Backhoe Added a ripper to my Woods BH90x: Trees beware

[wedge40]

Thanks for the photos IslandTractor I have one for my chinese BH and may add the back plate to see if it works better. What I found, is without the back plate you can not pry with the tooth, becasue it will just sink into the soil.
Also I've looked at the brochures for the Woods BH and for some reason they dont list the weight of the machine. I know it can vary with different buckets and such, but even ball part figures would be nice.

Wedge

[IslandTractor]

Wedge I don't have an official weight for the 90x but I'd guess a ton +/- 200lbs.

I did not have any trouble with the ripper digging it's back in. Not sure if that is the backplate or the lever point provided by the folded thumb. It might be either depending how far I had the dipper extended. Up close maybe the backplate was more important but with max reach I did notice that the thumb played a role as it prevented the hoe from being pulled further down into the soil.

[J_J]

IslandTractor,

Nice build. If you were to add a 2 in tooth on the backside, or front side, with a carbide lip on it, I think it would increase you ability. If the thumb is sitting on the ground, it will give you the full ripping force of the ripper cylinder, by bracing the boom. A flat plate on the bottom of the thumb would keep the thumb from sinking into the ground,

[IslandTractor]

Thanks JJ. All credit for the nice fabrication goes to Michigan Iron.

Where would you put another tooth? I understand one on the backside. Where on the front?

As noted earlier I haven't noted any problem with the ripper pulling itself into the ground and the ripper backplate and thumb probably are in some combination responsible. The thumb is big and wide enough that no modifications seem necessary.

[TNhobbyfarmer]

This is probably off the subject a bit, but I got to thinking about our forefathers who cleared most of the eastern US using axes, hand saws, etc. And those weren't 6-12" trees either, mostly old growth forest. Those people were tough and hard working to say the least. A BH with a ripper would have made life much easier for them.

Anyway, nice design Island. I'm like one of the previous posters. I'd like to have one, but I need a BH first.

[kattywumpus]

I just submitted my order with Bob! Root Ripper for Halloween, maybe.

[kattywumpus]

This is probably off the subject a bit, but I got to thinking about our forefathers who cleared most of the eastern US using axes, hand saws, etc. And those weren't 6-12" trees either, mostly old growth forest. Those people were tough and hard working to say the least. A BH with a ripper would have made life much easier for them.

That's why farm families were large. If a son was bad he was sent to dig out a stump. A few sons in the family guaranteed all the stumps were cleared out in a few years. Heard this from my great grand father many years ago, I think I was being bad at that moment. Sounds like a better deal for the father then a ripper.

[nickel plate]

I also have a Woods BH90-X with the hydraulic thumb. Do you think the ripper tooth with the aid of the back plate would be able to cut a usable trench say 16" deep to lay an 1-1/2" irrigation line for a few hundred yards? Not looking for pretty and I don't mind a some hand work but if it can do that job, I can spend my alloted 12" bucket money and buy the ripper tooth instead as I also have about thirty 6"-12" oaks to remove for our new homesite. If you can, please give it a try. Thanks for the PMs and good job, Island.

[IslandTractor]

I also have a Woods BH90-X with the hydraulic thumb. Do you think the ripper tooth with the aid of the back plate would be able to cut a usable trench say 16" deep to lay an 1-1/2" irrigation line for a few hundred yards? .

No problem. Get someone to drive the tractor while you run the BH/ripper and it might take you one easy afternoon.

I'm trying to estimate how many feet per minute of shallow trench. The limiting factor really would be moving the tractor. The ripper can do a 16 inch deep slice in one or two passes so maybe thirty seconds per six to eight feet of ground. Something like that. You can see that hopping on and off the BH to reposition would take more time than the trenching. You might need to rake out some spoils but the cut to 16" would be very fast.

[dfkrug]

Wedge I don't have an official weight for the 90x but I'd guess a ton +/- 200lbs.

You can deduce the BH90-X weight from the ops manual: the weight
of the hoe + bucket + 3-pt hitch + pump reservoir is 1400#. The
subframe version with tractor hydraulics should be a bit more, maybe 1500#.