Thanks to everyone that helped cleared up the backhoe dilemma. I know I want a backhoe and now I know I need a subframe to support it. I have to decide how much money I want to spend for a man toy. The reason I want a backhoe is just to play around the property, I really don't need one. I am not going into business digging ditches. On my property there is a old gold mine, at least that's what I ve been told. It's an open mine so a lot of the dirt was piled off to the side from the mine. A lot of the tailings have been piled to make a path to what was the sluice. This is all on the side of a hill with a spring above the mine. The water was channeled down the hill to the sluice. I want to be able to dig the dirt mounds down and dump them into the open mine to fill it in. The dirt has been piled for years and is packed, I have large pine trees growing out of the mounds of dirt. No, there is no gold!!!! I have been asked that question many times. But your are welcome to come and try your luck!
The cost of Taylor/Way and have it shipped to Ca. from Ky,( $3,700 backhoe)+($1,000 shipping)+(? subframe home made) plus the things that might go wrong that I don't even know about, I think I will shop around here in Northren Ca. and see what I can get from a dealer. At least, if I have a problem with the unit I can get help/parts from the dealer. What I should do is buy a used JD or Case backhoe and be done with it. When I am done with filling in the mine sell the backhoe!
