Backhoe How similar are the BH77 hoe & the B26 hoe?

[jim_wilson]

I'm wondering if anybody knows the answer to this question.

Would the quick attach backhoe bucket setup from a B26 backhoe - fit on a BH77 backhoe (on a B or L series tractor)? And would the hydraulic thumb setup from a B26 hoe - work on the BH77 backhoe.

I'm thinking of buying either a B or an L series tractor - with the BH77 backhoe - and I would LOVE to have quick attach capability on the hoe so I can change buckets, put on a ripper - a grapple like setup, etc.

I did some searching and found a couple of bucket manufacturers that have bucket models listed as working on the BH76 (predecessor to the BH77 hoe) and the hoe for the B26. So I am thinking this means that these two backhoes are very similar and possibly take the same buckets.

I'm thinking this might mean that the quick attach for the B26 might work on the BH77 backhoe. In the Build Your Kubota configurator - the quick attach buckets for the B26 hoe are less expensive than the pin-on "standard" buckets.

Somebody out there has to know if the buckets are the same. My dealer has a B26 on the lot - but no BH77 backhoes. There's another dealer that might have something on their lot - I won't have a chance to make that trip for another week or so.

 

[Verticaltrx]

I don't think they would interchange. The BH76/77 use the same buckets that the older B21 used, whereas the B26 uses a newer design. I haven't measured them, but the part numbers are different for any given bucket.

 

[jim_wilson]

Did the B21 have a quick attach backhoe bucket option? Maybe that would work.

Might be hard for me to find the parts though since they're out of production.

This place has buckets listed - and says that the same bucket is applicable to the B20, B21, BH75 and BH76. But doesn't list the B26 or BH77.

Hy-Gear Backhoe Buckets for Kubota

 

[lhansman]

Quick attach was not an option for the B21 hoe. I traded my B21 for a B26 after six years and loved the QA hoe option on the B26. Changing buckets on the B21 was a 30 - 45 minute pain in the you know where but with the B26 QA it is a 5 - 10 minute process requiring no tools and no grease!

The BH77 looks to be very similar to the B26 hoe but the B26 hoe comes with the thumb mount welded in place whereas I think the only thumb option from Kubota for the BH77 is mechanical.

I just traded my B26 for an L45 and I paid to have the hoe switched over to QA. Maybe you can purchase the QA option for the B26 and adapt it to the BH77 but you would have to check pin sizes and spacing. The B26 QA for the hoe is a great setup in my opinion - no tools required. On the L45 you have to remove a bolt and then drive out the wedge so now I need to travel with a hammer and 1-1/8" wrench!

Regards,

Lauren

 

[jim_wilson]

Quick attach was not an option for the B21 hoe. I traded my B21 for a B26 after six years and loved the QA hoe option on the B26. Changing buckets on the B21 was a 30 - 45 minute pain in the you know where but with the B26 QA it is a 5 - 10 minute process requiring no tools and no grease!

The BH77 looks to be very similar to the B26 hoe but the B26 hoe comes with the thumb mount welded in place whereas I think the only thumb option from Kubota for the BH77 is mechanical.

I just traded my B26 for an L45 and I paid to have the hoe switched over to QA. Maybe you can purchase the QA option for the B26 and adapt it to the BH77 but you would have to check pin sizes and spacing. The B26 QA for the hoe is a great setup in my opinion - no tools required. On the L45 you have to remove a bolt and then drive out the wedge so now I need to travel with a hammer and 1-1/8" wrench!

Regards,

Lauren

My dealer had a B26 on the lot a week or so, I went back last night with a tape and ruler in hand intending on making some measurements - and it's gone. Must have been a customer unit that sold.
They also don't have any BH77 hoes anywhere - so I can't measure that one.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to trek up to another one of the Kubota dealers that is close to me and see if they have a B26 on the lot - and (hopefully if they have one) - take some measurements on the bucket end of the dipperstick to see if the pin spacing, diameter, etc. all would potentially match up to the dimensions on the BH77.

