Backhoe b2620 & bh65 backhoe decision & current owners

[628pm]

I'm at the final stages of deciding on a backhoe. Before spending the money, is the backhoe attachment worth it? For those of you that have b2620 and backhoe, was the money spent on it worth it? What can you do with this backhoe. My major concern is that it will look nice, but can it perform? I don't expect it to do the same as a full size backhoe, just wanting to know what it can actually do. Don't want the wife to say I told you so. Thanks for any comments.

 

[Ductape]

Buy the backhoe and don't look back ! It completely transforms your tractor into a different machine. You will be doing tasks you will only dream about otherwise. No.... it won't be a commercial rig, but yes you will be impressed with its ability.

 

[628pm]

What size bucket did you get?

 

[J0be269]

I have had my B2620 with BH65 for almost two months now. I used the tractor for a week before the BH65 came in and got installed. I can tell you without a doubt that even for FEL work the backhoe makes it night and day with the ballast it provides. I have dug trenches, dug on big a** hole just to see how it would do. I can tell you that even in good ole georgia red clay, this machine performs.

Once you get to feel for how to use the hoe without dragging the tractor all over the place its great (I think this is true for any size machine) I also have a thumb on my hoe and its main use lately has been dealing with brush piles left by my grader. I'm picking up 20-30 foot sections of tree and moving them around and cutting them up. It's wonderful not having to bend over to cut trees anymore.

With the tractor purchase the BH65 cost me an additional 5200....in my book it was a no brainer for what it does. I have a few pics of the unit in my gallery. Any questions I haven't answerd, please ask away.

 

[bstrom]

Thinking of getting this backhoe for my b2620 so I dug up this thread. Anyone else like this hoe and what have you been able to do with it? How is it at picking up rocks with the thumb? I realize you can't pick up huge boulders but can it pick up something like a 600 to 700 lb rock? Has it been reliable?

 

[newbury]

Also compare to the Woods BH 70X/BH 80X.

 

[SGStriglos]

I think the answear is a huge...(Only you will know if it is a value)...All things are relative to your value system based on a huge list of varibles. For me I wouldn't take on any debt to buy a backhoe. Bought mine at the time I bought tractor and know it hasn't come close to paying for itself, but have not regretted it one bit. I look at the projects I've completed and know I wouldn't have paid someone to do them and have great pride in the results. Over 300' of concrete block retaining walls that required foundations of rock and base stones, trees planted in an hour vs. many hours, edging put down around house, redid drainage tiles for freinds and myself, remote below frost line water for garden and shallow waterline for outdoor shower, and placement of large stone, (4-600lbs) below my seawall on inland lake to hold back beach. Point is the projects are fun and don't go on forever because I now have the equipment to handle from start to finish. Would I have saved money having someone else do them...No; would I have saved money by renting for when I need backhoe...Probally, but I have no pressure to complete in x-days because I don't want to incure another days rental. It is all about doing these things at a couple of hours each evening after work or with a spare hour here and there. It is a blast to operate and gives my tractor a new level of versability. Something to be said about being self dependent

2920 and BH65

 

[smrybacki]

I think the answear is a huge...(Only you will know if it is a value)...All things are relative to your value system based on a huge list of varibles. For me I wouldn't take on any debt to buy a backhoe. Bought mine at the time I bought tractor and know it hasn't come close to paying for itself, but have not regretted it one bit. I look at the projects I've completed and know I wouldn't have paid someone to do them and have great pride in the results. Over 300' of concrete block retaining walls that required foundations of rock and base stones, trees planted in an hour vs. many hours, edging put down around house, redid drainage tiles for freinds and myself, remote below frost line water for garden and shallow waterline for outdoor shower, and placement of large stone, (4-600lbs) below my seawall on inland lake to hold back beach. Point is the projects are fun and don't go on forever because I now have the equipment to handle from start to finish. Would I have saved money having someone else do them...No; would I have saved money by renting for when I need backhoe...Probally, but I have no pressure to complete in x-days because I don't want to incure another days rental. It is all about doing these things at a couple of hours each evening after work or with a spare hour here and there. It is a blast to operate and gives my tractor a new level of versability. Something to be said about being self dependent

2920 and BH65

Anyone have an idea how much Kubota's BH65 (or Woods equivalent) would cost to buy?

