RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8,388
- Location
- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
I'd played around enough with the little Nardi backhoe to know that the way it mounted to the tractor wasn't rigid or rugged enough for the trenching job that was planned for next week. Way too much side to side flex along with groaning noises that just didn't sound healthy for the tractor. I'd seen mounts made by others here, and while it didn't look impossible, it did look time consuming. I'd talked at length with Rob Liefveld, and even visited him once to see his Nardi setup, and that was a tremendous help. But instead of worrying about how it might go, I decided to dive in and get'er done.
Work started with a few measurements to get an idea of what links would be needed and how much material it would take. A shop called All Metals just south of Oroville proved to be a treasure trove of remainders and new stuff, and soon I had 10' lengths of 5/8" x 2 1/2" bar and 1/4" x 2" x 3" heavy wall tube laying on the garage floor. Next I blocked up the backhoe in back of the tractor and shoved it around and shimmed it so it was level and centered behind the tractor's 3 point mount.
More detailed measurements showed that a pair of brackets under the axel would line up almost perfectly with the lower 3 point mounts on the backhoe, with just enough space for the 2" width of the rectangular tube.
The top 3 point mount on the backhoe was pretty solid, but it was located far to the rear of the 'hoe. That would mean a long length of bar going forward, then angling out to meet up with a new bracket I'd weld to the Roll Over Protection System (ROPS). I figured if the ROPS was strong enough to keep the tractor from turning turtle, it would be strong enough to keep the backhoe in line. I made top and side view sketches with rough dimensions that would be adjusted to fit as fabrication progressed.
The bottom links were the first to be made. I turned up some 2" diameter spacers to fit inside the tube to keep the walls from collapsing where the bolts would go through. Since I couldn't reach far enough into the tube with a band sander to flatten the back side of the tube seam weld, I also cut a groove across the face of one end of each of the spacers. Then I welded the spacers into place inside of the tube. At that point I could drill through both the tube and spacer and have a nice smooth walled hole. The digital read out on the mill made accurate positioning of the holes possible, good to just a couple thousandths of an inch.
Next I removed the lower brackets from the tractor to which the links would mount and drilled two holes in each of them to match the holes at the back of the links. Even though I took extra care in measuring the hole locations, when I tried to mount the links to the brackets the bolts wouldn't line up. That's when I noticed that one of the long bolts that attached the bracket to the tractor was sticking out a little too far, keeping the link from moving high enough to align with the hole. Every thing lined up just fine after the bolt was shortened, but mounting and dismounting the brackets and drilling all those holes still took a couple of long days. At 3/4" each in diameter, that's a lot of steel to turn into chips. The bolts holding the brackets to the tractor were very hard to reach, another time consuming detour. Thank goodness for impact wrenches, as there was just no room to swing a conventional wrench or socket!
With the lower links bolted in position it was time to start on the upper links. My first sketches showed the links running parallel to the ground from the backhoe mount and then angling out and up to the ROPS. I found some pine the same size as the steel bar and decided to mock up the first bar, as cutting pine is a lot faster than cutting steel, and it was a lot cheaper if I screwed up. I quickly found out that I wasn't smart enough to calculate the correct compound angle to make the second part of the link bend both out and up, so settled on just making it bend out. I figured that if the arrangement wasn't strong enough, I could add another set of links that connected higher on the backhoe and hit the ROPS higher too. So I finished up the pine mockup and used the dimensions to duplicate the parts in steel, tack welding the pieces together and tweaking them to fit as I went along. When i had the link all tacked together I bolted the ROPS mounting bracket to it, held the assembly up to the ROPS, and tacked the mounting eye in place. Then everything got disassembled and finish welded. I started off using the stick welder, but quickly learned that I was long out of practice for the out of position welds that would be needed for the ROPS eyes. So I switched over to the wire feed welder, turned the dials all the way up, and made a series of overlapping spots, letting each one freeze before moving to the next spot in the joint. Not real professional, but I ended up with strong welds with a minimum of metal in my boots. With both links completed a trial fit showed that only a little bit of misalignment existed and tightening the mounting bolts brought everything together perfectly. To finish the top links I turned two spacers that fit between the bars in the section where they paralleled each other. Bolts through the spacers would add lateral stiffness to the setup.
