Backhoe Dolly ?

[Plas62]

I am looking at building a backhoe dolly for the LB1104 BH on my XJ2025H. I have searched and found several dolly builds for other brands of tractors most of them were for 3PT hitch BH's and a few for subframe mounts.

I was hoping one of the other LS owners had built a dolly for thier BH and could post some pictures.

 

[dickfoster]

Like you I wanted to build a dolly but found nothing exactly like my hoe and tractor so used what I found as a base to build my own dolly out of the simple T designs.
When I was done I found it was too high so I had to modify it to allow for the hoe to roll a little more so the hooks could disengage. Once I modified it, it works well now. The moral is you'll just have to dive in and work on it till it works unless you can buy something already made.

BTW I got my casters at Harbor Freight. Each are rated at 600lbs. Two swivels and two fixed. I put the fixed casters at the tractor end and the swivels at the bucket end.

6 in. Rubber Heavy Duty Swivel Caster

6 in. Rubber Heavy Duty Rigid Caster

When muscling about a thousand pounds of hoe around on your own you don't really want both ends going helter skelter, ergo the mix of fixed and swivel casters. Easy to move yet easy to control precisely. To reattach the hoe you need a certain degree of control in order to get things lined up.

 

[Xfaxman]

Don't have a backhoe, but have made several dollies.

I order the casters from: Surplus Center

I prefer all swivel casters, easier to get the attachment lined up.

 

[Plas62]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[dickfoster]

Thanks for the replies.

If you search this board for backhoe dollies like I did you'll find all sorts of ideas. I downloaded many of the pictures for inspiration then based my design from the basic T types. Most are either T or a trapezoid. Be sure bear the weight in mind and the stresses that are put on it when you mount and unmount the hoe. I think most hoes rotate then pivot to clear the bottom hooks so bear that in mind too. I didn't provide enough clearance with mine the first go round and had to modify it a bit.

 

[Plas62]

I ordered these casters, Steelex D4175 3” Cast Iron Swivel Caster 330lb cap. I'll post what I came up with when it is finished.

 

[dickfoster]

I ordered these casters, Steelex D4175 3” Cast Iron Swivel Caster 330lb cap. I'll post what I came up with when it is finished.

How much does your hoe weigh? I used four 600 pound capacity casters and my hoe weighs about a half ton or 1000 lbs.

 

[Plas62]

The shipping weight of the BH is 657lbs without the bucket. I figured with the bucket it would weigh about 750lbs - 800 lbs.

One of the challenges I have in this build is the low clearance (6.75") between the bottom of the subframe and the floor, which is why I went with the 3" swivel casters and not the larger higher capacity casters.

I ordered six casters, my thought being that I would attach four of them to a steel plate to go under the operator station end of the BH subframe and the other two casters would be used on the lighter opposite end of the subframe.

 

[dickfoster]

The shipping weight of the BH is 657lbs without the bucket. I figured with the bucket it would weigh about 750lbs - 800 lbs.

One of the challenges I have in this build is the low clearance (6.75") between the bottom of the subframe and the floor, which is why I went with the 3" swivel casters and not the larger higher capacity casters.

I ordered six casters, my thought being that I would attach four of them to a steel plate to go under the operator station end of the BH subframe and the other two casters would be used on the lighter opposite end of the subframe.

I see your's is a bit lighter and a bit lower than mine is. Don't forget that typically you press down on the bucket end when you detach and reattach the hoe. I assume yours has the bottom hook and upper pin setup like mine.