Ghost of Sid Hartman
New member
Just took delivery on new (literally, less that 1.5 hrs on the meter) XR4155HC with backhoe. Struggled mightily to remove the backhoe (some bad words may have escaped my lips), and after much searching on the interwebs picking up bits and pieces of advice (but no definitive solution), thought I would post this in case someone else runs into this problem. I fully admit that my lack of experience with hydraulics is probably the largest contributor to my difficulties. Anyway, here are the steps listed in the backhoe owner's manual with my comments added...
"Step 1. Move the tractor to backhoe storage place."
-- Choose a level spot to store the backhoe. It's going to be sitting on the ground, so somewhere not damp would be a good choice. I initially tried to set it down with a small pallet under the bucket and 2 x 6's under the stabilizers, but when I did that it prevented the long arms that extend under the tractor from dropping low enough to clear the chassis. As a result, I couldn't pull the tractor forward without moving the backhoe also. It seems the balance point of the backhoe needs to be a certain minimum distance below the bottom of the tractor. I'll have to experiment with this...I would like to not have it sitting in the dirt in the riding arena.
"Step 2. Use the inner two levers to lower the stabilizers until they contact to the ground. Use the boom and dipperstick control lever to raise the boom & dipperstick completely."
"Step 3. Center the boom and then lock the swing with lock pin."
"Step 4. Using the control levers, position the dipperstick vertically, curl the bucket until its bottom is level with the ground, and lower the boom until bottom of the bucket rests on the ground."
"Step 5. Remove pins that secure the Backhoe Subframe in the mounting brackets on the tractor."
-- The manual fails to mention that there is a ring pin on the underside of the plate that these larger pins drop through. Took me a while to figure that out
[noob]
"Step 6. Using both the stabilizer and boom controls, set the backhoe subframe horizontally to relieve the weight of the backhoe from the mounting brackets of the tractor."
-- I found this a little bit finicky, as it requires a light touch on the stabilizers and the boom. You need to essentially balance the backhoe so that there is no pressure on the subframe under the tractor, i.e. the weight of the backhoe is now carried totally on the stabilizers and the bucket.
"Step 7. Move the tractor forward slowly until the backhoe subframe disengages of the mounting brackets."
-- This took a few tries, due to the finickiness of step 6. If you don't have the backhoe standing free, when you move the tractor it will bring the backhoe with it because of the friction between the tractor frame and the backhoe subframe. Eventually I hit the sweet spot and was able to pull the tractor forward, leaving the backhoe standing on the stabilizers and bucket.
"Step 8. Lower the backhoe mainframe to the ground by raising stabilizers and boom. Use the wood plate or block if necessary."
-- Here's the first place I really had difficulty. I didn't read the directions thoroughly initially, and I tried to leave the backhoe supported by the stabilizers and bucket while sitting on blocks (to keep them off of the ground). I suspect that didn't work because that didn't allow the pressure in the hydraulic lines to bleed out due to the constant pressure on the stabilizers and bucket. (Someone tell me if this is wrong.) Now that I read the manual again, I wonder if I couldn't have put a pallet under the body of the backhoe to keep it off the ground, then raised the stabilizers/bucket? I'll have to try that and get back to you... At any rate, it seems you need to raise the stabilizers and the boom in order to bleed the pressure from the lines.
"Step 9. Turn off the tractor engine. Relieve hydraulic pressure by actuating all the control levers in each direction, then disconnect the backhoe hose couplers from the tractor hydraulic couplers.
-- And now we get to the real challenge. Initially I was only trying to dump the pressure by using the lever for the remote inside the cab. Didn't think to use the levers on the backhoe itself. Also, as previously noted, seem to need the stabilizers and boom relieved of the weight of the backhoe. I put the FEL into the float position for good measure, in case that was keeping pressure in the lines. Moved every hydraulic level I could find multiple times, but still couldn't move the collars and disconnect the lines. Asked my neighbor to have a look, and he couldn't figure it out either. Finally, more as a last resort than anything else, I moved the tractor about 6 inches back toward the backhoe. Problem solved. Apparently there was enough tension on the hoses, that the coupler wouldn't release. Disconnected hoses, off to the races.
