Ct335

[SABULA FARMER]

Ct335 107 hrs, FEL, 8TB backhoe, like new... Make me an offer! Send pm for pics.

[afoster]

Though I'm not actually interested in buying your tractor, I am interested in knowing your thoughts on the 8TB backhoe. I have a CT335 with cab which I quite like and have been toiling with the idea of getting a backhoe for it and I'm just wondering what your experience with this backhoe has been.

[SABULA FARMER]

Though I'm not actually interested in buying your tractor, I am interested in knowing your thoughts on the 8TB backhoe. I have a CT335 with cab which I quite like and have been toiling with the idea of getting a backhoe for it and I'm just wondering what your experience with this backhoe has been.

I'm not really wanting to sell my cat...ha. I posted this as a joke, I know it was a bad one...
The hoe is great so far. It has worked okay for me. I am getting a whine from one of the controllers though. It just started doing that, but I dont think its a problem with it. All in all I am satisfied.

[gullyf]

We have a CT335SST (no cab) with the 8TB backhoe and it has been one of the best luxuries I've ever allowed myself. I've put 100 hours on so far, with probably 99 of those using the backhoe and it has done everything necessary, even in our rocky ground. Its uncovered more than 100 feet of water pipe roughly 6 feet underground, dug boulders out of the garden that the loader could barely lift, dug fence post holes, and planted mums. Just soooo much better than trying to dig around here with a shovel . Not sure I'd try to dig a foundation with it, but it would probably do it as long as I didn't hit ledge.

[afoster]

How easy is it to take backhoe and sub-frame off as well as put it back on when you don't need it on the tractor.

[gullyf]

Haven't done that yet so I can't say, but appears to be pretty simple: just two pins and the whole thing slides off the sub-frame (which remains attached as it is bolted in place). It is self supporting when off. Getting it back on is supposedly a bit harder as you have to get the two pins aligned, but if you search these forums you'll see that a lot of folks have built small dollies to make this a much easier task if you have a hard surface. I don't, so won't help me to do so, but I don't expect to have too much of a problem getting it done as my understanding is that you can use the backhoe itself to shift things as necessary.

I'll be able to tell you more in the spring as it will come off then for tilling, but hopefully someone else who has actually done it will chime in. Bottom line though is that it seems pretty simple regardless, no worse than many other attachments.

[SABULA FARMER]

The backhoe comes off in 2 minutes... Very easy to do. Putting the hoe on is just as easy, but takes a watchful eye, but really simple.
I don't take off the frame for it though, they are torqued to specs and I really don't want to mess with it. I think if you are looking at hoes, you can't go wrong with this one.
S.F.

[Gil Case]

As said, it comes off easy, I take mine off for the winter and put a rear snow blower on. Putting it back on is another story, since in my case the hydraulics slump a little and then the sub frame sticks up in the air. With the sub frame elevated, you cannot back the tractor close enough to use the hydraulic hoses to level the frame. My solution was to make up two four foot hoses, to use as extensions, then you can back up to the sub frame, hook up and level it, then back over it, disconnect the extensions and level with the feet and the bucket.
Turns out I use the four foot hoses to hook up my 3 pt wood splitter, so they have dual use. The splitter goes on for that time of the year between backhoe season and snow blowing season. Now known as hurricane season here on the east coast.

[SABULA FARMER]

As said, it comes off easy, I take mine off for the winter and put a rear snow blower on. Putting it back on is another story, since in my case the hydraulics slump a little and then the sub frame sticks up in the air. With the sub frame elevated, you cannot back the tractor close enough to use the hydraulic hoses to level the frame. My solution was to make up two four foot hoses, to use as extensions, then you can back up to the sub frame, hook up and level it, then back over it, disconnect the extensions and level with the feet and the bucket.
Turns out I use the four foot hoses to hook up my 3 pt wood splitter, so they have dual use. The splitter goes on for that time of the year between backhoe season and snow blowing season. Now known as hurricane season here on the east coast.

Ah yes... I just use my front end loader and press down on the frame and put cribbing under the hoe. Then when I go to put it back on its all set... Easy as pouring a beer!

[DK35vince]

As said, it comes off easy, I take mine off for the winter and put a rear snow blower on. Putting it back on is another story, since in my case the hydraulics slump a little and then the sub frame sticks up in the air. With the sub frame elevated, you cannot back the tractor close enough to use the hydraulic hoses to level the frame.

I put blocking under the hoe when I take it off. The backhoe settles onto the blocking and holds it up so the subframe stays down for easy hookup.