Backhoe Attachment Project

[sandman2234]

No you can't buy a used Backhoe attachment, at least in Iowa or surrounding, I looked for 3 months.
using any kind of hydraulic powered equipment is dangerous, just think before you pull that lever!!

Actually I KNOW YOU CAN BUY A BACKHOE ATTACHMENT IN IOWA, because I recently loaded up a 657 New holland with subframe onto a truck headed for a guy in Iowa. His cost, $1400 and the requirement to take a heavy table with him when he came after the hoe. I netted 3 more tables out of the deal by getting the one shipped to Iowa, which is why I sold the hoe as cheaply as I did. Plus it was too small for my JD2555 that I was going to modify it to fit.

Great statement about thinking before pulling the lever
David from jax

 

[Iplayfarmer]

...Fortunately, everything is pretty much fabricated, just need to cut out a couple support plates, weld on a cylinder bracket and run the hyd lines.

That setup looks very professionally done. Great job!

 

[rbutterfield]

Here's a couple more photos with the boom and bucket being fitted up.
I am not pleased with the crowd arm cylinder, it could use another couple inches of throw to tuck the bucket in tighter. The bucket itself has plenty of rotation, after curling it up I would have liked to bring it in closer to the boom upright. I could move my attachment point but would lose some of the full extention.
Having never operated a BH before I may be concerning myself about something that isn't that important.

 

[MJPetersen]

Thanks for the loads of pics!! It looks very nice and well executed. You have spent alot of time to bring your great project to near finished. To hook up the hyd with NO leaks that is nothing short of tremendous. Good Job!!

One thing that I noted is that the pins are only retained with the snap-over pins. These very likely will catch on something, open and fall out (especially on the bottom, ie swing cyl). Also, at this time you do not have any way to keep the pin form rotating in the pin bosses. This will cause undue wear in the bushings and pins. Pins should be kept stationary in some manner. You could lengthen the pin boss with a hole drilled for the retaining clip, put an "ear" on the pin and bolt it to the structure, or put in a pin with an eye and bolt that to the structure. If you have movement in the bosses there is no lubrication there and that will cause wear where you do not want it.

Mike

 

[mjncad]

Excellent work rbutterfield! Thanks for documenting your project with pictures.

 

[rbutterfield]

One thing that I noted is that the pins are only retained with the snap-over pins. These very likely will catch on something, open and fall out (especially on the bottom, ie swing cyl). Also, at this time you do not have any way to keep the pin form rotating in the pin bosses. This will cause undue wear in the bushings and pins.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions regarding the pins. Actually, I had been trying to come up with a different retention method but finally settled on the linch pin idea. I can now understand why I hadn't seen them on other BH's.
Thanks for saving me some future problems.
Rick

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Here's a retaining pin detail on my stabilizer mod. I used the torch, hammer, drill method to make the retaining pins.

 

[rbutterfield]

After quite a few weekends, a bit of head scratching, some welding and a lot of grinding followed by noticing my white hair has taken on a "Green" hue (do not paint in the garage with the doors closed without ventilation) and except for the decals, the BH and subframe are basically complete.
Now, on to the extensive "Honey do" list.
Thanks for everyones advise and comments, I appreciate it.

Rick

 

[MikesTractor]

Nice job! Now we need some action shots...

 

[JoelD]

Really nice job!!

Another way to retain the pins is to use some flat stock, drill a hole in the middle of the flat stock, weld the flat stock to the end of the pin. Have the flat stock stick out about 2 inches, drill hole, tap hoe frame and bolt the flat stock tab to the hoe frame. Very similar to what you did, but no play at all.

Another way is to weld collars onto the hoe frame and pin through the collar and pin to secure in place.

GREAT JOB, how long did it take from start to finish.

I'm jelous.

Joel.

 

[rbutterfield]

Nice job! Now we need some action shots...

Thanks.
I used it yesterday. Seems to do very well for an inexperienced BH operator.

 

[rbutterfield]

Really nice job!!


GREAT JOB, how long did it take from start to finish.


Joel.

Thanks Joel,

I ended up pinning through the pin collars in order to keep them stationary as suggested. Thought about welding tabs and drilling through and threading the frame but decided to see how this works.

To be honest I didn't keep track of the time I spent working on it.
Basically I would work on it on the weekends then get away from it for a month or more, then back at it again. We have horses so they take up a lot of my available time and I haven't put heat in the garage yet so I lost the winter months. I started it about a year and a half ago but have maybe 20 weekends worth of work.
Just a guess.

I'll have my wife shoot some video and get it posted.

 

[rbutterfield]

Here are a few photos with the BH detached.
Pull 2 pins on the subframe, disconnect the hyd lines and drive away.
Too easy!

 

[Scotty370]

Absolutely a beautiful 'build' !! Perfect color too! And (Not to 'hijack') But your pictures are beautiful as well! How do you get them sized so perfectly? Some folks thumbnails that I click 'blow-up' the photo so large, that you have to pan/scroll and they're just tough to view. ~"Scotty"

 

[rbutterfield]

Absolutely a beautiful 'build' !! Perfect color too! And (Not to 'hijack') But your pictures are beautiful as well! How do you get them sized so perfectly? Some folks thumbnails that I click 'blow-up' the photo so large, that you have to pan/scroll and they're just tough to view. ~"Scotty"

Thanks Scotty, I appreciate your comments. Thus far the BH has exceeded my expectations. I was very lucky.
As far as the photos go, I use PS to resize the width to 640 and the height will resize proportionaly. Most of the time I do not crop the original photo however the second photo in my last post was cropped prior to resizing that's why the thumbnail looks differnet

 

[rbutterfield]

As promised, here is a video clip that was shot yesterday by my wife.
As you will see, I have a long way to go the get in sync with my new machine. And I thought helicopters were difficult!

YouTube - Playing in the dirt

 

[MikesTractor]

Excellent job on the backhoe. Looks great and it digs good too! If you need to get rid of some of that top soil, I'll take a couple of loads...

Mike

 

[JoelD]

REally really really nice job, you are going to get many hours of use out of that backhoe.

I only see one problem.

I think your dirt is broken, I don't see you hitting any hard round things.

I've got about 50 billion of them if you need some

I find it boring to dig without hitting at least one every centimeter.

Again, GREAT job, you should be very proud of your work.

Sincerely,
Joel

 

[Ductape]

Great vid !

I can't believe you dug up that nice lawn for fun !

Wait...... let me rephrase that. I can't believe you dug up that nice lawn for fun and you're still married !

 

[mjncad]

Great job on the backhoe and I think you'll get your technique down fairly quickly too.