With all four links in place it was time for a smoke check, so I fired up the tractor and deployed the outriggers on the 'hoe. The first thing I noticed is that the hoe moved a up a little bit as the pads on the outriggers touched down, then the back of the tractor started coming up. At that point the old 3 point mount would have been moaning and groaning and the backhoe seat would have been hitting the ROPS bar as the backhoe pivoted back into the tractor. I also noticed that the outriggers wouldn't deploy far enough to lift the tractor tires all the way off the ground, and I remembered the extensions that Rob had fabricated for the outrigger pads. That might be another job for the future, but I'm hoping I won't need it. Next I used the backhoe arm to push the bucket down into the ground. This time both the 'hoe and the tractor moved up, enough so that the wheels were off the ground. No weird noises resulted, and everything seemed nice and solid. The last test was to raise the backhoe and quickly slew the bucket from side to side. Very little slop was present, a major improvement from the old 3 point mount. I felt like I had gotten away with something, and that the extra set of links wouldn't be needed after all.
To make the backhoe easier to mount and dismount I'd need to cut the lower links short enough so that the pieces that stayed bolted to the tractor wouldn't interfere with the lower arms of the 3 point hitch when they droped low enough to engage other implements. Then I'd have to come up with some sort of joint to connect them back together. Again Rob had already figured out how to do that, so I just copied his idea. It involved a plug in the end of each tube that would engage the open end of the mating link, and a cross drilled hole through which a pin would pass to keep the two together. I didn't have a steel bar thick enough for the plug, but two pieces of the 5/8" bar stacked with a 1/4" piece would do the trick. Once stacked I welded them together, then cut 1 1/8" diameter holes in the side of the tube ends to weld the plugs in place.
I'd already been using the mill to drill the holes, and I took advantage of the setup to just mill off the extra weld metal above the face of the tube. Much easier than grinding it off; I spend way too much time grinding my welds as it is!
The plugs were finished up by milling facets onto the end that would guide the tubes into alignment as the tractor moved back to the 'hoe. I used those little angle magnets sold at Harbor Freight for gauges, and just clamped the plugs into the milling vise with one plug at each end to keep from springing he jaws. It turned out to be a pretty solid setup and I was able to take 0.075" cuts pretty easily.
The last step was to assemble the tubes and match drill the hole for the connecting pin. Instead of just drilling the hole, I used a boring head to keep the diameter very close to the pin size. It worked out very well, with the first couple of times putting the pin through needing a mallet to drift the pin home. To finish I had to cut the pin length down and redrill the hole for the keeper, two simple tasks for the lathe and mill.
Much to my relief, on reassembly everything still fit together and provided the same degree of rigidity and strength. I found that Rustoleum gray was a pretty good match for the Kubota paint at a fraction of the cost, and that Tractor Supply sells orange paint that matches the Kubota and Nardi color almost perfectly. Good thing, too, as I had to cut an access port into the side of the hackhoe leg guards so that a longer bolt could be installed at the rear of the top links. Thank Dog for plasma cutters!
To prop the backhoe up when it's off the tractor I made a little stand from left over steel tube and scraps from my friend Louis' garage. Took about an hour to knock together and holds the 'hoe at just the right height to get the lower arms connected.
So with the backhoe was ready to go I thought I'd try a little trench to see how it worked. I was hoping to follow a shallow drainage ditch that already runs parallel to the driveway, but after just two scoops I hit solid rock less than a foot below the surface. Oops: I'd need at least eighteen inches for the trench. Looks like I'll end up a few feet from the edge of the driveway where there's more soil, but it'll be a little tougher getting the tractor in there, especially up in the narrower sections of the easement onto my neighbor's property. We're already planning to clear that section with a bull dozer, so the extra work shouldn't be a problem.
