Backhoe Added a ripper to my Woods BH90x: Trees beware

[IslandTractor]

Two holes=piece o' cake
Four holes=different story
Six holes=miraculous conception Two for the ripper tooth, two for the thumb and two for the dipper stick.

Yep. Add to the six holes a ninety something pound implement with a pointy end rather than a flat base to rest on thefround and our complaining starts to make more sense.

 

[nickel plate]

Yep. Add to the six holes a ninety something pound implement with a pointy end rather than a flat base to rest on thefround and our complaining starts to make more sense.

Not hanging it all on MIE...Woods shares the larger part of the blame by not offering a six way quick connect (their Gannon bucket for an MIE tooth-same tolerances). Step up Woods!!

 

[JFS2295]

You guys realize there's a smiley there......

Six holes but still three shafts. Maybe I spent way too many years bolting implements to drawbars. Tapered prybars usually get things close, even with multiple links. I started using versions of these years ago after using them on industrial equipment.

McMaster-Carr

Edit - bottom of page.

Because of flipping hoe buckets I changed out to slightly longer pins so I could put a chamfer on one end to follow these tapered pins.

I've also built stands for the buckets out of 2x4s to keep them in a neutral position.

 

[mjncad]

Leave it to McMaster-Carr to have all the cool toys.

 

[IslandTractor]

You guys realize there's a smiley there......

Six holes but still three shafts. Maybe I spent way too many years bolting implements to drawbars. Tapered prybars usually get things close, even with multiple links. I started using versions of these years ago after using them on industrial equipment.

McMaster-Carr

Because of flipping hoe buckets I changed out to slightly longer pins so I could put a chamfer on one end to follow these tapered pins.

I've also built stands for the buckets out of 2x4s to keep them in a neutral position.

Re smiley, yes but I cannot add them myself with the iPhone app I'm using to reply. (insert bummer smiley here, grin)

I don't think this issue is a big deal just frustrating. One of those necessity is mother of invention things. Certainly not an issue with MIE though a simple quick attach would be a good business opportunity for them.

Regarding a cradle to support the ripper while mounting: I've played with that idea. The trouble is that a cradle would support the ripper in one position but what is really needed and far more complex is a cradle that is adjustable like a machinist drill press vise and with tilt in two dimensions. We need to line up the ripper to the BH arm which essentially must be static as BH hydraulic control is WAY too gross. That means we need to move/adjust the position of the ripper itself up/dowm, L/R, front/back, as well as tilt in two dimensions to line things up without brute force. The chamfered pin does help and means precision is needed only to about 1/8 inch but that is still hard to get. The spud wrench would do the trick combined with a ripper cradle on casters that has a built in jack to raise/lower the mount but that is no longer a simple device knocked together with a few 2x4s.

I ended up believing that the combo of a quick attach adapter and a slit in the ground to support the ripper while mounting would work best. The cradle on wheels would be nice but would take a lot of storage room/ footprint. I flip the ripper upside down for storage which makes it stable and very compact. It is easily moved from storage to outside with a wheel barrow.

 

[JFS2295]

I don't quite do it that way. My stands are loose fitting and sit on loose soil. I can maneuver the stand and bucket around with a prybar or just pushing. I don't try to fit all the pins from the stand, just the one that I found has a hanging neutral position so once that one is in I can lift the boom and adjust the hoe position so it doesn't take that much work for the rest of the fitment.

Maybe my ARPS valving is different, but I can get close enough with slight movement of the arms, especially with the tractor at idle.

I have more trouble pulling buckets off then installing them due to not having the perfect neutral weight position.

 

[IslandTractor]

I do it in practice pretty much the same way but only use the BH hydraulics for initial posotioning. The main pin is the b@itch as it includes the thumb. As Nickel pointed out, six holes need to be lined up pretty closely for even a chamfered pin to fit. Once that pin is mounted I can operate the BH and let gravity help and of course at that point things are pretty well lined up. I have yet to manage the change over in less than an hour which puts a crimp in any plan to switch for just a simple job. I tend to mount the ripper and leave it on for a few weeks before switching back. Again, a quick coupler would increase the versatility a lot.

