WOW!

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HoggyB

Bronze Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2003
Messages
64
I got to use my backhoe, actually A backhoe, for the first time today.

Now I know what people did for fun before video games!

Using the 10" bucket, I lifted the asphalt that I cut last weekend on our road. I had no problems except on the curbs, where the saw was minimally effective, and in a few spots where my cuts didn't meet. Those areas required a little sledge and prybar work.

Today I'm installing the 12" bucket and digging for China...er...Japan, I guess, since we have a Kubota!

I'm amazed at how quickly I'm picking up the controls, being able to remember what each lever does. I guess all those years of mouseing and keyboarding have helped.

I wish I could say the same for my digging skills, but I'm sure those will improve with experience.

Actually I have a couple of stupid questions that I might post if I can't figure them out myself today. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I'll try and get some pictures in case anyone is interested.

Hog
 
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<font color="blue"> I'll try and get some pictures in case anyone is interested </font>

Most definitely! I know exactly what you mean about backhoe fun Hoggy. I've always had an interest in heavy machinery, specifically backhoes. Many years ago I started collecting die-cast backhoes but since getting my "real" hoe I don't pay much attention to the toys anymore. It really is a blast digging away on one, isn't it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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WOW...... you were using a 10" bucket and now you are going to install a 12" bucket to dig with. Could you give us a report on which bucket you prefer and why. Please keep it under 250 words.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I guess all those years of mouseing and keyboarding have helped.
)</font>

When I first got my tractor and backhoe I was struggling with 2 left hands and short term memory loss when it came to what control did what /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif..... Then my son came out and hopped onto the machine and made me look like a fool right from the start. As much as I hate video games,.... I was impressed with his coordination and dexterity on those controls. I guess that would be one redeeming factor for video gaming.... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Have fun with that BH. They really are useful for the "finesse" work.

Greg
 
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Sure thing show us some pics. What type of hoe do you have, is it a kubota or larger machine? I use case backhoes and let me tell you, it's hard to go from three controls and two foot pedals to two sticks for somehting like a trackhoe! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Blake
WA
 
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  • Thread Starter
#6  
Ahhh, Tractor Nirvana. I have found it.

I know the <font color="green">joy of being one with the machine.</font>

I have experienced the <font color="red">frustration of a half-filled bucket.</font>

I have felt the agony of the <font color="orange"> bucket grabbing and pulling me from my carefully navigated spot.</font>

I have risen to the <font color="blue">challenge of simultaneously crowding & curling to achieve the bliss of full-bucketness. </font>

I have also experienced the <font color="purple">stark terror (and near-soiledness) of my BX-23 rolling out of control as I moved it to a new position using the backhoe. </font> (Gotta work on that one.)

I can't believe how much fun running a backhoe can be. I would've bought a TLB 20 years ago if'n I'd known. I don't even want to think of all the projects I COULD have used it on over the years...

I guess I should confess: we got a late start today and I let my wife go first (good politics), so I ended getting only an hour in on the backhoe, but I did get about 20 feet of trench dug. Oddly, a depth of four feet, which happens to be my goal for this project, is either what the machine wants to dig or is what I want to dig, because that's what we're ending up with.

This thing is so **** fun I'm worried about the day that I run out of things to dig up. Is that possible?

Hog
 
   / WOW! #7  
I'm worried about the day that I run out of things to dig up. Is that possible? <font color="blue"> </font>


Unfortunately, yes, it can happen! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Blake
WA
 
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm worried about the day that I run out of things to dig up. Is that possible? <font color="blue"> </font>


Unfortunately, yes, it can happen! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Blake
WA

)</font>

Here's the trick. You start with a pile of dirt. You say to
yourself, "What am I going to do with this dirt?"

Your answer? You dig a hole and bury it!

Of course by doing that . . . well, you get the idea.

You just need to prime the pump with one pile of
dirt.

Cliff
 
   / WOW! #9  
The bliss will eventually wear off. I had a larger backhoe that I bought 20 years ago and sold this last fall. After finishing the work around the house, it sat in the back 40 for many years and never even was given a thought. The fact that I turned it over once might have also lead to its retirement, but the bull dozer also didn't get used. Put an ad on the WWW and a few months later someone from Maine came for it. Didn't even bother me to see it or the back hoe go. Now that I have the BX22, I am finding things that I want to do, but to me, it is like any new toy..... you play with it for a while and then move onto the other things in like, like playing with the dogs, antique cars, etc. I enjoy my tractor, but I am not in love with it. It does what I need it to do and then I put it away for the next time the grass needs cutting or a trench needs to be dug. Don't let it take over your life, or you will become obsessed like someone else that owns two Kubota's. By this time of the year, he is climbing the walls and the ROPS just waiting to get back into the saddle of his Kubota. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Name omitted to protect the obsessed... <font color="white"> Henro /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Henro /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Henro /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Henro /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Henro /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Henro /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Henro /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Henro </font>
 
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  • Thread Starter
#10  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( WOW...... you were using a 10" bucket and now you are going to install a 12" bucket to dig with. Could you give us a report on which bucket you prefer and why. Please keep it under 250 words.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

What I prefer is...to not have to change the blasted backhoe bucket!

It's kind of a pain. First you have to remove the two pins that are thickly greased. I wore an exam glove recently purloined from my doctor's trash can, so that helped.

Then you get to reinstall the pins, which are kind of a hassle to line up. I used to have a set of tapered punches (I think they are called) that would make this easier. I'll have to find me another set.

As for 10" vs 12", I only used the 10" bucket for pulling up asphalt and I've only used the 12" bucket for digging, so I don't really know how they compare.

I do know the 10" bucket struggled a little with some of the asphalt chunks. If it's true that the 12" bucket has LESS digging force, then I'm glad I used the 10" bucket.

As for digging, I'm really glad I put the 12" bucket on. It pulls out a nice pile of dirt and makes a trench that you can almost fit comfortably in for shovel work.

I had no trouble with the dirt being too hard, but this is the time of year here when, as my brother-in-law likes to say, "the digging is almost free" because the soil is damp.

Come summer I have serious doubts about using EITHER bucket as our soil turns into something that feels like concrete.

My feeling right now is that I'll probably stick with the 12" bucket, unless there's a specific reason to use the 10".

How many words is that? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Hog
 
 
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