backhoe attachment vs a separate machine

[streamin]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but doing a search didn't bring any good threads. So Buying the BH to me seems like the less desirable option so you can keep the tractor free with the boxblade, but probably a lot less money. Any thoughts of anyone who had this dilemma?

 

[HP942]

My last tractor was a 1983 JD1050 4x4 with a loader and factory backhoe. I bought it used with 1800 hours and ran it 14 years and put about 1200 hours on it. I did use my backhoe a few times over the years, it sure beats a shovel. BUT, I live in an area with a lot of rock and clay, TBL’s can never replace a good backhoe doing real work. My first project was to dig the footings for a 30 x 40 workshop. It took me while to complete that job, a pro with the right equipment could have done it in a couple hours or less. If you are in an area free of rocks or sticky clay it may be fine. When I bought my new ride, I decided not to look for a backhoe due to cost and not really using mine much. Although they are handy, I couldn’t justify the cost based on my past use over 14 years.

 

[streamin]

My last tractor was a 1983 JD1050 4x4 with a loader and factory backhoe. I bought it used with 1800 hours and ran it 14 years and put about 1200 hours on it. I did use my backhoe a few times over the years, it sure beats a shovel. BUT, I live in an area with a lot of rock and clay, TBL’s can never replace a good backhoe doing real work. My first project was to dig the footings for a 30 x 40 workshop. It took me while to complete that job, a pro with the right equipment could have done it in a couple hours or less. If you are in an area free of rocks or sticky clay it may be fine. When I bought my new ride, I decided not to look for a backhoe due to cost and not really using mine much. Although they are handy, I couldn’t justify the cost based on my past use over 14 years.

That is good input, thankyou. I fear I will have a bunch of rocks where I'll need it.

 

[timbatrader]

To me the biggest difference between a tractor mounted back hoe and a mini excavator is the ability to work on the face of a slip on a track and load the debris onto a truck or trailer behind you with a backhoe unless your working area is big enough to park beside your tractor you run out of places stack dirt quickly in my case working on narrow tracks or my confined spaces where I dig out rock to spread on my tracks a backhoe would mean double or triple handling every bucket of dirt

 

[dirttoys]

If budget is not an issue, a mini and a tractor with a loader are handy as a hoot owl.

I used a hoe on my skid for years before buying the mini. The hoe on the skid had more power, less reach, half the swing, and tied up the skid. Not all bad, but, a world of difference having the mini. I would be hard pressed not to have one. You can drag a tractor around with a hoe better than you can a skid, in my opinion, and changing seats gets to be a real drag.....

Best,

ed

 

[Mrsig]

I got the backhoe on my tractor and use it a lot. Once I added the thumb to it was even more useful. I could not afford a separate machine.

 

[streamin]

Mrsig, that is really nice and clean too! Timbatrader and Dirttoys, I wasn't really thinking on the fine points you made but I'm sure in the long run they become important. I think it also matters how much you use them too. Thanks!

 

[Diggin It]

Are you talking about a new unit, or adding something to what you already have?

I got mine new as a whole package. The BH is a four point cradle mount and the subframe stays on. I can use any other attachments including the MMM, tiller, rake, etc. Changeout takes just a few minutes and a couple of pins.

Add-on 3 point BH units are known to be transmission killers due to the insecure mounting method, though some people have beefed theirs up.


Are they as capable as separate machines? No. Cost effective? Only you can decide that.




.

 

[rbstern]

Have the factory backhoe on my LS M225e. There are two things I love about it: 1) being able to dig on short notice, and 2) the ballast it provides. Gives the tractor the stability of a tractor another size up.

When I got the machine a few years ago, hated taking the backhoe off to switch implements. Takes a bit of practice to do it in a short time. Have gotten to the point where I can do it in about 10 minutes. Truly not a big deal.

No question a mini-ex is far more capable. But the convenience and cost savings of the tractor mounted BH, as long as it can do the digging chores you need, makes it worth it. In the three years I've owned mine, the rentals to do my modest projects would have totaled at least half of the backhoe's cost, not to mention time and effort to get the rentals (I'm 40 miles from the nearest rental place).

 

[GSVette]

It really comes down to where and what you are digging. I originally planned on getting a tractor with backhoe however when doing septic evaluation trenches using a Case 590 I realized that a tractor based backhoe had very little chance digging through the decomposed granite I hit between 3 and 4 feet. As a result, I purchased a well used ( but repowered) Case 580D which has dug hundreds of feet of water and power line trenches. There are places where I don’t think a lighter machine could have broken through the granite layer.

In retrospect a min-ex in the 10k# range might have been a better choice-but I got a pretty good deal on the Case and could probably sell it for what I paid for it.