 

[sandyc]

I have a 2620 (2012) with a bh 65 (16"bucket) and love it. All the power I need for snow removal, stump digging and burying and moving stuff the wife needs moved. The 2620 has a real tranny cooler, and lots of ground clearance.....

 

[smrybacki]

I have a 2620 (2012) with a bh 65 (16"bucket) and love it. All the power I need for snow removal, stump digging and burying and moving stuff the wife needs moved. The 2620 has a real tranny cooler, and lots of ground clearance.....

How much was the backhoe?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Backhoe costs to project cost using rental is really not a comparison. Many projects that BH owners do wouldn't be done if a rental unit was used or if contracted out. The real beauty of having a hoe is that it is available for projects 24/7 at no additional cost to the owner. A 5 minute job planting a tree with the hoe could be an hour of sweat and back breaking work without it. I have used mine planting shrubs, trees etc where I previously sweated with shovel, dug up and moved rocks that previously used FEL which required a long time and lots of big holes to get out the rocks and wasn't easy on the FEL either, removed unwanted saplings, dug up dead 40' tall trees, dug up stumps,buried dead animals, dug out ditches, trenched in water lines and many other tasks. Many of these would have gone undone without the hoe and some like the dead trees would have left a dangerous situation as the tree rotted and dropped dead limbs.
The other side of having a backhoe is the counterweight that it provides. This extra weight makes your tractor a whole new animal for traction and lifting power on the FEL. I just wish I had gotten one 4 years earlier as it would have saved me lots of manual labor.

 

[smrybacki]

This is what I get for piggybacking on an old thread....

One last try....just want to know what a BH65 costs, roughly.

 

[CHDinCT]

This is what I get for piggybacking on an old thread....

One last try....just want to know what a BH65 costs, roughly.

Per the Kubota "Build My Kubota" website, the BH65 lists for:

6.5 FT BACKHOE $5,715.00

Just go to Kubota.com and build a B2620 with the BH, etc. to get MSRP. I don't think shipping is included in the MSRP, so you may have to pay more for that, and of course, you may or may not get a discount seeing as you're buying the BH after the fact.

Edit: Price above doesn't include a BH bucket since there are several sizes available.

Build My Kubota - Product Selection

 

[smrybacki]

Per the Kubota "Build My Kubota" website, the BH65 lists for:

6.5 FT BACKHOE $5,715.00

Just go to Kubota.com and build a B2620 with the BH, etc. to get MSRP. I don't think shipping is included in the MSRP, so you may have to pay more for that, and of course, you may or may not get a discount seeing as you're buying the BH after the fact.

Build My Kubota - Product Selection

Hmm, that's great. I looked about the Kubota site, but didn't even bother with "build my own" because I already "have my own" lol...Thanks for the info!

 

[CHDinCT]

Hmm, that's great. I looked about the Kubota site, but didn't even bother with "build my own" because I already "have my own" lol...Thanks for the info!

No problem. Let us know if you "go for it" and how it turns out; and what you end up paying. No substitute for a BH for digging. Love mine.

 

[smrybacki]

No problem. Let us know if you "go for it" and how it turns out; and what you end up paying. No substitute for a BH for digging. Love mine.

Yeah...."Digging with a FEL is lame at best...

 

[My Hoe]

Per the Kubota "Build My Kubota" website, the BH65 lists for:

6.5 FT BACKHOE $5,715.00

Just go to Kubota.com and build a B2620 with the BH, etc. to get MSRP. I don't think shipping is included in the MSRP, so you may have to pay more for that, and of course, you may or may not get a discount seeing as you're buying the BH after the fact.

Edit: Price above doesn't include a BH bucket since there are several sizes available.

