Backhoe Learning Backhoe

[SLOBuds]

I'm trying to learn how to use my backhoe and the process is highly discouraging. I am one of the most uncoordinated persons there is, and when I try to use the backhoe it just flops here and there with all of my uncoordinated movements.

Any tips on what I can do to get better without spending 5 years trying???

Thanks

 

[bigballer]

a nice problem to have

basically take it slow and easy. go out to an area you don't care much about and start digging a big hole. dump the spoils off to the side and then when you feel the hole is big enough fill it back up.

have patience, after a couple hours you'll get it..

 

[Jimbrown]

Reduce engine rpm untill you learn to control it. The lower the rpm the slower the hoe will work.

 

[Sparticus]

There was mention of a training guide on here you can search for it. At work we had the company we purchased our backhoe and other equipment from, demonstrate our equipment to us out in the field.

 

[shaley]

Grasshopper, Become one with the hoe.
Set up some 5 gal construction pails full of water and duct tape the handle in the up position and practice grabbing and moving. Once you get good at control then move to digging dirt.

 

[LBrown59]

I'm trying to learn how to use my backhoe and the process is highly discouraging. I am one of the most uncoordinated persons there is, and when I try to use the backhoe it just flops here and there with all of my uncoordinated movements.

Any tips on what I can do to get better without spending 5 years trying???

Thanks

Know the feeling. I'd never touched a BH when I got my BX23.
Kept plugging along and then before I knew it and almost without realizing it I'd caught on.
I've used it on some pretty tight places and delicate digging jobs with confidence after that.

 

[MrJimi]

I had the same problem when I bought my skid steer, I did not know anything about it, the seller said the keys were in it and to try it out. I told him I never run one. LOL he gave me a 2 minute lesson and it was fun, I used it in idle till I got used to it and I raise RPM's up now and I am not great but descent with it.
Get you some dirt and just move it or pile it up or just dig a hole and fill it back up and it will come to you before you know
Have fun
Jim

 

[Rara Avis]

I'm trying to learn how to use my backhoe and the process is highly discouraging. I am one of the most uncoordinated persons there is, and when I try to use the backhoe it just flops here and there with all of my uncoordinated movements.

Any tips on what I can do to get better without spending 5 years trying???

Thanks

Besides practice...read a little...
https://www.equiptrain.com/backhoes.htm

Order the above manual it is worth the money...

 

[RonMar]

One thing I found when learning mine was that if I was too far away from the joysticks, with arms extended, I didn't have as fine a motor control as when I was closer to them with my elbows bent a bit.

 

[638]

Dig a hole, fill it up with the back hoe. Dig it out again, fill it back up with the hoe. Do this over and over until you are one with the hoe. It will come to you.

ron

 

[john_bud]

One tip is that you don't dig a big chunk of dirt out all at once. You get the bucket lip level with the ground and bring the dipper stick in and the boom up at the same time so you peel off a long 2" thick layer of dirt. You keep doing that until you have a long trench dug. If you want it wider, move over 1 bucket width every other scoop.

The other guys have the rest of the story down pat! Practice, practice, practice. Expect to get the hang of it after about 25-30 hours of operation. Expect to feel pretty confident after 2x that amount. Expect to actually have the hang of it after 10x that amount. Expect to be humbled when you see what the real pros can do! The pros can pick your pocket or take your money playing 3 card monty with the hoe!

jb

 

[SLOBuds]

Yeow, 300 hours of operation before I'm comfortable!!!

Thanks for all of your suggestions. There are several that I will give a try - especially the 'run at idle for awhile' concept. Everything is just moving too fast with that bucket, boom and arm!

I will give those training manuals a try - although reading something is a lot different than doing something. And like I said, I'm basically a very uncoordinated person in general.

 

[SFish]

SLOBuds:

What I found is that the more familiar I became with using more than one control at the same time, the smoother I got. That sounds like saying that the better I got, the better I got, but what I mean is that at reasonable working RPMs the main boom will go whango by itself, but gets much smoother when working the dipper or bucket at the same time. I think this reduces and evens out the hydraulic fluid flow, and you work faster.

