BX22 Backhoe?

[JerryG]

KWentling,
I really think that your digging problem is part of the learning curve. My backhoe is larger but, I dig in in hard clay with lots of flint rock. Pay close attention to your manual for the backhoe. It should tell you how to angle your teeth and or the bottom of the bucket. Then try it again. Sometimes learning to operate a backhoe can be trying, but it will be rewarding in the end. Good Luck

 

[kcook]

I have seen larger Case back hoes have trouble as well!

KCook

 

[KWentling]

I have no doubt that me being rusty with a hoe contributes, but I do have a fair amount of operating time on John Deere hoes and owned a 3-point hoe on an International 2444 for a few years which I dug seral hundred feet of trench for water and septic lines. The Ex has it now. After having slept on it, I may go ahead and keep it. It is about as dry here as I've ever seen it and there is NO subsoil moisture, period. This is probably the worst case senerio. I dug post holes with the Case (converted to hydraulic drive and mounterd on loader so I can push it into the ground) and had to wet the hole after it was dug so I could get the flour out of the hole. Wasn't enough moisture to get the dirt to stick together to get it out of the hole. And yes, I suspect any hoe might have tough going in this. Probably the only digging I couldn't get done that I had planned is water lines, and that would be best done with a trencher anyway. Next spring after freezing and hopefully getting some moisture it would probably do much better. Do you think a 10" bucket would be enough smaller to make a difference? I guess I'll go play a little more.

 

[manganos]

I only have the 10" bucket and it is ripping though some tough hard clay just fine. I'm in south-central VA and we are in a serious drought. I dug around 350 ft for a trench a couple of weeks ago and just got in from taking about 300 foot by 4 foot of topsoil off the front yard to make room for a new sidewalk. I'll post pics when I'm done in the projects forum.

 

[dcollie]

Yep, I opted for the 10" bucket as well, figuring it could go at it a bit harder with less surface area to move.

I've no trouble digging in our hardpack Virginia clay, but I can't get it in one scoop. If that's what you are trying to do (go to the bottom of your digging depth in one pull of the levers) then the BX22 is not going to do it.

If I want to dig a trench the width of the bucket (10") and as far as I can reach/extend without picking up the stabilizers and moving the tractor, I'd estimate it takes about a dozen scoops with the backhoe to move about 7' feet of trench at a depth of 2 feet or so. Some of that is due to the physical capacity of the bucket to move the spoil.

Weight of the tractor itself is another issue. When the ground is really hard, like it is this summer, then the backhoe can actually PULL the entire tractor to the trench several inches. I've got the FEL dug in with the toothbar in the dirt, and the stabilizers well-positioned, it can just overpower the 1500 lb. of the BX22.

For that reason, small bites are best. One of our members mentioned a 'scraping' action and that works real well on the backhoe. You strip away layers rather than going for one big bite.

-Duane C.

 

[KWentling]

Duane: I was the one who said I was using a scraping technique. Thats the only way I was making any progress. I also noticed that the hoe overpowers the weight of the tractor. I don't have a tooth bar on the FEL and the hoe will drag the tractor around. I went back out and had the same experience. I was over optimistic when I said I got three feet deep, more like two. Seems like there is a layer that I just can't get through. Can't even get the bucket teeth to penetrate it. I've tried all kinds of tooth angles. It's not rock because it's just a few feet from where the septic was dug last summer and there was no rock anywhere. This is the hardest stuff I've ever seen that wasn't rock. I'm telling you, Wyoming has some tough clay!

 

[Kodiak]

I would suggest curling your loader bucket into a full dump position to keep the hoe from dragging the tractor around.

 

[Steven]

I think you may just need some more practice. I have found that if I do not extend the back hoe out to far and open the curl all the way out and start to dig, keeping some down force on the bucket and just curl the bucket I can almost always burry the bucket every time. this seems to keep the force pulling down and not backwards. If I remember I think the most force is durring the curl of the bucket and not pulling the backhoe towards you. so if you can keep the force pulling down and not backwards you may have better luck. but I have not had to dig in that hard clay, Just remember it sure is a lot easer on the back than trying to use a shovel.

 

[ChrisNJ]

IMO. I was able to rent a BX22 before making my decision on a tractor purchase and found the backhoe was not capable of doing what I expected of it. (small stumps, rocks, etc...) Or should I say I was not wiling to work it to death to get the job done. Ended up with a JD4310, much more capable machine but at a price.

 

[KWentling]

I appreciate all you guy's comments and suggestions. Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm guessing that between my employment with the county road and bridge (25 years ago) and then owning the 3-point hoe for about 2 years, plus having rented hoes a few other times, I probably have more hours on hoes than most here, but I admit being rusty. The biggest share of my experience was at the county R&B replacing culverts, cleaning ditches, bridge work, etc. So it's been some time ago. I had a very good teacher. The best man on a hoe I have ever seen to this day. I don't believe anyone has offered any suggestions that I hadn't already tried. I know from experience that the entry angle of the bucket teeth and the curling motion, if done correctly, can make a huge difference in the ease of digging. My problem is I can't get the bucket teeth to even penetrate after I get down about so far. I think if the tractor weighed a bit more it would help. For now I'll just limit my projects to working in the fill dirt where the digging will be easy, and save the rest for next spring.

Kim