Price on a used Woods 9000 BH

[AndyR]

I've been thinking about rounding out "the big buy" with a Woods 9000 backhoe. New ones are $7300 (with PTO pump) and $6500 without - my choice of buckets.

My dealer just got a trade-in machine with a supposedly low-time 9000 on it (with pump) for $5800. It's been outside a while (paint isn't as pretty as my new 'bota) but dealer claims is tight and they seem very comfortable with it. Beyond some surface rust and scrapes it looks sound (original teeth on 16" bucket). I like the savings though I admittedly buy new when I can to avoid other peoples problems. Price includes picking up my tractor, installation and delivery.

Does this seem like a fair price to you folks?

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

 

[RMulkey]

Hi Andy,

The price sounds OK depending on how hard the machine has been worked. Paint is not a big deal since they get pretty scratched up when you dig deep trenches. I bought a new Woods 9000 BH in Sept 1999. Paid $8500 with a 24" bucket. FYI// The larger buckets cost more money, so the dealer recommended that I have them include the 24" bucket in the price and buy a separate 12" bucket for $498. A great way to sell more buckets, but I needed both anyway.

The BH digs well and works reasonably fast for everything I would ever do with it. I use it only on my own property and for helping friends. If you haven't done so already, I strongly recommend that you have your rear tires filled with ballast for extra weight. I use mine with a Kubota L4310, and the backhoe can easily lift the rear of the tractor off the ground or pull the machine around. It takes about 10 minutes to install. You need to remove the 3PH arms and top link and install a mounting bracket in place of the lower links.

To be clear, it does not compare to a full size backhoe (5100lb of breakout force vs. 15000Lb for a backhoe), but it digs to 9' deep and to me the hole looks just like a hole from a bigger machine./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Anything more intense and I rent a backhoe or excavator.

I have had good luck with mine with only one real problem. The black paint on the boom cylinder extended too far down on the shaft and ruined a seal. The paint was entering the cylinder instead of stopping before the seals when the cylinder was collapsed. This happened at about 50hours of use. A new seal, and a little paint removal, and things are working great.

I also thought I had a problem with the BH overheating after several hours of digging 8' deep, 12" wide trenches, but I called woods and they said it was hot but OK. This was really working the machine hard, maybe a little too hard. I originally thought this is what caused the seal to fail. I have about 75hours on mine and am very happy.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[AndyR]

Thanks! I went back to the dealer to look at it again ('am getting it) and ended up talking with some of the mechanics. Nothing but good news - especially when I looked at the L3600 it was purchased with 2 years ago and the tractor has only 10 hours on it/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif With rocks being our best crop up here and some pretty dense soils I was only headed for an 18" bucket but the 16 on this one should be just fine. This hoe basically has had enough use to scrape the paint and settle-in the system. Thanks for the tip on the paint and seals.

Now I just have to be patient with mud season - but it beats pushing snow/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

 

[Thomas]

By the sounds Andy your have a plan in the making.
Lets see here..new Kubota w/fel&winch and now a backhoe on the way,could there be a little moon lighting jobs on the side. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Just interested in the dealer that you do business with?
Rock crops /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gifyep thats one of the reason were call the granite state. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Lets just hope mud season not as bad as the last couple of months for the snow fall season.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[MarkV]

Andy, Just a side note. You might want to think about a tooth bar for your loader. My little B21 backhoe would drag the tractor around and I found that the tooth bar did a lot to keep the tractor where I wanted it.

MarkV

 

[AndyR]

Mark: I had been thinking of a tooth bar anyway as I have quite a bit of dirt to rearrange /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thomas: I like to keep my options open (as in branching out to tractor work and timber framing). Actually, the two areas compliment each other nicely - one of these days I will need to get a bigger truck and a proper trailer - but that will have to wait a while as I have to rebuild the savings account.

The dealer I am working with is Chappell Tractor in Milford. I shopped among a few and found that their prices were very competitive, as well as being only 10 miles away. B-B Chain has a showroom in the same building so its one-stop shopping for all the goodies.

Later today I plan on putting up a few posts (Stupid Human Tricks - or why you shouldn't try to move 1000 lb. timbers without the tractor, and a projects post on the beam work I am doing (aided by the 'bota of course). Right now it's major ouch time and no tractor time /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

 

[Jag]

AR, sorry to be so slow on the post. The backhoe should be a great buy, and with the pick up and delivery from a dealer you know and like. I have found anything that the dealer I do business will stand behined is good to go. I am not sure how much of the Kubota backhoes are made by Woods, there has been some talk on the board about this, but I do know that my orange TBL has Woods buckets on each end. Also that all the bolts are SAE (inches) and not metric except where the bracket bolts in to a part of the tractors frame... One point I feel you should think about is ballast... The best I have found is two big chunckes of tree that go about 500# total in the FEL. This weight is easy off on. I keep them on a small bank just off my driveway. To load just roll them down hill into the bucket, unload go to the bottom of the bank and slowly dump the bucket, ready for next time I need them. A plus is that setting at the far end of the tractor from the backhoe and stablizers pads they really anchor the thing in place. And the are not on the tractor when I need to work in the yard or in soft ground.