Backhoe New backhoe owner with ditch questions

katoomed00 · Jun 26, 2017

Dig to a point where you can get the machine out easily, then turn it around and start from the other end of the trench, once they meet up then just cross the trench as described earlier. About 3-4' reach is about where the limit is on digging trenches from the back of the hoe, (you can go a little farther but it does take a little more effort to break out and lift, IMO) and about 6.5' down directly below the hoe. If you want to make a really nice trench wider than the size of the bucket, Just pick up and kick the back of the tractor using the hoe to the side of the trench of where you want to go wider. Practice and have fun.

newbury said:
Exactly, every hour using my BH is joy.

But for traversing slopes you can extend a stabilizer down slope and swing the bucket upslope!
/edit - only very carefully when yo just HAVE to cross the slope.

How deep a trench? Are you at the limit of your BH reach?
Can you do the footing in 2 pours?
Or can you maneuver such that you dig two trenches almost meeting and then just dig a big hole between them to join them?

rScotty · Jun 27, 2017

mikerose said:
My question is about digging a trench. I need to dig one between two buildings for a footing. I can see how you'd start the trench from each building toward the center, but at some point, you'd be straddling the trench with no way to get out of there, right? Is there some technique for this that I might be missing? What's the right way to do this? Thanks!

Backhoes do have a learning curve. Sometimes it is possible to solve the trench straddling problem by simply not straddling the trench in the first place - just do all the work from one side.

Although backhoes are most efficient when using a single lever motion to bring the bucket in a straight line toward the lower boom pivot, they aren't required to be efficient all the time. By gently moving both levers simultaneously it is possible to dig in a variety of motions. One can dig arcs, or even dig a straight line from a position off that line.

Here are some photos of a ditch we dug yesterday. It was completed entirely without ever crossing the trench. Although this one is fairly shallow, another trench we dug last week was much deeper. Same backhoe, same bucket, and same technique.

Enjoy, rScotty

tshep · Jul 16, 2017

Find the Ober book Operating techniques for the tractor loader backhoe: Gary J Ober: 97812: Amazon.com: Books See the prices? Worth 10 times that! I found one at an adjacent county's library. You will amazed at what we can do with this guy's techniques.

One thing to remember is to always center the pivot pin on the trench center line - that way your personal technique / learning curve / hand eye coordination will be the same wherever you go.