One of the things I learned with cars is that manufacturers very often re-use parts if they can for different products. The backhoe on the B26 - and the BH77 backhoe look very similar to each other - and their dimensions are very similar. I'm hoping that an engineer at Kubota decided to design things in such a way that certain parts (the one's on the end of the dipperstick) - were used on the B26 hoe and the BH77.

If they're the same - it makes putting a QA bucket on the BH77 a simple parts swap exercise. The hardest part is going to be finding some tractors with hoe's I can take measurements from.

 

[radair]

...The hardest part is going to be finding some tractors with hoe's I can take measurements from.

Jim - I have a BH77 and can take measurements if you let me know what you need.

 

[jim_wilson]

Jim - I have a BH77 and can take measurements if you let me know what you need.

Awesome. Thanks. I've attached some pictures to show the dimensions I'm looking for.

I tried to separate them out to make it easier to follow - and put a big letter on each for reference. The pics are taken were borrowed from pics posted by a fellow member here of his B26. They were the best ones I could find to illustrate the dimensions I want to compare.

Picture A: distance between the center points of the two pins on the actual quick attach - on the BH77 bucket it would be the two pins that attach the bucket to the dipperstick

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/DimAdistance_between-QApins.jpg

Picture B: distance between the upper mounting point of the thumb cylinder - or extension bar in the case of the BH77 - and the bucket pivot point on the dipperstick

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/QA-bucket-dimensionB.jpg


Picture C: distance between the center points on the two pins on the pivot arm

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/dimensionC-pivotarm.jpg


Picture D & E: distance between the center points of the upper connecting arm ( D ) - and the bucket pivot point and the extension arm pin on the dipperstick ( E ).

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/dimensionD-E-arms.jpg



Picture F: I couldn't find anything that was very clear - but basically what I need is the WIDTH of each of the pin points or maybe a better way to put it is the width of each of the components where they fit onto the dipperstick. If the dipperstick on the BH26 is for some reason wider than the dipperstick on the BH77 - then nothing will fit.

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/imgF-width-dimensions.jpg

Basically what I'm wondering is if the parts from the bucket mechanism on the B26 - are the same as the bucket mechanism on the BH77. I guessing (hoping) that they might be simply for the reason of lower production costs for Kubota. It doesn't make a lot of sense to produce two parts that are very similar in size if you can get away with one.

I could have figured this out using the online parts catalog that Messicks just recently posted - by looking to see if part numbers match up - but they don't have a catalog up there for the BH77 yet. The B26 is there though - and the QA parts for the hoe are listed.

If anything isn't clear let me know.

I appreciate the help with this.

If by some chance this works out - I'll make sure to post an entire how to with part #'s and pics.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to a couple of dealers to see what they have on the lot - and I'm hoping to put in an order for a B3300SU with the BH77 backhoe.

 

[jim_wilson]

Ok - some of the pieces are falling into place.

I started hunting thru the online Kubota parts catalogs posted by Messicks - and I found the parts diagrams - with part numbers - for the BT820 backhoe used on the B26 - and the BH77 backhoe used on the B3200 , B3300, L3200 and L3800.

There are at least two parts that are shared between the BT820 and the BH77.

These are the "link bucket" - which is part# 7K523-41210 - or "D" on this picture I posted:

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/dimensionD-E-arms.jpg

The other part that is shared between the BT820 and the BH77 is are the two pieces that are on either side of the "link bucket" - these are called the "guide link" and they are different side to side.

the two part numbers are:

7K523-41110
7K523-41150

This is the part I called the pivot arm in this picture:
http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab247/jdwil44/dimensionC-pivotarm.jpg

The fact that these parts are shared solves another question - the "width" issue. The "link bucket" part is a fixed width piece - so that means that the pins are the same length on both hoes - and the spacing between the flanges on the bucket - are going to be the same.

Unfortunately the parts diagram for the BT820 hoe shows the non-QA buckets - but it doesn't give any part numbers. If it gave part numbers - I could match them up with the part numbers for the buckets for the BH77 - and the puzzle would be complete.

