3 Point Backhoe

[jwmorris]

As a follow-up on that, unless you're going to use it a LOT, if you have rentals available, it may be cheaper, in the long run, to rent for a week, use it long and hard and send it back.

If you know you can't get everything done in a week, I have just bought the right piece of equipment, used it for how long it took to complete the job or jobs I needed it for and sold it. Most of the times, I have made money, buy low/sell high.

I will say, a time or two I have found that I like and used something enough, I just kept it.

 

[Jaygyver]

Sub frame mounted backhoes don't really exist on this side of the pond but 3 point backhoes are fairly popular.

However, they typically add 2 extra links attached to a solid point on the tractor to spread more of the forces so it's not all concentrated on the top link mount of the tractor. It also adds stability to the backhoe. Just like this:

View attachment 4506737 View attachment 4506738

The ones sold here also have side-shift which is honestly a must.

View attachment 4506740

That is what's really needed for the 3pt hoes is the double brackets instead of just the top link connection.

If I had a choice I would definitely get the frame mounted one. It would just be so much easier to mount and dismount and one less thing to worry about.
And as also been mentioned I would look into a rental hoe and just plan out exactly what you wanted to do and just spend as much time as you can on it and "geter done". I did that when I built the house but I only had so much time due to work and after the second or third time of renting one the payment on the JD was less then the rental. (Without the backhoe as I had mainly used the rental to get the ones I needed out.)

With my JD-770 it had no problems digging. The backhoe was the one doing all the work. The JD does have the heavier frame than the subcompacts so maybe that was a help. My problem was popping wheelies all the way across the field to do something over there but throwing sumething in my bucket solved most it.
It does take a bit more time to do stuff like digging out stumps but I just used a pulley system on most of them after I dug out just enough roots to yank them out.
Yes, it does take longer for the smaller equipment to do stuff but it is what it is. For ME I wasn't going to use it commercially so I could go the smaller/cheaper/takes longer route. I was also looking at a mini ex but I really couldn't justify it and didn't want another piece of equipment to store and maintain.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have a 3 pth Woods. Everytime that I use it I tell myself that's the last time until I get a subframe. (Not so easy as it sounds, I'll have to but one and modify it for the hoe.) It isn't just the digging which stresses them. Having all of that weight sticking out the back causes stress when transporting, especially over rough ground.

 

[sandman2234]

I was under the impression that the the subframe was to prevent stressing the tractor because a tractor has no frame. The only 3pt backhoe that I had been around cracked the bell housing between the engine and the transmission with it's constant loading and unloading forces. While I can see that there are a lot of stresses around the 3pt area, the center of the tractor would take the brunt of it, hence the need for an added frame.
If I were to add a 3pt backhoe to a tractor, I would probably add some frame stiffeners to try to reduce the stresses carried to the center of the tractor.
I have not considered adding the additional links, making it a 5pt instead of a 3pt, but at the cost of repairs to a tractor when you break it with a 3pt backhoe, adding anything to prevent this is way cheaper!
David from jax

 

[yanmars]

Before I put the subframe on my Yanmar with the Woods 3 pt backhoe I had used some heavier all thread rod to connect two locations front to rear to help. Still left them on even now. The backhoe did have me remove the factory 3 pt arms to use the heavier BH ones. Not as ideal if one wanted to remove it for other tasks. Mine is pretty much dedicated to BH use as I have another tractor.