Experiences with non-Kubota backhoes?

[vic4news]

A nice thing about owning a backhoe is that you end up doing smaller jobs that you would never do if you had to rent one. About 80% of my tractor time is backhoe work.

I have a Woods hoe and it is well made. It does seem to take a least 10 minutes to mount which always surprises me because it looks like it should be easier to line it up with the frame. Then again, I only take it off a couple of times during the year.

With the Woods four point subframe there is also part on the tractor and part on the BH but it is much much shorter (easier to store by about five feet) BUT the lining up process is a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle as all four points need to be lined up simultaneously and you need to insert threaded bolts not tapered pins to hold everything together.

When I mount the Woods hoe, I leave the back angled up so that only a small portion of the frame makes contact with the hoe. Once the bottom lugs are under the frame I lower the stabilizers to raise the hoe and the hoe swings up in an arc and lines up with the top holes so that I can insert the threaded bolts.

Vic

 

[IslandTractor]

When I mount the Woods hoe, I leave the back angled up so that only a small portion of the frame makes contact with the hoe. Once the bottom lugs are under the frame I lower the stabilizers to raise the hoe and the hoe swings up in an arc and lines up with the top holes so that I can insert the threaded bolts.

Vic

Good advice, I'll try that next time. It is certainly easier to work in two dimensions at at time than three.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

the Kubota backhoes are easier on and off on most machines (not on Bx20's). The process is the same, but Kubota's tolerances seem better, same thing happens with loader. The processes are the same, but it will be easier on the Kubota every time. There are some machine where Woods makes mower compatible mower decks that Kubota (or others) don't.

 

[mmurphy]

As far as getting one or not....just look at my avitar pic - pretty cool eh? That could be you

JayC

That there is totally wrong, knock that off Jay!!!

 

[bjw]

As a soon-to-be new Kubota owner I decided to skip out on a Kubota backhoe option because the price puts it way out of my justification range. But there's a fair number of used ones out there that are inexpensive enough to be worth getting. The problem is I can't tell what I need to look for to know if it is "compatible" with my L3240. So two questions:

1. can a 3pt backhoe be used without mounting brackets for light to medium duty digging (i.e. not trying to wrestle boulders or stumps out)?

2. will Kubota's mounting brackets fit John Deere, New Holland, Woods, Bradco, etc. backhoes, or is it far more specific than that?

Any advice welcomed!

Steve

I have had experience both with 3pt and sub-frames with woods backhoes. The sub-frame definately is the way to go because it binds the hoe to the tractor, and it uses the hydraulics from the tractor not an external pump and fluid. From my experience, the sub-frame with internal hydraulics give more force to complete the job. My dad bought a comparible Kubota hoe and it is no where near the Woods hoe based on speed and strength. Hope this helps.

 

[rbargeron]

........I can buy a used Case backhoe from up the road, with cab, that was recently overhauled for just $6000..... I had hoped there was a clever way around the price problem.....

Steve, it's rare to buy the exact right digging machine the first time out. The used Case may be a good option. Using it for some jobs, you'll learn a lot about what they can and can't do, how they maneuver and what style digger you want next. The Case will not depreciate much, using it a year.

BTW, when I was looking for a backhoe attachment for my Kubota the best used ones I found were being sold with a tractor, subframe already installed. So I bought a whole rig like that and sold the extra tractor.

Backhoes are major attachments and the subframes are all unique on both ends. A way around the price problem is swapping for a whole used tractor, already set up with it.

 

[Logginsteve]

Dang, the $3800 Case backhoe I had my eye on was sold before I even saw the ad. There's plenty in the $5000 to $8000 range, but that's getting to run up against rentals being better.

However, I found a used Woods BH6500 for sale with the 3-point hitch setup. It appears to be the Woods Saf-T-Loc system, which is the alternative to the 4 point subframe attachment. This is smaller than I wanted (I would have gone for the BH80), but it's local and fairly priced.

I've done some background checking on the possible damage to the 3 point hitch. I've found the most significant issue is to make sure I'm not overloading the hitch. Seeing as this model was designed for sub-compact tractors with 20hp range power, I'm thinking my L3240 is beefy enough to handle it.

The second thing is there appears to be a lack of hard evidence, when properly sized, of a signifiant risk of damage to the 3-point system. As one poster on this forum put it, stories of damage/destruction hover a little over "urban legend status". Meaning, it's probably not as unfounded as steel tipped boots cutting off your toes from something falling on them (MythBusters did a fantastic show on that one!), but it's close. There's lots of posts with people saying "I heard" and then no real details follow.

With this in mind, I'm throwing the idea out there that the BH6500 will play nicely with my L3240 provided I don't do anything too stupid with it.

2 bits of advice appreciated

Steve

 

[Tom_H]

No way you ever want to go with a 3ph hoe. Many Kubota dealers (including my local dealer) sell Kubota tractors new with Woods backhoes. They're often sitting that way on the lot.

 

[Logginsteve]

I know a 4-point subframe system is superior to 3-point, but lots of guys have posted to this forum saying they have many hours of stump digging under their belts and no problems. The problems I have read about ("breaking in half") either lack cause/effect information or are otherwise too vague to draw conclusions from. Most with detailed info seem to indicate user "abuse". This includes breakages from FEL, plows, and other heavy stress causing attachments.

Sooooo... this begs the question... if there are thousands of 3-point hitch backhoe attachments out there, why are there not thousands of detailed cause/effect examples of backhoes breaking tractors?

A new BH for my tractor is out of the question. Vastly overpriced for what I need. Buying a used BH with correct subframe brackets is practically impossible because the mounts are too specific. I don't want to pay for brackets I can't use. On the other hand, a used BH without brackets may be attractive if the price is low enough that buying the correct subframe attachment is viable. A subframe is around $1000 and I'm sure can be owner installed (the Woods subframe doesn't look too hard to attach). I'm thinking of going this route if the BH6500 available to me can be easily converted from 3-point to 4-point.

Oh, and I just remembered that a Massey-Ferguson states that use of a 3-point backhoe voids their warrantee. Probably the same for Kubota, which of course makes all this talk of 3-point hitches purely academic because I'm not going to void my warrantee to save a few thousand bucks short term.

Steve

 

[magicheater]

I have a Bush Hog brand backhoe. I had to modify the mount to fit my tractor as it was not designed for it. There was just enough wiggle room to git-r-done so I bought it after quizzing the seller about dimensions. Upgraded from a 3PH mount and glad I did although the rear end of my tractor could take all the abuse that little hoe could throw at it. Just wanted to dig a bit deeper and move less often. I am very pleased with the hoe, both in strength and how low I can run the tractor in RPM's and work efficiently. The smaller 3PH hoe had a PTO pump but this one is plumbed through the power beyond off the joystick for my remotes. A backhoe is one attachment that very often can sit for extended periods of time but when you need it, it's great to have.