Backhoe Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul?

   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #21  
I bought a Kubota L3830 with a BH90 three years ago to do the excavation and foundation work for my cabin and shop, remove stumps/big rocks, and do a lot of trenching for underground utilities on my property. I paid $6500 for it new and just traded it in along with the 3830 on a larger tractor with a trade-in allowance of $4500 for the hoe. It was a great tool to have around, but I've finished most of my hoe work and decided the money tied up in the BH90 could be better spent on a bigger tractor and a few more implements. Here in northern Idaho I can rent a mini-excavator with a thumb for $172/day (4 day minimum). At this point, it's the way to go for me.
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #22  
I say get the hoe. I've had hoes on my last 4 tractors and use them often. Roots, rocks, scratching up ground, as well as the normal trenching, digging etc. Renting would never work for me as I need it then, perhaps only for an hour or less. My backhoe work could never be saved up for a day's rental. I would estimate that having a backhoe increses the productivity of my tractor about 4 x.

Andy
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #23  
>>>>Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul

So far, YES ... 2.5 years/890 hrs.
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #24  
I've only had mine a short time. Its paid for and everytime I use it, I'm glad I bought it.
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #25  
I debated this same issue a lot when I bought my tractor three years ago. I would say it has been very worth it - my hoe was about 6k.

What I do with it: ditches, stumps, rock removal

The biggest pro for me is that I can do the work when I want with the amount of time I have. To me this is huge. My land has lots of wet areas and it can be difficult to get to where you want to go when it is dry enough or frozen enough. I can make this judgement and be digging somewhere in 10 minutes.

The other thing to remember is the resale value of the hoe. They retain their value pretty well so eventually, if I choose to sell it I will get a reasonable portion of my money back. If I were renting it would be money out the door that I could not recover.

The other thing for me was the fact that when lumped in with the rest of my 0% payments for the tractor it was not that big of a deal to pay for.
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #26  
Buy the backhoe I owned my tractor for a couple years saving up for a hoe. Now that I have it I am amazed at what I can acomplish in a short amount of time,drains,bridges,rocks,stumps no problem.Sometimes I use it for three hours sometimes fifteen minutes.I do NOT regret it one bit its money well spent for me. Mine is a subframe mount its on and off in about 3 minutes. I just love it! Frenchie
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #27  
I have a backhoe for my B2910 Kubota.

Past threads in the end seem to conclude that for many of us the backhoe is not cost effective, but those of us (most of us) who have them are glad we bought them.

Chances are 50/50 (in my estimation) that if you get a backhoe you will, at least in your own mind, think it was a good thing to do.

Chance are probably 90/10 that if you get a backhoe, you will in your own mind decide that even though it is not cost effective in your case, you are glad you bought it and therefore it was a good thing to do.

A few percent who have bought them came to realize that they might have spent that money somewhere else. Myself, I don't golf or have a desire to do so...so I am quite happy I spent my "golf money" on the backhoe! :D

Do I want to sell my backhoe? No way. Will I sell my backhoe in the future? Only if the tractor goes with it...but then, I won't be sellin' it anyway, cause I will have gone first! :eek:
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #28  
Henro:

You need a backhoe just like I need one.

Nice to see you around, just liike me.:D
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #29  
When we got our 3830 a couple of years ago, we took a deep breath and got the Woods BH9000. It seems like a good match and is plenty rugged for me. It was definitely an extravagance, but it's great to have and it should last for the rest of our lives if we die when we should.
 
   / Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul? #30  
I really don't "need" a tractor. I don't "need" to have an irrigation system, trees, ditches.... But the $4000 I didn't pay the guy to dig the septic (I need that) line up about paid for the back hoe. Really there are alot of things I wouldn't even think about doing aroud here if I didn't have the hoe. Many of them are less than an hour each and I wouldn't rent a hoe or have somebody come out for that.
 
 
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