Sorry for the long post, but maybe this will help another rookie like me if they have the same problem.
"Step 1. Move the tractor to backhoe storage place."
-- Choose a level spot to store the backhoe. It's going to be sitting on the ground, so somewhere not damp would be a good choice. I initially tried to set it down with a small pallet under the bucket and 2 x 6's under the stabilizers, but when I did that it prevented the long arms that extend under the tractor from dropping low enough to clear the chassis. As a result, I couldn't pull the tractor forward without moving the backhoe also. It seems the balance point of the backhoe needs to be a certain minimum distance below the bottom of the tractor. I'll have to experiment with this...I would like to not have it sitting in the dirt in the riding arena.
"Step 2. Use the inner two levers to lower the stabilizers until they contact to the ground. Use the boom and dipperstick control lever to raise the boom & dipperstick completely."
"Step 3. Center the boom and then lock the swing with lock pin."
"Step 4. Using the control levers, position the dipperstick vertically, curl the bucket until its bottom is level with the ground, and lower the boom until bottom of the bucket rests on the ground."
"Step 5. Remove pins that secure the Backhoe Subframe in the mounting brackets on the tractor."
-- The manual fails to mention that there is a ring pin on the underside of the plate that these larger pins drop through. Took me a while to figure that out
[noob]"Step 6. Using both the stabilizer and boom controls, set the backhoe subframe horizontally to relieve the weight of the backhoe from the mounting brackets of the tractor."
-- I found this a little bit finicky, as it requires a light touch on the stabilizers and the boom. You need to essentially balance the backhoe so that there is no pressure on the subframe under the tractor, i.e. the weight of the backhoe is now carried totally on the stabilizers and the bucket.
"Step 7. Move the tractor forward slowly until the backhoe subframe disengages of the mounting brackets."
-- This took a few tries, due to the finickiness of step 6. If you don't have the backhoe standing free, when you move the tractor it will bring the backhoe with it because of the friction between the tractor frame and the backhoe subframe. Eventually I hit the sweet spot and was able to pull the tractor forward, leaving the backhoe standing on the stabilizers and bucket.
"Step 8. Lower the backhoe mainframe to the ground by raising stabilizers and boom. Use the wood plate or block if necessary."
-- Here's the first place I really had difficulty. I didn't read the directions thoroughly initially, and I tried to leave the backhoe supported by the stabilizers and bucket while sitting on blocks (to keep them off of the ground). I suspect that didn't work because that didn't allow the pressure in the hydraulic lines to bleed out due to the constant pressure on the stabilizers and bucket. (Someone tell me if this is wrong.) Now that I read the manual again, I wonder if I couldn't have put a pallet under the body of the backhoe to keep it off the ground, then raised the stabilizers/bucket? I'll have to try that and get back to you... At any rate, it seems you need to raise the stabilizers and the boom in order to bleed the pressure from the lines.
"Step 9. Turn off the tractor engine. Relieve hydraulic pressure by actuating all the control levers in each direction, then disconnect the backhoe hose couplers from the tractor hydraulic couplers.
-- And now we get to the real challenge. Initially I was only trying to dump the pressure by using the lever for the remote inside the cab. Didn't think to use the levers on the backhoe itself. Also, as previously noted, seem to need the stabilizers and boom relieved of the weight of the backhoe. I put the FEL into the float position for good measure, in case that was keeping pressure in the lines. Moved every hydraulic level I could find multiple times, but still couldn't move the collars and disconnect the lines. Asked my neighbor to have a look, and he couldn't figure it out either. Finally, more as a last resort than anything else, I moved the tractor about 6 inches back toward the backhoe. Problem solved. Apparently there was enough tension on the hoses, that the coupler wouldn't release. Disconnected hoses, off to the races.
Sorry for the long post, but maybe this will help another rookie like me if they have the same problem.
