Woods 6500 pto backhoe

[toddbiss]

I have a Kioti ck20 and my friend is letting me borrow his 3 point hitch backhoe. My machine is a little heavier than his but have heard some people say that the backhoes without the subframe can harm the tractor. Anything I should be concerned about? Just going to dig a few small ditches and a few stumps I couldn't get out with my bucket.

 

[KYErik]

Yes- you can definitely bend/break things without a subframe mount when digging stumps. If the unit has an easily adjustable hydraulic relief valve, turn it down to half the normal pressure. Try to do most of your digging directly behind and in line the tractor rather than off to the side at an angle- otherwise you can put some really strong twisting forces on your 3 point hitch. Digging a straight trench would be pretty safe.

 

[California]

Notes from an occasional BH user -

Don't try to lift/drag the tractor sideways with it like the pros do with a real backhoe or dig far to the side. You'll bend a 3-point arm. That's the only problem I've found in 10 years digging out a few stumps every year. (Photo. And my post describing it).

Don't apply stress that could lift the front wheels off the ground. Without a subframe, on some tractors the bellhousing is the weak point and you could break the tractor in half. I have a good loader subframe that goes clear to the rear axle so I don't think I'm at risk. If in doubt use only the bucket curl to loosen hard material, not the arm cylinders.

And I've read the worst stress is driving too fast on rough ground. That much weight bouncing far behind the tractor can tear the back of the transmission out where the upper link attaches.

I think a 3 point backhoe is a farmer's occasional-use implement, not a production tool.

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Added: here's another task you can accomplish while you temporarily have the neighbor's hoe.