Backhoe Curious...

[UP Guy]

I was wondering how many of you are glad you got the backhoe attachment and was curious of some of the work you perform with it. The attachment is extremely expensive and I don't know if I could justify the expense. Like I said, just kind of curious what you do with yours.. Thanks guys.

 

[Soundguy]

Mine gets low use. So far digging up ok drain tile, and some trenching for a hurried no-dig fence. Burying large animals etc. Luckily I bought my woods 6500 3pt hoe used at auction. I would not have found it economical if new.

I made my own subframe

 

[Thomas]

I miss my backhoe..ALOT.
I use mine from stump popping,ditching,unloading heavy items from pickup,getting unstuck,lees work w/shovel.
You might be surprise when doing your bride project how handy backhoe will come in.

 

[MikeInEburg]

I don't use mine enough to truly justify the cost - but I'm glad that I have it. Even though it would be lower cost, occasionally renting a hoe is a time-consuming process.

 

[aginn]

I wish I could have one myself. Then I'd have one less piece of equipment to maintain. I ended up with a case 580 because I found a guy that wanted my jet boat instead of his hoe. I wanted something that would dig 14 feet deep so an attachment wasn't enough anyway. Once I get my main digging done the plan is to sell the case and get the hoe attachment. Only then would I be qualified as to the attachments long term usefulness.
I do cut all my own wood for heat though and stumps are a pain to keep brush down around. So to mow and keep the property cleaned up a hoe is necessary to keep the stumps to a minimum
I live a 2 hour round trip to any rental place. So transport of a rental hoe would end up eating up the savings for not owning my own.

 

[FredH]

Bought my 738C used when I bought my TC30 new . Dealer had it on another tractor , so they just switched it to mine . First couple of years , not much use , ditches for water lines to new outside spigots , etc.... . Then in 2005 , removed a old mobile home off property and had a manufactured home installed . All the pre-move work was done by me . Contractor just brought up his D-4 one Saturday and hooked to old mobile and down in the field it went .

After it was out , all the old cement runners , pads , etc.... were taken out by me , as well as uncovering the sewer all the way to septic for permit inspection purposes . After new home was installed , all back filling and irrigation install were dug by me , including 88 yards of top soil placed in to lawn areas . Although that part was front bucket use , having the back hoe on for counter weight was really nice . Sure I could of put a attachment on or made a counter weight , but the 757 was more than adequate .

All in All , over the 10 / 11 years I have had the tractor and hoe combination , I am most certainly Happy I have mine .

Fred H.

 

[ArmyPair2]

I use mine for stumps and got me 8 or 10 small ones this past 3 days. There have been times that I thought an easy small 5 inch will turn into a 200lb ball.

 

[AKfish]

My backhoe will be the last piece of equipment to leave the place if I ever sell out!

Let's see - tree clearing, stump removal, bury power lines and water lines to our buildings, load and unload all kinds of stuff on trailers and trucks in confined and cramped areas that you couldn't get a loader or skid steer in/out of, working up frozen ground that you could never dig with a loader, etc., building a rock and railroad tie retaining wall, placing construction debris and stumps, tree tops onto big burn piles, etc.

And, it's my "safety saw" for those trees and shrubs that are too close to buildings, power lines, sat dish, phones, and I don't want to risk using a chain saw to cut down. I push or grab with the thumb and have never had stuff fall on something I didn't want it to.

AKfish

 

[PHPaul]

Not so much any more, but it has more than paid for itself over the years. When I first got it, I had two acres of alder stumps to clear, water and electric lines to put in, bushes and trees to transplant, rocks to dig up and move, ditches to dig and maintain.

All of that was on my place, but I also hired out and did all of those things for other people. If you factor in other expenses, I probably didn't "earn" enough with it to actually pay for it, but it must have been close.

My place is now about 99% true to the ideal I had in my head when I bought the hoe, and I might use it 2 or 3 times a year, but it isn't costing me a dime sitting in the back of my barn, and it beats the **** out of grabbing a shovel at my age!

 

[s219]

I have a need for one about 1-2 times a year, and usually end up busting my back instead. I guess that is not enough justification for the cost and storage requirements, since I haven't got one yet! It would be a luxury item for me right now.

If a project was on the horizon that absolutely justified a backhoe in a way that was ballpark with rental use, that would change my thinking, and age might change that as well. As time goes on, I see many situations where spending the money for equipment is better than busting my butt. The other day I made three trips up and down a 2 mile road to get some fill dirt with my front bucket. The neighbor who gave me the dirt asked why I didn't tow my trailer up and make one trip, and the reply was "because then I'd have to shovel it out of the trailer". I had just previously shoveled 1 ton of sand out of my trailer, and my wrists were shot. Maybe spending money on a dump trailer is the next solution...

