Buying after market backhoe (liberty backhoe)?VS JD 270 or JD 46?

[wooden]

Quick question for anyone that may know. I have been looking for a backhoe for a while now for my JD 2720 and since JD has not successfully built the 270 backhoe to fit the 2520 & 2720, I am forced to look elsewhere. I saw an add on a company that builds a 3 pt hitch PTO driven hoe but their machines are built in CHINA and I am not one to go too far off shore for stuff like this/ Liberty backhoe claims they are an American company that build their hoes in China in an American factory. yarda yarda yarda!!! has anyone here seen or used a Liberty back hoe? and what's the quality like? They are based in Arizona but I have never heard about them. I simply do not want to remove the three point hitch and hydraulic lifter for my belly deck every time I need to use the hoe, or I would go with the JD 46 hoe. Just too much work involved and for some reason JD could not get the 270 hoe to work as they had advertised for the 2000 series.......... Of course, all JD 's CUTs are built in Japan in American factories!!
Help!!!

 

[arlen4720]

......... Of course, all JD 's CUTs are built in Japan in American factories!!
Help!!!

The 2000 series are built in Japan by a Japanese company in a Japanese factory. The rest of the JD cuts, lawnmowers and scuts are built in the US.

 

[kennyd]

The rear of your tractor where the 3PH is all made from cast aluminum. Putting a 3PH mounted hoe is asking for di$a$ter. There is a reason the factory hoe uses a subframe that extend to the loader mounts.

 

[Ford8ns]

The rear of your tractor where the 3PH is all made from cast aluminum. Putting a 3PH mounted hoe is asking for di$a$ter. There is a reason the factory hoe uses a subframe that extend to the loader mounts.

Have to agree with kennyd on this one. I have the 5' light duty Liberty Hoe attached to one of my Ford 8ns. I've had it for a year now and it's ok for what it is: a powered shovel. I ditched my driveway (1/2 mile), buried cable, quarried gravel, and replaced a drain line. It works fine for all of that. It won't pull a stump to save your life and even this small hoe is enough to yank my tractor around pretty handily (3400 lbs).

Just this weekend, I experienced my first failure: the top link bent. It's a kind of forked piece of metal rather than a true top link and it now has a distinct kink in it. I wasn't doing anything nuts either, just cutting a trench through my driveway. Long story short, the 3pt attachments on my tractor held (1951 cast iron), the hoe did not. I would think twice though, before putting this on a lighter tractor and anything except old heavy metal.

BTW, jury's out on customer service. I called and talked to a service guy. He emailed me back with one part I want, but hasn't responded yet on the top link. We will see.

 

[kneedeep]

Does Woods or Wallenstein offer a Backhoe/subframe for your tractor??

 

[wooden]

The rear of your tractor where the 3PH is all made from cast aluminum. Putting a 3PH mounted hoe is asking for di$a$ter. There is a reason the factory hoe uses a subframe that extend to the loader mounts.[/QUOTE

Thanks For the input gentlemen. Kennyd, That was My first thought when I saw the back end of my 2720 back when I bought the thing and had it shipped to the island. Just the look of it scared me, in that I expected to see a traditional tractor rear end, and this was far from it. also know that I beat this thing all to **** and it has held up just fine so far , but I do need a BH and the 46 just don't do it for me. They advertised the 270 as a unit that can be mounted to the existing frame of the 2520 and 2720 without having to take apart the hydraulic system for the mmm and also the 3pt hitch arms, so I waited and waited through the 3 year delay, only to find that they came out with a new tractor and re named the 270 to 270A. needless to say I am pissed off now, but I still need a hoe. What to do What to do???
Just thought the Liberty 6' hoe would do the trick, but I know that I am so hard on this CUT that it could be my undoing. Willing to listen to any other suggestions. The Virgin Islands do not have a JD dealer so I am stuck. Thanks again guys!!

 

[mguitas]

Wallenstein make a hoe for a 2520 , don't no if it will work on a 2720 or not.

 

[ODT]

Woods does make a hoe w/subframe (BH6000) for the 2720, with the following caveats:
Tractor must be equipped with Woods® or OEM loader.

Backhoe is NOT compatible with independent hydraulic lift kit for mid-mower--this might be the hang-up as from the original post it seems you have this, correct?

Must order wheel spacer kit #1016450 when mounting on JD2320, JD2520, JD2720 or JD4110.

Tractor must be equipped with John Deere PBY kit #LVB25603.

 

[kennyd]

Wooden, I hear your frustration and I know that you've mentioned the 270 for years and started a few threads before about it.

I was/am in a similar situation with the loader, I found myself needing it more and more lately mostly because of the hook business, every time I needed the loader the MMM was mounted, and vise-versa...the one machine fits all/Swiss army knife solution was just not working for me anymore and I was tired of switching between these two things.

So, ultimately what I did was to buy a older used JD 455 with a 60" MMM for mowing duties, and retire the MMM on my 4110 so I can have a loader tractor and a mowing tractor. You probably aren't thinking that route yet (getting the hoe and another machine to mow with), and I didn't for years either not wanting a second machine around, but now that I have it I wouldn't want it any other way. Having the loader always available has made some weekly chores much more enjoyable, and the 455 does a better job mowing than the larger 4110 did.

Just something to think about...

 

[wooden]

Wallenstein make a hoe for a 2520 , don't no if it will work on a 2720 or not.

2520 & 2720 is the same tractor except for horsepower 2520 is 26 hp and the 2720 has 31 hp motors