Steve

 

[SLOBuds]

SLOBuds:

What I found is that the more familiar I became with using more than one control at the same time, the smoother I got. That sounds like saying that the better I got, the better I got, but what I mean is that at reasonable working RPMs the main boom will go whango by itself, but gets much smoother when working the dipper or bucket at the same time. I think this reduces and evens out the hydraulic fluid flow, and you work faster.

Steve

Yep, the guy who sold me the tractor - and demo'ed the backhoe - told me that. Problem is that my uncoordination drives me to doing one operation at a time. Then when I only do one at a time, that's when everything starts flying around at hyperspeed.

So reducing the engine speed will be the answer for awhile.

 

[RobS]

Plenty of good advice here. The other thing I've heard is that you'll move your controls in circles. For repetitive movements (dig, swing, dump, repeat), I've found that to be true. You also don't need to move the levers to the full extreme of their range. Think small circles. Thinking in nice, round circles instead of choppy X's or squares will tend to smooth things out. Circles also give you the multiple motions that Steve mentioned.

It is about the most fun practice you can have!

 

[AndyMA]

I've been on hoes for over 30 years and on my PTO driven Woos 1050 I hardly ever run over 330 rpm. Any more and control becomes a real issue. Try to thnk of the hoe and your arms as one. The way I do that is to think that it is my hands that are actually doing the digging. It is easy like that. Once you truly get the hoe to feel like part of yourself, you should be able to come within fractions of a inch of an obstacle. Also remember it is the crowd circuit that does most of the work. You just drop down the boom and crowd it in. When you are digging, Crowd in toward you and gently raise the boom. Almost second nature is to curl the bucket to keep tha material in it. In the beginning don't rotate until you are out of the hole. Eventually you will be able to start rotating as soon as the bucket has any side clearance which will greatly increase you cycle times. Many times when I am digging, the ground is so hard and rocky that I need to start quite far away from where I need the actual hole just to get the bucket to penetrate. This is true even in my 44,000 lb excavator. Also don't feel bad about practicing out of the ground. Do things like pick up sticks and try to just scratch the surace of the fround without doing any digging. Have fun.

Andy

 

[SLOBuds]

Plenty of good advice here. The other thing I've heard is that you'll move your controls in circles. For repetitive movements (dig, swing, dump, repeat), I've found that to be true. You also don't need to move the levers to the full extreme of their range. Think small circles. Thinking in nice, round circles instead of choppy X's or squares will tend to smooth things out. Circles also give you the multiple motions that Steve mentioned.

It is about the most fun practice you can have!

I don't think that small circle is precisely accurate. The left joystick controls my boom and left/right swing. If I circle the left joystick it will not only go in and out, it will go left and right.

So for digging I think the left joystick goes forward and backward. The right joystick does circles.

 

[SLOBuds]

I've been on hoes for over 30 years and on my PTO driven Woos 1050 I hardly ever run over 330 rpm. Any more and control becomes a real issue.Andy

Well, that's part of my problem - trying to run at full pto speed. I was wondering if the lower rpm also reduces power, which I'm guessing here is 'no'. Or not enough to notice.

 

[RobS]

I don't think that small circle is precisely accurate. The left joystick controls my boom and left/right swing. If I circle the left joystick it will not only go in and out, it will go left and right.

So for digging I think the left joystick goes forward and backward. The right joystick does circles.

Assuming you are dumping your spoils off to the side, you will make circles with both joysticks. OK, maybe ovals... not true circles, but you get the idea. There is a backhoe nirvana you'll eventually hit, like a great golf shot. I've been there a time or two, but not enough practice to be consistent.

 

[john_bud]

Well, that's part of my problem - trying to run at full pto speed. I was wondering if the lower rpm also reduces power, which I'm guessing here is 'no'. Or not enough to notice.

Hydraulic pumps have the same pressure (power) at all rpm's, assuming the engine has enough grunt! Higher rpm's make more volume which is higher flow -> that means faster operations. When you know what you are doing, you will want that. Not now, but later for sure.


Put the tractor at 2-300 rpm's over idle and see how you like that.