Has anyone used a Bob-Tach Backhoe?

[bannersprings]

I'm looking at a used Bob-Tach backhoe for my toolcat and am wondering anyone has used one of these and if it worked well or not. I plan on digging out a bunch of medium-sized pinion pine stumps with it to start.

 

[ndnewbie]

It doesn't appear to be approved for Toolcats, per the Bobcat website.

Backhoe Attachment Specifications - Bobcat Company

Would be great to learn otherwise.

Snyder

 

[radman1]

It is not approved because there is no way to fix the BH solidly to the frame. It would have to be use it attaced to the carrier attachment only. Probably too much stress for the design. You could probably get by if for limited use but at your own risk.

 

[Spudgunner]

It is not approved because there is no way to fix the BH solidly to the frame. It would have to be use it attaced to the carrier attachment only. Probably too much stress for the design. You could probably get by if for limited use but at your own risk.

This was my concern as well. I have a small Kubota hoe (BX23) and even with its tiny hoe, the torque the frame receives is surprisingly large (IMO). Having some substantial outriggers would seem to help this situation. Quick-Attach's new hoes appear to have such "wide stance" outriggers but I have no personal experience with those hoes. They sure look spiffy, though.

The hydraulic and weight specs for those hoes look to be well within TC compatibility; however, the mechical stresses make me wonder about mechanical compatibility. Added to this is the TC's boom config as opposed to most skidsteers (JCB, I think, being the atypical SS config...which is more like a TC's). The TC's boom interface to its QA plate is sort of a single-point config which IMO is easier to "torque"/"tweak" than a typical SS's.

Of course, this is largely conjecture and I certainly wish you'd buy one and report back!

Whatever you do...good luck with your equipment!

 

[mouse]

i seem to remember reading in a an earlier thread/post that the backhoe needs 2 attachment points which is not achievable with the toolcat.

maybe a search will dig it up (so to speak...)

 

[bannersprings]

Thanks everyone for your responses. FWIW, my Bobcat dealer thought it would be no problem to use the Bob-Tach Backhoe on the Toolcat...

Will post review if I buy it.

 

[Rip]

Something you might consider is what is called a "grubbing bucket" . These are made and sold by a number of third-party outfits and are usually a narrow V-shaped bucket designed to dig up stumps and big boulders by concentrating the available force on a small area.

They mount like regular buckets, but since they are centered, they would not subject a Toolcat's single arm to severe side or twisting loads.

I have seen them several places and heard from folks that have used them, but do not have them bookmarked.

 

[bannersprings]

Thanks Rip

i looked into the stump bucket and found one at Markham Welding for $374 plus $100 for shipping. seems like a great deal! planning on ordering one to dig pinion stumps out. should also be useful on the sagebrush trees we have...some 15 ft high with 12 inch diameter trunks.

 

[Rip]

Glad you found Markham Welding.....have only heard good things about them and their products.

The C and later T'Cats have quite a bit more break-out force then the earlier models, so should work out pretty well for you. 4-500 lbs of ballast in the back should get the most of available hyd power and help keep you firmly planted as well.

Good Luck

 

[David Patterson]

Has anyone used a Bob-Tach Backhoe on a ToolCat 5600? davidpatterson@earthlink.net

 

[Rolando]

Thanks Rip

i looked into the stump bucket and found one at Markham Welding for $374 plus $100 for shipping. seems like a great deal! planning on ordering one to dig pinion stumps out. should also be useful on the sagebrush trees we have...some 15 ft high with 12 inch diameter trunks.

I also have the Markham grubber bucket and love it. It's also useful for transplanting smaller bushes. But keep in mind that you're going to have limits as to what you can take down with a Toolcat. To take down a 12" dia tree, you're going to need to do a lot of root ripping around the tree before you can push it down.

 

[hardhat]

Just to dig this old thread back up.....Anyone tried a bob-tach backhoe? My dealer thought that it would be fine on the toolcat, but it is not listed as approved on the website. This would make the machine even more versatile. It is approved for the t190 which does not have a whole ton better spec. Probly have to be careful with it, but looks like it could work for limited duty. Any thoughts ?

 

[hpengines]

I have an old Davis 10 ft backhoe I modified for use on the Toolcat. I have an extra mounting point high up on the arm behind the backhoe seat. This takes all of the stress off the tilt cylinder and linkage. I'm sure I would have done major damage without doing this as this is a good sized hoe and I've done some pretty serious digging. I still have to be careful when digging off to the side though. A lot of stress on the arm. This is where you need good outriggers.

 

[APTBrown]

I've gone through this entire thread and felt compelled to add my 2 cents as it seems I'm the only person here who actually owns this attachment (mine has the 16 inch bucket) and it's amazing! I should note that I am not a contractor and this is only used for projects around my property but so far I've completed over 500 feet of french drainage channel, a sump pump well, a few stump/tree removals and other misc. tasks (note it has a 6 ft digging depth). I've owned it for about 2 years and don't have any thing negative to say. Unfortunately I'm not able to make use of the bucket swing feature as my machines don't have the correct pin configuration or don't even have a receiver(I own a Bobcat 751 and Terex PT60). The attachment is built very strong compared to others I've seen on the market.

 

[ruffdog]

Is this what you have?

 

[APTBrown]

@Ruffguy. That looks like the one I have, the only difference I can see is the one in the photo one has a smaller bucket than mine.

 

[ruffdog]

The neighbor had one that did not have the swing feature so he did a bunch of moving for each bucket load. He got rid of it after he tried using it. It was like this one:

 

[Xfaxman]

The unanswered question is, can a toolcat handle the swing type SSQA mounted backhoe without bending or breaking something?

 

[laurencen]

not something I would use on my machine