Backhoe Modified Brantly (Kubota) 629 Backhoe - Is It Safe To Use?

[mondaymorn]

Me Again! I called a local Kubota shop to see if I could find stabilizing brackets and a heavy duty top link per the suggestions I received here on TractorByNet. I have a Kubota K629 which was manufactured by Brantly as a chassis mount backhoe for the B7100. I have a B8200. SO... the unit I own is 3PT... Brantly didn't make them in 3 point, so it has been modified (see picture). I am wondering if it is safe for me to use this implement? It appears that someone added the 3pt frame and the seat you see in the picture; however, the lower 3pt pins seem much closer together than my other implements. Would a heavy duty top link suffice to use this? It looks like the weight of the backhoe is displaced pretty far from the back of the tractor... will that increase the odds of cracking my PTO casing? This thing works great and thatnks to some members the pump mounts up great... I just worried I am going to break my tractor or my neck if I use it! Any and all comments and advise are GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Grandad4]

It's not so much the weight of the backhoe that stresses the tractor... it probably weighs, what, 1,000 lbs? The issue is that every time you dig in and curl the bucket or crowd the dipper (bring it in toward the tractor) in the ground, whatever force the backhoe applies is also exerting an equal tug through the top link to the back of the tractor (If you took high school physics, it's that "equal and opposite force" thing). If it's applying 3,000 lbs of force (common for even a small backhoe), that's what is hitting the tractor with every scoop taken.

If you're digging in loose sand, at one extreme, there's no resistance so it wouldn't be much of an issue. But if you're digging roots and rocks out of hard ground, hard digging, the toplink and the rear end of the tractor are going to get a workout. If it were my backhoe and tractor, I would for sure get the toplink mount reinforced so I wouldn't have to worry about it.