Man travels to Washington to collect mini excavator from China and unboxes decent machine with one unexpected surprise
- An American YouTuber tried out a budget excavator imported from China
- The digger surprised the YouTuber with its reasonable build quality
- A surprise when it came to fuel capacity however did prove a shock
Published on Mar 10, 2025 at 9:55 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Mar 06, 2025 at 7:46 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
An American YouTuber unboxed a mini excavator from China in 2023 that he imported via Alibaba and traveled to Washington to inspect it.
The video shows Jake Bell unboxing and testing the excavator, which came from the Shandong China Coal and Machinery Company.
The digger throws up a fascinating surprise or two, one of which is that it actually seems to be of decent quality.
As is the case with some vehicles from China, however, one or two minor tweaks were needed before YouTuber Bell could operate it.
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Unboxing the excavator reveals an impressive machine
After driving the excavator home, Bell is finally able to unbox it and find out what he had bought from China.
With the box open, Bell revealed an interesting-looking excavator that looked reasonably well-built.
Bell was initially worried it had shipped with no fluids.
But the hydraulic oil was simply out of the sight gauge, and the excavator did have oil in the system.
In terms of power, the excavator had a simple Briggs & Stratton engine, with a pump mounted directly onto the output shaft.
The YouTuber did find a few issues.
Loose screws on the hydraulic reservoir filler needed tightening and there were some metal shavings present.
Overall, though, initial impressions are positive.
Pins on the joints mean that they were greaseable and easy to maintain for Bell.
Running the Chinese digger revealed a surprise
Further exploration of the excavator revealed quite a surprise for Bell.
The YouTuber took it to a gas station to find out how much fuel it could hold.
However, it was a very quick stop, as the tank held just 1.5 gallons of gas.
On average, it will cost Bell just over $5 to fill up the excavator.
That came as a surprise to Bell, who was hoping for at least five gallons from the vehicle.
Refills will thus need smaller cans; otherwise, he would end up with a lot of unused fuel.
Despite this, his initial impressions of the digger seemed promising, with the overall quality better than expected.
Subsequent videos on Bell’s channel then showed the digger working hard at his property.
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Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.