Does anybody know if these part numbers below (for BH77 buckets) - match up to the non-QA buckets for the BT820 hoe on the B26?

10" bucket - 75590-42101 Assy Bucket 10 BT1950A
12" bucket - 75590-42201 Assy Bucket 12 BT1951A
16" bucket - 75590-42301 Assy Bucket 16 BT1952A
24" bucket - 75590-42401 Assy Bucket 24 BT1953A

If the BT820 hoe and the BH77 hoe use the same non-QA buckets - I think there's a high likelihood that the QA piece - will work on the BH77 hoe.

 

[lhansman]

Hi Jim

I went to the Kubota web site and pulled up the specs for the L3800. If you then click on attachments and the backhoe it brings up a PDF for the BH77 and BH92 hoes. It clearly states that there is a only a mechanical thumb for the BH77 but a hydraulic one for the BH92. However if you scroll down a little lower they state that a quick coupler is available and they do not indicate that it is only available for the BH92 which to me implies a quick coupler is available for both. Are you sure there isn't a quick coupler for the BH77?

Regards,

Lauren

 

[jim_wilson]

Hi Jim

I went to the Kubota web site and pulled up the specs for the L3800. If you then click on attachments and the backhoe it brings up a PDF for the BH77 and BH92 hoes. It clearly states that there is a only a mechanical thumb for the BH77 but a hydraulic one for the BH92. However if you scroll down a little lower they state that a quick coupler is available and they do not indicate that it is only available for the BH92 which to me implies a quick coupler is available for both. Are you sure there isn't a quick coupler for the BH77?

Regards,

Lauren

I hadn't noticed that before on the PDF for the BH77/BH92 backhoe on the L series:

http://www.kubota.com/product/L3200/pdf/l_series_backhoe.pdf

You're right - the pdf does state there is a quick coupler available for the bucket - what it doesn't state is whether it's the BH92 only - or the BH77 and the BH92. In the above pdf - the pic they show with the quick coupler for the bucket - is from the BH92. The pic in the pdf is lousy - but I can tell because the thumb they show obviously has a piston attached to it (hydraulic) - and they do state the the BH92 only gets the hydraulic thumb.

The other reason why I think it's for the BH92 only - and why I never thought there was a quick coupler available for the BH77 - is because the pdf for the backhoes on the B3200/B3300 - which is the BH77 - doesn't make any mention of a quick coupler being available. Also the BH77 parts listing I found on the Kubota site doesn't list a quick coupler or any quick couple buckets.

After tracking down the parts list and doing the comparison between the BH77 and the BT820 I think there are some very close similarities between the two. The link bucket and the pivot arms are the same. The inference from this is that - at the very least - the spacing between the flanges on the buckets for the BH77 and the BT820 must be the same - otherwise the link bucket could not interchange. The other inference is that (possibly) - the mechanics of both backhoes are the same. I can't believe they could change too much on the spacing of all the pivot points and use the same link bucket and pivot arms - everything has to work in an arc so you're constricted as to how different a design you can use and still use the same parts.

I did some further searching thru the parts catalogs - and the pins that attach the link arm to the bucket on both hoes - is the same. The pin that goes thru the bucket and attaches it to the dipperstick - is different on both tractors however.

From this I think what the problem may be is that the two backhoes use different size pins to attach the buckets to the dipperstick.

I may test out this theory by just going and buying one of each pin and the bushings that go with them. I could then measure them and see what the difference was. My guess is that the pin from the BT820 hoe would be bigger - if that was true - then an adapter bushing could be made to make up the difference between the BH77 pin and the BT820 pin.

That only leaves the spaces between some of the remaining pins as the obstacle. If the spacing between the two pins that attack the bucket are the same - or at least VERY close - then I think the quick coupler from the BT820 could be made to work on the BH77 by just making those adapter bushings.

I'm going to keep researching this. I'm hoping it will work out.