How do they make it so cheap? They can’t and they aren’t. Massive Chinese government subsidies are killing manufacturing everywhere else.

They are playing the long game here and sadly they are winning.

The tariffs are the only way to keep them honest.

That an zero design and development costs. Just duplicate the machines some American Company built in China, and rip that design off. Bam, a new machine for dirt cheap that works.

There's still a labor cost issue that no amount of "public investment" will overcome. Literally every country that is beating us in manufacturing is doing so with low wages, no benefits and virtually no environmental protections in place.

That's probably the most interesting thing about this machine! It's not some knockoff of a US built piece. It doesn't resemble Bobcat, Kubota, Case, Vermeer, Wacker Neuson, Scag or Toro. I'm looking forward to landing this thing and seeing how it functions.

When I was was engineering manager at a API licensed facility, we could not buy the material to make an API 6A flange for what your could buy an identical monogrammed API 6A flange made in China.

Materials were equal, the design was the same (standard parts), everything equal.

It costs the same to run a CNC machine in North America as it does in China.

They were losing money on their flanges. Why?

Low wages only move the needle on items that are labour intensive to create. Items with little to no labour should be cost neutral but are not.

I’m not sure if this has been touched upon but when you buy no name you’re not paying for bricks n mortar dealer stores or their overhead.

A HS friend of mine somehow ended up in Vietnam and is working in a furniture factory. People in there make a living on salary of $300/month. Different economy.

There are a lot of interesting things about this machine. Apparently Shangdong Derette has been manufacturing equipment for several years now. They allow branding of the equipment so I could have it stickered with "Mighty Mini" if I wanted to. I've found other dealers in the USA who have rebranded these machines.

My biggest concern is parts. My friend and I discussed the issue of parts and decided that if we order a container load, we'll order a second container with attachments and parts. I think advertising that we stock parts will be a big help if we decide to go forward with this.

Well! Not gonna get to use it. My friend had it advertised and had a few buyers pop up so I told him to sell it. But now we're serious about getting our hands on a container of them.

I got to operate one. It's definitely not in the same class as Bobcat, Kubota, Vermeer, Toro.

The steering joystick controls the machine smoothly but the lift/tilt function is problematic from a power distribution standpoint. When traveling with the engine at full rpm, if you try to feather the boom up or down slowly, it causes the engine to bog down heavily. If bring the boom joystick to full up or full down quickly it doesn't bog the engine down but any attempt to feather control causes the engine to bog. When lifting the boom and tilting or curling the bucket, it will only do one function or the other. So If I want to adjust the bucket angle while lifting, it won't do it. The machine seems well built but the finish isn't close to the same as the big boys nor should anyone expect it to be for the price point.

My concern is that this is definitely a higher end homeowner unit and not really a machine that a small to medium size landscaping business would consider due to the functional issues. I'm probably still going to buy one to see how things go but I was disappointed in it after operating it.

I ended up ordering what appears to be a more "professional grade" machine from a different manufacturer. I also bought one of the machines I operated at post #30 but this one had a Perkins engine. It was like the Perkins machine had 10 more HP and way more torque than the Kubota machine. I figure if I'm gonna sell against it, I have to know it.

One thing that has caught my eye, Chinese manufacturers seem to use steel the way we use lumber in crating. The machine I bought has a welded steel frame as crating with wood screwed to the outside. I've seen attachments crated the same way. It's like their steel is cheaper to use than wood.

No question about that. I did a few projects with "steel " I got for free from a friend who used to import ATVs from China. All the crates were welded and bolted frames. No wood at all.

Steel doesn’t have bugs in it so it can be shipped to any country.

Many countries require pressure treated wood or osb for crates. Steel would have no such requirements.