 

[beppington]

I have no backhoe, so I'm not intimately familiar with the struggle to get the pins aligned ... but could you hang the ripper from a tree, a barn beam, or a stand, so you could swivel it all around during alignment?

This is how we store the auger, & ever since hanging it like this, it is much easier to connect up; No longer a dreaded process. It's got enough play & movement that neither the tractor nor the auger have to be in any perfect position to allow for connection/ alignment.

 

[IslandTractor]

Hanging the ripper

 

[beppington]

Hanging the ripper

Yeah, I kinda chuckled when I typed that, but thought, "Well, he probably deserves it."

 

[IslandTractor]

Yeah, I kinda chuckled when I typed that, but thought, "Well, he probably deserves it."

Yes I have felt that way.

The practical problem is that the ripper must be below the BH so it is hard to rig a way to suspend the ripper without getting tangled up in the BH.

 

[dfkrug]

The main pin is the b@itch as it includes the thumb.

That's a downside to pin-sharing with the thumb, and it explains your
struggle. Changing bkts is no fun, but I do not have nearly the problem
you do. I can also rock the bkt small amounts using my hand or foot on
one of the teeth to get that tiny bit of movement to get the pins in. The
bkt rocks on the floor on its curved outer surface.

If you keep the outer face of your ripper tooth curved, you can do this, too.
If you weld something bumpy there, no way.

 

[IslandTractor]

Yes, the bucket is much easier as it sits in a stable position and as you note it can easily be rocked or nudged. The ripper is only stable when upside down so requires balancing at the same time as manipulating to line up pins. It really would be a great torture puzzle.

 

[nickel plate]

Today, I stopped by my local hydraulic shop where I had my grapple hoses built. I brought up the problem I was having aligning the ripper tooth, hydraulic thumb and dipper stick holes to pin them together. I left with a blessing from the scrap box, straight with no dings an 1-1/2" x 12" chromed hydraulic cylinder rod as a "new years" gift. Home made alignment tool question:
I'm pretty good as far as shaping/tapering using my grinder and hand files.
I know no-one with a substantial metal lathe to make the taper.
Pay to have a shop lathe it down or do it myself on the grinding wheel and further polish by hand? I have the time but also need this problem to go away forever.

 

[IslandTractor]

It would certainly be easier with a lathe. I imagine a skilled machinist could taper that rod in 20-30 minutes vs hours with a grinder. A lathe would also give you a true round taper. I know I couldn't come close to round with a grinder and no lathe. Round really would be helpful so if it were me I'd certainly track down a machine shop and see if they could do it for a reasonable price.

 

[nickel plate]

I think I'll dink around with it, making sure that I don't harm the backhoe's races with rough edges. If that doesn't work, I'll take it back to the hydraulic shop's scrap bin, toss it in and retrieve another 1-1/2" rod that will be destined to a metal lathe.
Just quickly looking on line, I have only found alignment pins up to 1-1/4" diameter for around $25.00 which seems reasonable but I need one that is 1-1/2".
Leaving the suburban madness tomorrow for a few days-retreating to our mountain digs-will check back then.
Happy New Year All!
Jerry

 

[JFS2295]

Those McMaster alignment pins are a lot less expensive then what a machinist is going to charge you for 30 mins.

 

[IslandTractor]

Those McMaster alignment pins are a lot less expensive then what a machinist is going to charge you for 30 mins.

Alignment pins? Are those different than the spud wrenches? Sounds like what I need.

 

[JFS2295]

Dude, my post number 223, click on the link, bottom of their page.

I pound it though with my mounting pin following as I mentioned earlier.

 

[IslandTractor]

Dude, my post number 223, click on the link, bottom of their page.

I pound it though with my mounting pin following as I mentioned earlier.

Thanks.:ashamed::ashamed::ashamed:

I have mostly been reading my posts with my iPhone and had trouble opening the Carr McMaster site so didn't see the alignment pins. That is exactly what I need (until MIE comes up with a quick coupler). Now I just need to figure out what the pin sizes are. Tractor/BH is asleep for the winter and a couple of hours away.

Anyone recall the diameter of the larger pin on the BH90x bucket: ?1 1/8" or 1 1/4"? Bigger??? Maybe I can find it on the web.

Thanks again for the repeat heads up on the alignment pins. Happy New Year.