliary valve or hydraulic quick coupler option.
. Made from low grade aluminum.
. Hours of maintenance.
. Who knows how many spare parts and how long they will supply you with them. also will they tell you when you need to change the hydraulic oil?

[Northern Farmer]

If this doesn't convince you nothing will
http://youtu.be/Uo9NISw74bk