**** backhoe's are expensive

   / **** backhoe's are expensive #101  
One man's monster backhoe is another man's toy. There is always someone that can dig out most of your back yard with one scoop. Tractor mounted hoes work great for the majority of us. Might take longer, and we are really out of the basement digging category, but there is something to be said to having an implement that you can use whenever you want, for what you want. I've dug out probably north of 50 stumps with mine since 2011. Some so big I had to dig down beside them and bury them in place... too heavy to move with my 8500 pound tractor. Neighbor has a CAT excavator with a two yard bucket, and he would not probably even raise a sweat doing what I have done thru the years with his machine. But there are lots of excavators out there that would make his look feeble in comparison. So, to each his own.... Mine was and is worth every penny I paid for it... :)
 
   / **** backhoe's are expensive
  • Thread Starter
#102  
   / **** backhoe's are expensive #103  
Usually a machine will do 90% of what you need is a good machine. There will ALWAYS be a job it can't do - too big, too small, etc. rent if you can for those, or hire out.

Around the farm the CK3510 is great. Haven't run into anything so far that I can't do with it. OK, so I can't pick up 10 ton of fallen trees...I can pick up some and make more trips. I've moved a lot of dirt - again, can't go dig liked a tracked excavator - but then I didn't spend the kind of money that takes.

Our club is looking at expanding some gun ranges and need to clear an area the size of a foot ball field. My tractor can do the brush hog, leveling, gravel, berm building, etc. For the bigger stumps we'll rent a stump grinder.

The smaller ones - trees under say 3 or 4" diam, those are the ones that it would be nice to have a tracked excavator, bulldozer, or perhaps a hoe. May rent a small excavator..the cost to rent a cat 935 is $1400/day plus 400 delivery...3500 for a week plus the 400. The bucket is 2.4 yards instead of what, 1/3 or so - so it will get the work done faster. Still wont' take out the 2-3 foot diam stumps though. and the tracks may leave ground i'll need to smooth with the tractor. Bobcats/skid steers do well..are cheper to rent..not sure it will do the job needed though. Still planning.

But even $4k for a once in a 30 year project is way cheaper than buying a much bigger tractor and hoe. Just the hoe for my CK is 7500.

Main use for my tractor is brush hogging, snow removal and since we have it can do a lot of stuff we never would have spent the money on. $3600/yr in payments (and fuel) vs $3300 or so per year to pay for the snow/mowing. So will it 'pay' for itself..if my time has no value..maybe LOL.
 
   / **** backhoe's are expensive #104  
One man's monster backhoe is another man's toy.

So, to each his own.... Mine was and is worth every penny I paid for it... :)

It may also come down to HOW you're paying for it. If I was paying cash, the extra 5 or 6 grand may have been a problem. But since I was financing, it's only another $20 or $30/month.
 
   / **** backhoe's are expensive #105  
It may also come down to HOW you're paying for it. If I was paying cash, the extra 5 or 6 grand may have been a problem. But since I was financing, it's only another $20 or $30/month.

So if you dig one hole a month it would be well worth it.
 
   / **** backhoe's are expensive #107  
It may also come down to HOW you're paying for it. If I was paying cash, the extra 5 or 6 grand may have been a problem. But since I was financing, it's only another $20 or $30/month.

So if you dig one hole a month it would be well worth it.
But would cost even more then the extra 5 or 6 grand unless it was purchased with "0" percent financing.
 
   / **** backhoe's are expensive #109  
So if you dig one hole a month it would be well worth it.
In my case it was one hole that took all of one day and a little of the second day and 300' of trench to equal the cost of the backhoe. YMMV
 
   / **** backhoe's are expensive #110  
For how many years?

I guess that depends on how much you value the hole digging cost. If you’re comparing against a several hundred dollar rental or a chiropractor bill after you dig it probably a year or 2. If you’re comparing against the $30 a month he’s paying it would be the length of the payment period.
 

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