Earth work

[K5lwq]

LOL, I get why y'all are saying that. My thought process is that the parts are cheep and he can always get his money back out of the 8N. He most likely will have a learning curve and will break things. If he learns to get work out of an 8N, and does not put a overrun clutch on the PTO, he will learn to respect a tractors limits and will appreciate his new modern tractor that much more. :laughing:

 

[desertdog71]

I can always get a couple Belgian draft horses and some goats too.

Whatever I get will be newer, like past 20 years at least. We shall see.

 

[desertdog71]

Do any of you guys have backhoes on your units? I found a used 2400 with backhoe for fairly reasonable price. Might be a handy addition for the money, could I dig 1000 feet of septic laterals and 600 feet of water line, or is this another one of those rent a machine scenarios?

 

[Granthol]

Assuming theBranson 2400 not the IH 2400, but yes that would dig what you are looking at, it will be slow, but time seems to be your friend.

 

[ericm979]

I didn't get a backhoe with my 3725. As the projects on my land have expanded I found I need to dig more than I want to do by hand. I ended up getting a used Branson (really Ansung) backhoe from my dealer at a reasonable price. I don't think I've gotten my money's worth out of it yet but there's plenty of years left. It was useful to make a level spot for a big garden shed for my wife. That would have been way too much hand digging.

This is the first backhoe I've operated. I did get a quick try of a mid size Kubota excavator and boy that works so much better. It's got electric over hydraulic valves and the various cylinders work together much better. But between digging out a couple stumps and the shed pad I've put maybe 12 hours on it and gotten much better at it. I'll never be like a pro who's run these things for years.

Where I am, renting is both expensive and a pain due to traffic down where the rental yard is.

 

[desertdog71]

Yeah, it's not expensive or a pain in Kansas. $200 will rent you a mini-ex for 24 hours.

 

[4570Man]

Yeah, it's not expensive or a pain in Kansas. $200 will rent you a mini-ex for 24 hours.

Is that a pocket sized one? Locally a 5 ton one is about $350-400 plus tax plus a $150 minimum delivery and you’ll have to put up a $1000 deposit. I needed a mini with a rock hammer last year. I found a retired guy that had one. He said I had to haul it because he didn’t have a trailer and I had to pay him cash and he’d do it for $45 and hour. Deal!

 

[desertdog71]

Yanmar 50, whatever size that is. I'm sure it's pocket sized to a lot of them. I've seen some smaller ones.

 

[desertdog71]

I wish I could rent or use one at my land and see what it can and can't do. The JD 3039R I rented wasn't very strong in the loader department. Other than that it seemed pretty decent. That would be similar size to a 3510. I'd like to try a 20 or 25 series before writing a check.

 

[oldnslo]

DesertDog
How deep do you have to bury waterlines in your area? Suspect 3 to 4 feet minimum under driveways. Is the dirt in your area prone to cave ins?

Reason for asking is I suspect the bucket on a 2400 will be around 12 - 16 inches wide and digging depth of 5 to 6 feet.

Can you do your Own septic work in your area? County I live in here in Illinois requires licensed plumbers with multiple inspections.

2400 also May not reach deep enough to dig the hole for the septic tank.

I suspect you could do the vast majority of the work with the 2400 just will take a little time.