Another backhoe question

[DeerPark5]

I am a smaller property owner and have several tractors over the years and always have a BH for the exact reason Stonehaller referred to. You'll want the convenience if you've got a few hours here and there. I've used excavators, and my neighbor has a sweet little mini - no question they're better for specific tasks, but the hassle of renting and the pressure to get the hours used for what you paid for takes the fun out of it. The BH also makes the best counterweight to the FEL and provides some limited craning capacity that I have found handy for moving rocks and trees. Get as many implements as you can afford rather than going huge on your base machine. A smaller tractor will take longer, but as you mentioned, the more stuff on your Swiss Army knife the more you can do.

 

[jrsavoie]

For me a backhoe on my tractor doesn't make a lot of sense. Since I utilize the 3pt hitch attachment for the majority of the work with my tractor.

But versatility is awesome. And these tractor units sure beat using a team of horses like our ancestors had to.

But the question that I'd ask myself is this, Do I really have the time to put up with the much slower pace of a tractor mounted backhoe?

I've run both tractor backhoe and an excavator. An Excavator beats a tractor mounted backhoe every time. A better job is done in a much much shorter time frame.

I think the suggestion to buy a good used excavator and sell it when you are done for similar money is the one I would go with. I'd do lots of research and immerse myself in the excavator buy and sell market to learn what sells better in your area of the Country.

Done properly and with a little luck you might even make money on the deal.

I bought the 1975 Ford 3550 Backhoe Loader for $2400, over 2 decades ago.
I haven't had to do much more than general maintenance and repairs to it.

I could still sell it for what I paid with dollar value adjustments made.

And it will still do a lot more than any of the newer smaller tractors. And unlike the newer tractors, there's not much to go wrong.
I don't expect any of the newer stuff to still be running pretty much problem free in 40 years or more

 

[Kubota?]

One of the first experiences I had with my backhoe on the Kubota (4 months in) was finding a 750 gallon empty oil tank buried about 2 ft under the driveway i was building. It was a surprise for sure but dug and pulled it out with NO issues. I was amazed that I could run into such a project blindly, and have the tractor/backhoe to pull it out pretty easily.

Amazing equipment.

What Kubota tractor did you have ?

 

[nknelsen]

I bought the 1975 Ford 3550 Backhoe Loader for $2400, over 2 decades ago.
I haven't had to do much more than general maintenance and repairs to it.

I could still sell it for what I paid with dollar value adjustments made.

And it will still do a lot more than any of the newer smaller tractors. And unlike the newer tractors, there's not much to go wrong.
I don't expect any of the newer stuff to still be running pretty much problem free in 40 years or more

I hear you. But the new tractors sure are nice to run.

 

[jrsavoie]

I hear you. But the new tractors sure are nice to run.

For no more than I use it - about 7 days out of 10. But it may be for a few minutes or all day. - I can get buy with leaving many thousands of dollars in my pocket

 

[Shblack]

Got a Komatsu WB140-2N when we moved to the farm, it's a horse. 24" bucket on an extend-a-hoe can rip stumps, dig trenches, lift heavy stuff you name it. 1 yard 4 in 1 bucket great for moving dirt, picking up logs, pretty much what ever one needs to do. Only issue is it's big and at 18,000 pounds heavy. So there are places I can't get to and in wet weather I spend as much time fixing the ruts as I do doing the work, plus I cannot see the front edge of the bucket, so finish grading is problematic. Only wish is for a thumb on the backhoe for an upcoming rip-rap project, fortunately it's plumbed for one - just need to find the thumb.

Ended up getting a Takeuchi TL230-2, its been super handy for grading, moving brush piles, using an auger for planting holes, storm cleanup etc. Much smaller, plus the rubber tracks don't tear stuff up as bad.