Backhoe Regular Backhoe vs. Skid Steer Quick Hitch

[Rolando]

Another newbie question:
I've been reading about potential dangers of operating a backhoe if not properly installed:

Safety Message

What do you all think about using a BH that mounts on the FEL skid steer quick hitch like this one:

FEL mounted Back Hoe

I see it only has a 110° arc and 6 ft. depth which is not as good as the L3130 BH, but at $3,600 it also costs about half as much as the L4690B.

Thoughts? Comments?

 

[OrangeGuy]

The skid steer mount backhoes are a challenge to operate on a large skid loader (even tougher on a small skid loader). I would believe it would be next to impossible to operate one on a CUT.

OrangeGuy

 

[boustany]

There isn't much about a tractor which is safe. They have loads of ways of hurting or killing yourself, as many farmers have learned. Then again, knowing the equipment means knowing the risks.

A backhoe is a usefull attachment, but the most expensive one. Your choices are Kubota or Woods. I would imagine the Kubota is most expensive. That's what I have because I bought the tractor + loader + backhoe all at once ($$$).

The neat thing about a rear mount hoe is that you often do a mix of FEL and hoe work (i.e use the hoe a bit then use the FEL a bit). And the hoe makes a great counter weight to the FEL (moving heavy stuff is tricky and scarey without lots of weight on the rear) so its a match made in heaven. I wouldn't consider a fron mounted hoe.

Did you get the used 3010?

 

[Rolando]

No, I didn't get the 3010. The timing wasn't quite right; I'm still waiting to close on my property and I don't have a place to put the tractor here (I live in a 1/3 acre subdivision lot right now). More importantly, I found out the guy that was selling it is not a Kubota dealer. He just deals as a broker taking in trade-ins and reselling them. I had assumed he was the Ocala dealer. I'm uneasy with that. When I asked my local 'bota dealer about used tractors, he said he only sold low hour units, no more than 1 or 1.5K. Higher hours he wholesaled off. How come this other guy would be getting units that only had 200 or 300 hours from other dealers? Wouldn't those dealers sell them retail themselves, rather than sell them wholesale to him?

What concerned me about that article on the BH accident was that the person was experienced and while the BH was not properly installed, it still functioned well enough so that they couldn't tell there was a problem until they did something that caused the failure. I would hope that an implement just couldn't function at all if it was not installed correctly.

Brian, you have an L3010 which is the same tractor or same class of tractor that I expect to get. How easy or hard is it to disconnect the BH? I would need to take it off to mow with the Bush Hog. I've been told that the FEL on the L3130 comes off quite easily, but I haven't heard about the BH. While I can leave the FEL on all the time, after the house is built I will need to take the BH off to do the mowing.

 

[boustany]

Removing the hoe is much harder than the FEL, primarily because of alignment. The FEL sort of self aligns, plus you can sort of move it yourself (well, at least I can) to 'bring it in'.

The hoe is way too heavy, so you have to get it right. What really makes a difference is a Back Hoe Dolly, which is basically a tricylce platform on casters. Most of us here who have one made it themselves: its basically a 'T' with wheels.
If you have a dolly and a flat, level concrete surface, you parke the tractor and wheel the hoe into place with the dolly. They you hook up the hydraulics, and Bob's yer uncle.

Still, the hoe is the hardest attachment, in my opinion, except, perhaps my front snowblower, but I only taken that off once.

As for safety, never take safety for granted on a tractor. They can roll and flip if your not careful (or hook things up wrong), and a PTO shaft will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it. Even a small tractor is a heavy, dangerous machine.

Safety interlocks are great, but they can get in the way of function. The lesson of Carver's warning is: make certain you've hooked it up ok. If you learn to get the feel of the machine you get a sense when something bad could happen. Ther reason I got my wife a BX2200 is because she had/has no feel for these things and the BX has a much lower center of gravity (harder to roll/flip) and is a simpler machine.

So the best way to be safe is to make sure you know what your doing and follow the directions.