 

[Haoleguy]

Mine sees stump and rock removal and the occasional small trench. With the thumb it helps with stone wall building. In the past I have used it to set fence posts but now I have access to a heavy duty post pounder. When I have large boulders and stumps to pop or long farm drain tile lines to dig I rent an excavator (14 ton). I would say the backhoe has been useful but if I had a choice I would rather have had a lightly used 6-8 ton excavator to do specific digging chores. The downside to that choice would be the upkeep of another piece of equipment.

 

[Baby Grand]

I got one earlier this year. so far, I've used it to pull about 16 to 18 stumps, which should make brush hogging the edges of the field a lot easier next year. It also got a workout this Summer when I used it to remove the septic settling & distribution tanks from our back yard. We plan on putting an addition onto our house over the coming Spring/Summer and I think when that's done I will have broke even and the rest will be gravy.

Next task is to dig a ditch to lay a drainage line from our basement slab sump to an intermittent stream channel about 70 feet from the house. This will allow gravity to drain the sub slab and to use the sump pump only as an emergency bailer. Right now, that pump is running all the time in the Spring through early Summer and causes us to fret, hoping that it doesn't burn out and flood our basement if we're away for a few days. We've already replace one pump. That pump running all the time also runs up the electric bill.

The hoe is a BH92 attachment for the L3240. I bought the tractor in 2007, going a little larger than I really needed to accommodate the hoe, which I just couldn't afford at that time. Since then, my "hoe to-do list" has grown to the point that I crossed the "will pay for itself" threshold last year. I love that thing. It doesn't spent a lot of time on my tractor, but when it's on there, I'm really enjoying the workout.

 

[stumpster]

This is probably the 6th or 7th big pine I've pushed over. Probably 10 or 12 more to go.

 

[Clint S]

We used ours alot the first few years and it has paid for itself. Dug trenches, foundation for porch, buried several cows, and tons (literally ) of rocks dug. Now for the most part it takes up space under the lean too. It goes on once a year and we get our little projects done (most of which could have been done by hand)

 

[Indygunworks]

YUCKY PISS WATER... you need to switch to a REAL beer.

 

[stumpster]

Hah! The only other beer I have is over 8%. Didn't want to tear the shed down trying to park the tractor.

 

[jeff9366]

For the price of a Backhoe ($7,000+) you can just about trade up to a Kubota "Grand L" L3560 tractor-loader with optional L2296 Heavy Duty Round Back bucket and a 110 pound Bucket Spade.

A <$400 bolt-on Bucket Spade is NOT a Backhoe. It is not much for trenching. But for digging holes and excavating and planting trees and shrubs it is about as effective as a Backhoe when mounted on a Heavy Duty bucket.

Photos 1-3: Digging, separating and replanting fifteen year old Blueberry plants, taken December 12-13, 2014 in Florida.

Photos: 4-5-6: Planting Bradford Pear

Photos: 6-7: Use, minimal storage space.


More bucket spade info in LINK:

LINK: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...da-planting-sand-pears-kubota.html?highlight=

 

[kneedeep]

Best ATTACHMENT for a compact tractor. It is the replacement for shovels, picks, post drivers, chainsaw, limb shear, etc.
I got the subframe/BH made for my tractor. Remove it just like I would drop the mower and hookup to another attachment.
I'm sure the day will come when most of the big jobs are done and it will sit next to the dirt pan waiting for me to need it.

 

[Indygunworks]

I don't know how qualified I am to be in this thread but here is my situation. I have a really old really heavy 2 wheel drive ford 340. I picked up a Long backhoe 3ph attachment w/ pto pump. I gave around 2k I think and had to put another couple hundred into rebuilding the cylinders, and I am sure a few hoses are going to need replaced once I start using it. Money is getting tight with all the other stuff I want to do, but just knowing what it CAN do makes me not even consider selling it. I know as soon as I don't have it a project will come up that I want to do, but just cant w/out a backhoe, and w/out it I probably will never go through the hassle of renting one. Only time will tell if its worth it, but I can forsee it being a very seldom used but necessary tool.

 

[MoMower]

Well worth the cost, since I purchased in April 14, 6 stumps in my lawn area, 4 stumps in the pasture and 110' or so long trench for water to the barn that would have cost several 1000 to have done.