AGT's CFG-STE35SR Mini Excavator: 2.42x the Price, 1.07x the Engine
Verdict $26,889.00 against $11,129.00 for the same seller's 1.3-tonne machine: 2.42 times the price for 1.07 times the engine. The step buys reach, depth and 3.02 times the published hydraulic flow, not horsepower.
Prices are US list prices at the time of publication. Shipping, duties and local taxes vary by country — check with the manufacturer before ordering.
AGT sells a 1.3-tonne mini excavator for $11,129.00 and a 2.8-tonne for $26,889.00. Same storefront, same Yanmar diesel, same hydraulic thumb, both in a live cart today.
The step between them is $15,760.00 — 2.42 times the price. The engine that comes with it is 1.07 times as strong.
The Machine
The CFG-STE35SR is a 2,800 kg tracked excavator with an enclosed cab, a hydraulic thumb and a dozer blade. Its engine is a Yanmar 3TNV80F: three cylinders, 1.267 litres, 14.6 kW at 2,400 rpm — about 19.58 horsepower — certified EPA Tier 4 Final. A 460 mm bucket, rubber track, breaker piping, dual-speed travel and pilot controls are standard; the steel track and the other three buckets are not.
The DM20YM one rung down weighs 1,300 kg, wears a canopy instead of a cab, and runs a Yanmar 3TNV74F at 13.7 kW (18.4 HP) out of 999 cc. Its boom swings to the side, which the bigger machine’s sheet does not offer.
So 0.9 kW separates the two engines, which is 6.57%. Against that, the weight ratio is 2.15 and the price ratio 2.42. Whatever the money is for, it is not horsepower.
It is hydraulics and arm. AGT publishes 87 L/min of maximum hydraulic flow on the 2.8-tonne against 28.8 L/min on the 1.3-tonne, and a dig depth of 2,800 mm against 2,257 mm. At ground level the big arm reaches 4,680 mm where the small one stops at 3,305 mm. Per litre-minute of published flow, the expensive machine is the cheaper one: $309.07 against $386.42, a factor of 1.25.
The Numbers
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CFG-STE35SR, 2.8 t, hydraulic thumb | $26,889.00 | AGT |
| DM20YM, 1.3 t, hydraulic thumb, side swing | $11,129.00 | AGT |
| Engine, STE35SR | Yanmar 3TNV80F · 1.267 L · 14.6 kW at 2,400 rpm | AGT |
| Engine, DM20YM | Yanmar 3TNV74F · 999 cc · 13.7 kW (18.4 HP) | AGT |
| Max hydraulic flow | 87 L/min · 28.8 L/min | AGT |
| Max digging depth | 2,800 mm · 2,257 mm (89 in) | AGT |
| Max digging radius at ground | 4,680 mm · 3,305 mm (130 in) | AGT |
| Operating weight | 2,800 kg · 1,300 kg (2,866 lbs) | AGT |
| Freight, contiguous United States | free, 7–15 business days | AGT |
| Restocking fee, returned mini excavator | 15% — $4,033.35 | AGT |
What Breaks
The two flow numbers may not be measuring the same thing. The 2.8-tonne figure is labelled “max. hydraulic flow” on a spec image; the 1.3-tonne one is “Hydraulic Flow Rate” in a bullet list on another page. Neither says whether it is pump output or what reaches a coupler. The 3.02 is a ratio of two published numbers, and that is all it is until AGT says what they measure.
Hydraulic pressure exists for one machine and not the other. The DM20YM page gives 18 MPa (2,611 PSI). For the STE35SR that is DATA NOT AVAILABLE FROM SOURCE, so neither flow figure converts into force at the coupler.
The small machine’s page contradicts its own title. The listing is headed “1.4 Ton” and the spec block underneath says “Operating Weight: 1.3 Ton (2,866 lbs)”. Every per-tonne figure here uses the 1,300 kg, which is the one with pounds beside it.
The 2.8-tonne’s product description is four lines long. Attachment pin size, two video links, two images. Every spec above was read off those images, whose own header says standard and optional equipment varies by country.
The attachments do not come up with you. The listing says the machine “uses 35 mm pin attachments”. The buckets and brush cutter AGT shows against the DM20YM are sold for 1–2 ton excavators and none publishes a pin diameter, so whether any crosses the step is DATA NOT AVAILABLE FROM SOURCE.
Nobody is paid to get it off the truck. AGT’s shipping policy requires a forklift on site or collection at a freight terminal — the same gap the KKT27 report found on this seller, and at 2,800 kg a larger one.
The machine warranty is not published. AGT’s warranty page runs through cylinders, breakers, brush cutters, grapples, hoses, motors, stump grinders and sheds. Excavators are not on it. Whatever covers this machine is DATA NOT AVAILABLE FROM SOURCE.
The price is a sale price. The listing carries a struck-through $27,799.00 against the $26,889.00 charged, a difference of $910.00 or 3.27%. Nothing on the page says when the lower number stops.
A change of mind costs 15%. AGT’s refund policy charges a restocking fee on any returned mini excavator: $4,033.35 on this one, plus return freight.
Who Should Buy This
The buyer who can say which spec the next $15,760.00 is for. It is the same question the pellet mill’s third roller asked, and here it has an answer: 1.24 times the dig depth, 1.42 times the reach at ground level, and a cab. Not a second engine — and $26,889.00 buys two DM20YMs with $4,631.00 left over.
The owner whose last job stopped short of 2,257 mm. That is where the 1.3-tonne’s arm ends, and above it the small machine digs the same hole for 41.39% of the money. Past it, the cheap one cannot do the work at any price and the step stops being optional.
The owner who already learned that the sales page is not the spec sheet. The last 1.4-tonne class machine priced here published no dig depth at all — the rental counter gave it instead. AGT publishes both depths, both weights and both engines, which is why this is arithmetic and not a guess.
Not for anyone without a forklift, a trailer or a terminal nearby. Not for anyone who needs breakout force and hydraulic pressure in writing, because one of the two does not publish them. And not for anyone buying the bigger machine for power: 6.57% more engine is what arrives.
The Stack
No affiliate links in this issue. When a link earns us a commission, we always say so. Verdicts are never for sale.
Trenches deeper than 2,257 mm, a cab and a winter: the CFG-STE35SR at $26,889.00, 2,800 mm of depth, 87 L/min, freight included to the lower 48. Everything shallower: the DM20YM at $11,129.00, same thumb, a swinging boom and 1,500 kg less to unload.
Before either: the shipping policy, which names the forklift, and the refund policy, which names the 15%.
One seller published two machines, two weights and two engines on the same afternoon, and the only spec that barely moved between them was the one most buyers think they are paying for.
One machine. All the numbers.
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