Here's a hearty Thanks! to Rob and the others here that have made their own mounts! I'd have never tried it without your insights and encouragement!
Work started with a few measurements to get an idea of what links would be needed and how much material it would take. A shop called All Metals just south of Oroville proved to be a treasure trove of remainders and new stuff, and soon I had 10' lengths of 5/8" x 2 1/2" bar and 1/4" x 2" x 3" heavy wall tube laying on the garage floor. Next I blocked up the backhoe in back of the tractor and shoved it around and shimmed it so it was level and centered behind the tractor's 3 point mount.
More detailed measurements showed that a pair of brackets under the axel would line up almost perfectly with the lower 3 point mounts on the backhoe, with just enough space for the 2" width of the rectangular tube.
The top 3 point mount on the backhoe was pretty solid, but it was located far to the rear of the 'hoe. That would mean a long length of bar going forward, then angling out to meet up with a new bracket I'd weld to the Roll Over Protection System (ROPS). I figured if the ROPS was strong enough to keep the tractor from turning turtle, it would be strong enough to keep the backhoe in line. I made top and side view sketches with rough dimensions that would be adjusted to fit as fabrication progressed.
The bottom links were the first to be made. I turned up some 2" diameter spacers to fit inside the tube to keep the walls from collapsing where the bolts would go through. Since I couldn't reach far enough into the tube with a band sander to flatten the back side of the tube seam weld, I also cut a groove across the face of one end of each of the spacers. Then I welded the spacers into place inside of the tube. At that point I could drill through both the tube and spacer and have a nice smooth walled hole. The digital read out on the mill made accurate positioning of the holes possible, good to just a couple thousandths of an inch.
Next I removed the lower brackets from the tractor to which the links would mount and drilled two holes in each of them to match the holes at the back of the links. Even though I took extra care in measuring the hole locations, when I tried to mount the links to the brackets the bolts wouldn't line up. That's when I noticed that one of the long bolts that attached the bracket to the tractor was sticking out a little too far, keeping the link from moving high enough to align with the hole. Every thing lined up just fine after the bolt was shortened, but mounting and dismounting the brackets and drilling all those holes still took a couple of long days. At 3/4" each in diameter, that's a lot of steel to turn into chips. The bolts holding the brackets to the tractor were very hard to reach, another time consuming detour. Thank goodness for impact wrenches, as there was just no room to swing a conventional wrench or socket!
With the lower links bolted in position it was time to start on the upper links. My first sketches showed the links running parallel to the ground from the backhoe mount and then angling out and up to the ROPS. I found some pine the same size as the steel bar and decided to mock up the first bar, as cutting pine is a lot faster than cutting steel, and it was a lot cheaper if I screwed up. I quickly found out that I wasn't smart enough to calculate the correct compound angle to make the second part of the link bend both out and up, so settled on just making it bend out. I figured that if the arrangement wasn't strong enough, I could add another set of links that connected higher on the backhoe and hit the ROPS higher too. So I finished up the pine mockup and used the dimensions to duplicate the parts in steel, tack welding the pieces together and tweaking them to fit as I went along. When i had the link all tacked together I bolted the ROPS mounting bracket to it, held the assembly up to the ROPS, and tacked the mounting eye in place. Then everything got disassembled and finish welded. I started off using the stick welder, but quickly learned that I was long out of practice for the out of position welds that would be needed for the ROPS eyes. So I switched over to the wire feed welder, turned the dials all the way up, and made a series of overlapping spots, letting each one freeze before moving to the next spot in the joint. Not real professional, but I ended up with strong welds with a minimum of metal in my boots. With both links completed a trial fit showed that only a little bit of misalignment existed and tightening the mounting bolts brought everything together perfectly. To finish the top links I turned two spacers that fit between the bars in the section where they paralleled each other. Bolts through the spacers would add lateral stiffness to the setup.
