Looking for comments.

[rasorbackq]

I have a 47 HP tractor with a back hoe and a dump trailer.

Last year I asked the question how to hook them all together so I can dig and load and drive away . Answer was to weld a ball to the side of the hoe frame . Great idea but the trailer I have requires a 3 point set up as its a super heavy tongue . Trailer bed is 4x8 and heavy duty steel. So my question is.......
Can I weld up a SSQA plate with a hitch on it so I can attach the trailer while loaded say 5 5' buckets of dirt . Load the trailer with the hoe then drive and attach the trailer and go. Then back up to where I need to dump the hydraulic trailer. Or will the weight and sway as its driven be to much for the loader arms??
The road is some what good but that are some uneven spots . The trailer does have a swivel tongue
What I am doing now is dug a set amount and pile Lots of large rocks and logs as its all fill.
After I dig the set amount the hoe comes off then need to load the trailer until the the dirt is all removed . Problem I'm having is the clumps and rocks don't allow the bucket to scoop and get a good amount of fill. Some times an attempt only yields a 5 gallon bucket of dirt.

I do have a spare SSQA plate just waiting for a project .

My next attempt with the hoe will be to take smaller bites to minimize the clump sizes.

 

[jenkinsph]

Why not add a jack to the trailer? A good electric jack comes to mind. I have to ask how heavy can a 4x8 dump trailer be? I have a 6.5x14' dump trailer and I can easily crank up the tongue with a hand crank jack.

When you say the hoe comes off do you mean that after digging you remove the hoe attachment and then use the tractor and fel to load the trailer?
If you do this you wont have much traction or ballast to operate the fel.

I would tow the trailer with the backhoe using an add on ball hitch. Get where I needed to dig block the trailer wheels, unhitch trailer from hoe. Dig up the fill into a pile. Then take the tractor/backhoe and using the fel load the trailer.
Then hitch the trailer up to the backhoe and drive away.

If you have much material to move it is a lot easier to tow the trailer with a truck for multiple trips leaving the backhoe on site. Easier yet with a dump truck, equipment trailer and backhoe.

 

[kneedeep]

Post some pictures and the guys will get you straightened right out!!

 

[arrow]

They also make a receiver that attaches to your fel (buckethttp://www.bucketsolutions.com/clamp-on-receiver.html) with fast on and off capabilities if you do not mind moving backward for a spell or perhaps you could push the trailer?. Otherwise I'd follow jenkinsph advice as i'm of the impatient type and could not stand the on-off part of the bh.

 

[jenkinsph]

It might be more efficient to dig and loosen a much larger pile of material to move at one time. Rather than switching back and forth so much when moving material I often make a 50 yd pile to move then switch over to transporting the pile. It is a lot easier with two machines, truck and dump trailer and tractor with fel and either a box blade or hoe depending on the need. How much material do you need to move?

 

[rasorbackq]

What I ended up doing was I dug with the hoe about 20 ft long by 6' wide then I moved the pile with the bucket to the holding area That area was about 1 min away.
Think it was about as fast as loading the trailer with 5 scoops attaching and dropping it off then having to push the load back from the dump. I guess the distance to the drop area would have made a difference if it was 5 minutes away.
Here is a pic of the hole and some dirt. That is probably about 1/10 what I want to dig. At least now when it rains the ducks will have a pond.

Back hoe is out of commission til I get a bolt

 

[jenkinsph]

I agree if the hauls are short use the fel. I would use the bucket swing to sweep the bottom of the hole smooth as I go. It can get out of reach of the hoe quickly and be a bear to smooth out later.

 

[zing]

Might not be what you want to do, but just a suggestion. How about buying an older tractor to act as a trailer mule? Even an older 2wd gasser would work for that job. Lots of people trying to sell those and can't find a buyer because the only people who want them are looking for a nothing more than a motor and PTO to drive a splitter or elevator, or something like that. Even then, they usually want a diesel. Because of that they go for pretty cheap. It will cost more than the cost of a QA plus a tongue and ball coupler, etc. but maybe not much more. And then if you happen to have a helper around to drive the tractor and dump trailer from time to time you can take advantage of extra productivity.

 

[rasorbackq]

I agree if the hauls are short use the fel. I would use the bucket swing to sweep the bottom of the hole smooth as I go. It can get out of reach of the hoe quickly and be a bear to smooth out later.

Smooth it will be as smooth as the top of the water later.
Biggest issue is all the old culverts used as fill. Need to be away from one spot to dig along the rest to pull it the . My plan was to get my atv in there and knock down the higher spots. If only the rains would come I could stop digging .

 

[rasorbackq]

Might not be what you want to do, but just a suggestion. How about buying an older tractor to act as a trailer mule? Even an older 2wd gasser would work for that job. Lots of people trying to sell those and can't find a buyer because the only people who want them are looking for a nothing more than a motor and PTO to drive a splitter or elevator, or something like that. Even then, they usually want a diesel. Because of that they go for pretty cheap. It will cost more than the cost of a QA plus a tongue and ball coupler, etc. but maybe not much more. And then if you happen to have a helper around to drive the tractor and dump trailer from time to time you can take advantage of extra productivity.

Been looking on KIJIJI for an old tractor but that normally means break downs and no parts available.