cjtinkle said:
...I'm still not 100% sure we should get the hoe...
I have a NH 758C backhoe on a TC35DA. When I am actually sitting in the backhoe seat digging, I love it. It's both fun and productive, and may even have health benefits because of the stress relief it brings me. However there are some negatives...
1. When trenching, it is a real pain to move repeatedly (i.e. raise the outriggers, climb down from the seat, climb up into the tractor seat, raise the loader bucket move the tractor a few feet, lower the loader bucket, climb down off the tractor, climb back up on the hoe, set the outriggers, dig a few more feet, and repeat.) Compared to a mini-excavator/trackhoe which can be moved along a trench easily.
2. It's a real pain to remove and reinstall. I tend to leave it on or off the tractor, so sometimes I forego using another attachment if the backhoe is mounted, or forego using the hoe when it isn't.
3. It's a pain to store. I don't want to leave it outside, and with the subframe installed it takes up a lot of space in the garage or barn. Others have built dollies for storage and with ease of re-installation and I'm sure that would help, but it is still a fairly large and expensive item to store.
4. Financially it doesn't really make sense for me to own it. I could pay for a lot of rental hours of a full-size backhoe, excavator, mini-trackhoe, or whatever is best suited for the jobs I have, with or without an operator, before I spent what the backhoe cost me.
Still, it's a lot of fun to use, and so what if it isn't always the best tool for the job? I just ordered a 24" bucket (I bought it with a 12") and am about to use it to dig an in-ground pool. I'm sure it will take me a lot longer than a pro with the right equipment, and if I paid myself by the hour I'd go broke, but I'm going to do do it anyway.
. The geared brute to do the hard work and the smaller one for the maintenance / gardening. Why let someone else get the seat time? (oh yeah $$$) Just think of it as enhancing your mental health.