Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor?

   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #1  

glennmac

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2000
Messages
1,591
Location
Western Connecticut
Tractor
2003 Kubota L3430
In the many discussions on the merits of a frame mount vs. a 3ph mount for a backhoe, it is often stated that the 3ph mount can break the "frame" or the "back" or the "rear end" of the tractor. While I intuitively believe that a frame mount has somewhat more structural integrity, I stongly suspect that there is little real evidence of the breaking tractor bogeyman.

Just this weekend, I asked a dealer who has been in continuous business for over 50 years whether he has ever seen such a breakage and he said no. He then went on to say that maybe the reason is that he usually recommends a frame mount when available. So maybe his body of evidence is skewed.

I am interested in ACTUAL EXPERIENCE on these three questions. Not what you have heard someone else say. Not what you heard a dealer say. Not what you have read here. Do you have any personal knowledge of:

1. What exactly it is that actually breaks more often on the 3ph mount than on the frame mount?

2. What hoe maneuver causes such a break?

3. Do you have actual knowledge of of a tractor essentially "broken in half" from hoe usage?

Of course, anything can break from misuse and anything can break very occasionally from normal use. What we are trying to do is get some quantitative verification of the "broken" tractor phenomenon in order to measure the actual level of the supposed risk accompanying the 3ph mount.

If you are an experienced hoe user or tractor user and have never had such an actual experience, that too is valid evidence and is worthwhile to report.
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #2  
Glenn

Glen did a search for 3 ph mount backhoe and found a really nice thread which started a year ago yesterday.
A lot of great info.

3ph backhoes



Derek
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<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Rowski on 06/22/01 06:04 AM (server time).</FONT></P>
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #3  
At our local machine shop they have repaired 5 kubota tractors in the 25 to 30 hp range in the past 3 years. The breakdowns were not caused by backhoe attachments but rather by 3ph logging winches. when the owners were trying to haul logs between 90 and 45 degrees from straight back it was putting stress on the lower lift arm's attachment pin on the rear axle housing. Some of the older smaller kubota's had the pin welded right on the rear axle housing. When the pin broke it was not at the weld but the housing which was tearing a 2 to 3 inch hole where the pin should have been. Some of the newer kubota's are just stripping the threads or breaking the bolt. I have gone and helped to remove one tractor from the woods which broke at this location. I believe the backhoe attachment would cause the same stress at the same locations. please excuse the long reply, just my thoughts on the backhoe stress question.
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #4  
Yes, I know of a person who broke his B-2400 Kubota in half last year while using his 3 ph backhoe. I don't know the particulars, but I know that he was digging in hard ground when it happened. He had it hauled to the dealer and replaced it with a new B21 with a subframe mount hoe
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #5  
glennmac
I am not a backhoe owner (yet/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). I recently discovered a backhoe sitting by the road that a small weld shop had built from scratch.It was a cat2 3ph and really built! No way someone would hurt it type construction.The good ole boy that built it came out and while talking I asked if he made a smaller version for cat1.His reply was while he never had, he felt the top link set up was not heavy enough on a cat1 to handle the stress from the hoe.After talking a bit, he offered if I brought the tractor over, something could be "built".It was headed towards a more permanent hookup and I have not made it back.Looking at the installations on some large (over 100 hp) tractors, I could see the differences.
regards
Mutt
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Kubota actually refers to their 4690 hoe attachment as a "2 point" hitch attachment, although I can't quite understand the terminology. What they do is replace the standard toplink arm with a substantially beefed up arm that then stays on the tractor. You can use this on the Woods 3ph version also. So maybe this reduces or eliminates the risk of ripping out the toplink. That still doesnt seem like or explain the "broken in half" phenomenon that we now seem to have one report of.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by glennmac on 06/23/01 07:59 AM (server time).</FONT></P>
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #7  
That comment on the winch breaking tractors is interesting. I have been using 3pt. winches in our woodlot since 1978 and we always place the winch on the ground when pulling the logs in and only lift it up when skidding the logs out of the bush. Sounds like some operators were not very well educated on how to use a 3pt. winch?
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #8  
It would be interesting to know if the B2400 was equipped with the required reinforcement braces when this breakage occured. Without knowing that, I don't think anything can be concluded.
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #9  
I don't know anything about the circumstances, but I do know he was using equipment that was completely dealer set-up and all Kubota components.
 
   / Can a 3PH Mounted Hoe Break a Tractor? #10  
Any chance you can find out the details?
 
 
 
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