With all four links in place it was time for a smoke check, so I fired up the tractor and deployed the outriggers on the 'hoe. The first thing I noticed is that the hoe moved a up a little bit as the pads on the outriggers touched down, then the back of the tractor started coming up. At that point the old 3 point mount would have been moaning and groaning and the backhoe seat would have been hitting the ROPS bar as the backhoe pivoted back into the tractor. I also noticed that the outriggers wouldn't deploy far enough to lift the tractor tires all the way off the ground, and I remembered the extensions that Rob had fabricated for the outrigger pads. That might be another job for the future, but I'm hoping I won't need it. Next I used the backhoe arm to push the bucket down into the ground. This time both the 'hoe and the tractor moved up, enough so that the wheels were off the ground. No weird noises resulted, and everything seemed nice and solid. The last test was to raise the backhoe and quickly slew the bucket from side to side. Very little slop was present, a major improvement from the old 3 point mount. I felt like I had gotten away with something, and that the extra set of links wouldn't be needed after all.
To make the backhoe easier to mount and dismount I'd need to cut the lower links short enough so that the pieces that stayed bolted to the tractor wouldn't interfere with the lower arms of the 3 point hitch when they droped low enough to engage other implements. Then I'd have to come up with some sort of joint to connect them back together. Again Rob had already figured out how to do that, so I just copied his idea. It involved a plug in the end of each tube that would engage the open end of the mating link, and a cross drilled hole through which a pin would pass to keep the two together. I didn't have a steel bar thick enough for the plug, but two pieces of the 5/8" bar stacked with a 1/4" piece would do the trick. Once stacked I welded them together, then cut 1 1/8" diameter holes in the side of the tube ends to weld the plugs in place.
I'd already been using the mill to drill the holes, and I took advantage of the setup to just mill off the extra weld metal above the face of the tube. Much easier than grinding it off; I spend way too much time grinding my welds as it is!
The plugs were finished up by milling facets onto the end that would guide the tubes into alignment as the tractor moved back to the 'hoe. I used those little angle magnets sold at Harbor Freight for gauges, and just clamped the plugs into the milling vise with one plug at each end to keep from springing he jaws. It turned out to be a pretty solid setup and I was able to take 0.075" cuts pretty easily.
The last step was to assemble the tubes and match drill the hole for the connecting pin. Instead of just drilling the hole, I used a boring head to keep the diameter very close to the pin size. It worked out very well, with the first couple of times putting the pin through needing a mallet to drift the pin home. To finish I had to cut the pin length down and redrill the hole for the keeper, two simple tasks for the lathe and mill.
Much to my relief, on reassembly everything still fit together and provided the same degree of rigidity and strength. I found that Rustoleum gray was a pretty good match for the Kubota paint at a fraction of the cost, and that Tractor Supply sells orange paint that matches the Kubota and Nardi color almost perfectly. Good thing, too, as I had to cut an access port into the side of the hackhoe leg guards so that a longer bolt could be installed at the rear of the top links. Thank Dog for plasma cutters!
To prop the backhoe up when it's off the tractor I made a little stand from left over steel tube and scraps from my friend Louis' garage. Took about an hour to knock together and holds the 'hoe at just the right height to get the lower arms connected.
So with the backhoe was ready to go I thought I'd try a little trench to see how it worked. I was hoping to follow a shallow drainage ditch that already runs parallel to the driveway, but after just two scoops I hit solid rock less than a foot below the surface. Oops: I'd need at least eighteen inches for the trench. Looks like I'll end up a few feet from the edge of the driveway where there's more soil, but it'll be a little tougher getting the tractor in there, especially up in the narrower sections of the easement onto my neighbor's property. We're already planning to clear that section with a bull dozer, so the extra work shouldn't be a problem.
Here's a hearty Thanks! to Rob and the others here that have made their own mounts! I'd have never tried it without your insights and encouragement!
