Buying Advice To TLB or not to TLB that is the question???? SCUT or CUT

[TripleR]

No hurry, heck, I've researched tractor models, attachments and such for close to a year and twice bought something different than my research led me to believe was just the right one.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Personally, I'd love to own a backhoe... I just can't justify the expense of getting one. Believe me, I've tried!

But for a wooded lot with trails, a PTO chipper is much more useful - and I can't imagine all the extra work needed to remove the hoe every time I wanted to use the chipper.

I takes less than 5 minutes to remove my backhoe but then 10 minutes or so to put the lift arms on

 

[Gary Fowler]

And it's no surprise to see that someone who needs or has a backhoe thinks everyone needs one too. OP only articulated that he wanted a hoe and not a viable reason he needed one.

Wanting one is the reason most TLB owners justify buying one. Only after getting one and using it do you really find out the NEEDS for it. If you have 10 or more acres and some of it wooded, there is always a need somewhere for it.
Sure I could pick up blown over trees by hand but with my TLB and hydraulic thumb, I don't have to get off the tractor to pick up a whole tree (in most instances) and haul it to a burn pile. Large rocks that I used to muscle into the FEL or try to lift into my RTV bed now get picked up with the backhoe. Stumps get dug up rather than left to rot for years. Drainage ditches get cleaned out regularly. Exposed rocks in my lawn get dug up and hauled away rather than mowing around them for months or years till I decided to rent a backhoe. I use to dig them up with my FEL which created a huge hole. Now I can just pop them out with ease.
My brother in law raises cows and goats and I have had to bury many more than one of each at no charge. He previously had to hire a backhoe to dig a hole to bury them @ $120 each time which was low priced and the guy didn't charge the 4 hour minimum most folks charge.

 

[nosurprise]

Well if wanting one outweighed practicality I doubt one would be asking to TLB or not. If having the hoe option doesn't break the bank and your still able to get attachments that your gonna use frequently ssqa forks, ratchet rake, box blade, grapple w/ 3rd function etc....... by all means TLB. You can always ahem justify it .



Nosurprise.......

 

[gladehound]

I guess I'm in the camp that can't see spending money on a BH unless you have routine BH work to do that isn't better handled by renting larger equipment. Between a stump bucket and forks, I've dug out every rock I've wanted to dig out and dug every hole I wanted to dig.



I think there might be more justification for a BH on a SCUT or small CUT than a Larger CUT or UT. Larger CUTs or UTs can do things with stump buckets and forks that smaller CUTs or SCUTs just couldn't do with more limited weight and hydraulics. If you want to dig out a decent size stump with a SCUT you need a BH. If you want to dig out a decent size stump with a large CUT or UT with a strong loader, you don't need a back hoe.

Unless you have space restrictions requiring the small footprint of the SCUT, I'd up size the tractor and skip on the back hoe given that you don't know what you'd use the BH for anyway. There are other ways to dig an occasional hole (stump bucket), to lift logs, rocks, stumps (forks), pop rocks out of the ground (forks), dig out big stumps (stump bucket). But all of these required a stronger loader than a SCUT has.

Again, I go back to - what do you want this tractor to be able to do?

 

[RNeumann]

When I amortized the cost of a backhoe and decided against it I was weighing construction vs maintenance. Making a road vs maintaining a road. Making a trail vs maintaining a trail. One is ongoing and one only occurs with the given project. If you have the want or need for the backhoe go for it.
Remember, about any machine you buy can be fitted with a backhoe. However if you get a machine improperly sized for the tasks you want to do it can cause delays or an inability to complete them. So I would suggest focusing on that aspect. I would hate to see you post 6 months after purchase that you were trading your tractor in for something that was a different size.

Two other side bar comments-

Do you have a local Mahindra dealer? The small (up to the 15xx series) are Japanese Mitsubishi (as stated above). They have become popular and have a good reputation. Some of the issues that have cropped up with Mahindra seem to be with the larger tractors that were made by other manufactures. This is based on what I have read and my 1538 has been trouble free. If you don't have a local dealer, again, the ones you are looking at are good machines too.

Gladehound- I just added a root bucked to my Christmas list!! I see you can get them with a thumb as well.

 

[davrow]

You can rent a Kubota BX25 here from Home Depot. I did that early in my tractor search just to play with it for a weekend.

I don't have much 'need' for any tractor on my 6 acres here in the desert, but did decide if I needed a tractor for anything, it would need to be bigger (heavier, more ground clearance and more lift) than the BX. I wanted a backhoe, so I got one. And I have really been glad to have it all three times I've needed to use it.

But it is kind of a pain to remove it to use 3pt attachments (I'm not nearly as skilled as the person above who could do it in a few minutes). And finding somewhere to store it when it is off is hard, even on its dolly. With the subframe members it takes up a LOT of room, which I don't have all that much of (under cover).

I still want my backhoe, but after a couple years of tractoring it would be harder to justify it.

My Kioti CK27HST cost a few dollars less than the Kubota BX25D I was quoted locally, so going a bit bigger for me was a no brainer.

 

[eng1886trk]

I had the big tractor debate several months ago in the spring. I have 4 acres with about 1.5 of that wooded. I was originally looking at the BX25D because it looked like it was a jack of all trades. (And it most certainly is)

In the end I ultimately chose a B2650 with loader, 60" light material bucket, Kubota 3rd function, 42" forks, and 60" box blade. I chose this tractor because I wanted a larger frame and more loader lift capabilities. Additionally, I wasn't set on a backhoe but you can't add a backhoe to a BX model easily, where are a B you can.

Fast forward to today. I wish I would have purchased the backhoe day one. Now I am hoping to buy one next year. I also wish I would have went with an L for more weight.

I can not tell you the amount of times I wish I have had just a little more lift capacity. I too thought to myself while looking in the dealer lot; this tractor is going to be huge! But once I got it home, it most certainly seems small.

I have played the rental game with renting a mini hoe, but it is truly not worth it. I have a list of things I wish to accomplish with a hoe, each with a time frame to complete. Rental fees range around here at like 4-500 for a weekend. At the end of the day I have estimated that I will spend roughly $4,000 on rental fees (10 weekends) plus time to take it there and back. That's a waste of $4k in my mind where as if some day I don't feel the need to keep the backhoe or even the whole tractor, I can sell it and the Kubota resale value is very good. There is a reason you rarely find used Kubota backhoes on line and if you do, they are going for top dollar.

 

[Snobdds]

I have an excavator and still have a need for a tractor mounted backhoe...if that says anything about their usefulness.

 

[skawtty]

Yes I think I am going towards TLB and get a few other implements. I went to the MF dealer again and got a couple new prices for the MF 1710/20. 1710 out the door 22400.00 add on 1800 for the 1720. Dunno if that is worth the extra 2 hp, seat and metal around the rops lights. Going to go sit on a Kubota as well tomorrow to check them out and even look at a bigger machine.