Build My Kubota - Product Selection

I would just add a possible qualifer to Chris's excellent post, above:

The backhoe may require you to add the subframe kit (to give you the "four point hitch/connection" that the hoe requires)...unless your tractor already has this one it? When you add the backhoe, "Build Your Own" automatically tacks it on to the figure Chris listed, and it's an additional $984. Still well worth it, but just pointing this out, FYI. And if I'm wrong, and your tractor already has the subframe, please let us know--I'd be surprised if it does.

I would also get the optional, rubber "street shoes," at $248., unless you want to make some of your own, out of old truck tires or whatever. Otherwise, you'll be marking up concrete/macadam, etc..., and I imagine the hoe would skid around on paved surfaces, without them (?).

I also like Woods hoes a lot, but I suspect they might take a different subframe from the Kubota hoe--but I'm not sure. I have talked with an engineer or two, in Wood's technical dept., in the past, so they are accessible.

What I like about the Woods BH80-X "Groundbreaker" (a curved boom unit, like the BH77, but your BH65 may not be a curved boom?) is that it has an adjustable swing speed control on it. However, last I knew, you could not get the adjustable swing speed on a Woods hoe smaller than the 80-X, which is an 8-foot hoe and would probably bigger than you'd want, on your B2620. As of a couple of years ago, the Woods' 80-X was also the smallest Woods hoe that they had engineered an optional hydraulic thumb for, something that Kubota still doesn't have for the BH77, AFAIK. If that's important to you, you might see if Woods now offers it on a hoe less than 8'. If you find that they do, again, please share--I'd be interested to know.

Just my .02, from my previous research. YMMV.

Let us know, and good luck!

My Hoe

 

[smrybacki]

I would just add a possible qualifer to Chris's excellent post, above:

The backhoe may require you to add the subframe kit (to give you the "four point hitch/connection" that the hoe requires)...unless your tractor already has this one it? When you add the backhoe, "Build Your Own" automatically tacks it on to the figure Chris listed, and it's an additional $984. Still well worth it, but just pointing this out, FYI. And if I'm wrong, and your tractor already has the subframe, please let us know--I'd be surprised if it does.

I would also get the optional, rubber "street shoes," at $248., unless you want to make some of your own, out of old truck tires or whatever. Otherwise, you'll be marking up concrete/macadam, etc..., and I imagine the hoe would skid around on paved surfaces, without them (?).

I also like Woods hoes a lot, but I suspect they might take a different subframe from the Kubota hoe--but I'm not sure. I have talked with an engineer or two, in Wood's technical dept., in the past, so they are accessible.

What I like about the Woods BH80-X "Groundbreaker" (a curved boom unit, like the BH77, but your BH65 may not be a curved boom?) is that it has an adjustable swing speed control on it. However, last I knew, you could not get the adjustable swing speed on a Woods hoe smaller than the 80-X, which is an 8-foot hoe and would probably bigger than you'd want, on your B2620. As of a couple of years ago, the Woods' 80-X was also the smallest Woods hoe that they had engineered an optional hydraulic thumb for, something that Kubota still doesn't have for the BH77, AFAIK. If that's important to you, you might see if Woods now offers it on a hoe less than 8'. If you find that they do, again, please share--I'd be interested to know.

Just my .02, from my previous research. YMMV.

Let us know, and good luck!

My Hoe

Good point, and thank you for that. I am getting ball park estimates at this point so as to call the various local dealers to see what they say -- without being 100% stupid on the matter first

 

[PrairieSoul]

Will be cheaper in the US, but in Canada last year my BH65, BH4965 (subframe), BT1951A (12 inch bucket), BN1976 (mechanical thumb), shipping, installation and picking up/returning the tractor came to $7812 plus tax.

A mechanical thumb is not as handy as a hydraulic one, but once you have one it becomes a must-have.

 

[sandyc]

It was a package deal B2620 tlb. I am guessing that it was about 5k with the sub frame and plumbing. If you go on the Kubota site you can build/price a 2620 with any of the options avail. Right now it looks like almost 30k for my unit which is a 2620 fel, bh, front blower and plow. That is list price which is a starting point.