Everhard
Gold Member
New Holland Backhoe blues that is! 
I found a good deal on a NH 915 backhoe - it came with the subframe for a NH tractor. After checking it out I figured it was close enough in spec to what the Kioti CK20s normally runs for a backhoe so I went for it. Then the obvious challenge of making it attach to "Wiley".
I debated a few different options including just buying a Kioti subframe kit and then modifying that to attach to the hoe but given I'd have to modify it and the astronomical price for the kit I figured I might as well work with the frame that's on it and build brackets to go on the tractor to hook it up.
I got some great pic's from KiotiGuy showing how Kioti makes their setup and I basically copied the front hookup of the frame (in the middle of the tractor.)
I had to chop off the existing hookup system on the NH subframe and welded on a 3/4 by 4" plate across the subframe which slides into the hooks I made that you see bolted on the tractor.
At the rear I made something similar to how Kioti makes their bracket - basically they remove the stock bracket that has the towbar tongue and replace that with a larger bracket that in addition to using the same bolt holes it also uses 2 bolts above it that hold the toplink bracket. I took my stock towbar bracket and added to it and make something similar to what Kioti does. (utilizing the same bolting points they use for their backhoe bracket.) On the subframe I welded a 1" round bar that slides into the bracket on the tractor.
The subframe is then kept from coming off the tractor by 2 pins that drop down behind the bar that's in the rear bracket. Again similar to the Kioti setup.
Sorry no good pictures of that bracket! Thought I had some so I'll have to post that up later if anyone's interested.
The only thing I did really different from Kioti is that I made the rear hookup points similar to the front in that the hook has an arm that extends back far enough that once I back the tracto up over the frame I can then lift the frame up till it contacts both the front and rear hooks and then at that point I just back up the last few inches and the backhoe is on, drop the pins in and I'm ready to go. The few test hookup's I did seemed pretty easy - 5 minute affairs, biggest challenge being driving back straight over the subframe.
Gave it a test run digging out a few stumps, worked great. The backhoe is not quite a manly as the Kioti one but frankly I can't see the differences as being something I'll be upset about down the road. It specs out not quite as powerful, it swings 150 degrees vs 180d degrees for the Kioti model but it will dig slightly deeper. (marginal - 4 inches!) And interestingly it's no where near as heavy which I think is actually a bonus as I've read lots of reports of guys saying they find the CK20 a bit back heavy with the hoe on. This backhoe isn't even as heavy as my rear counter weight! (800lbs concrete barrel.)
Now that I've tested it out and I'm happy with it the brackets will come off and get a coat of paint. The backhoe will loose the blues but not till the spring when things warm up.
E.
I found a good deal on a NH 915 backhoe - it came with the subframe for a NH tractor. After checking it out I figured it was close enough in spec to what the Kioti CK20s normally runs for a backhoe so I went for it. Then the obvious challenge of making it attach to "Wiley".
I debated a few different options including just buying a Kioti subframe kit and then modifying that to attach to the hoe but given I'd have to modify it and the astronomical price for the kit I figured I might as well work with the frame that's on it and build brackets to go on the tractor to hook it up.
I got some great pic's from KiotiGuy showing how Kioti makes their setup and I basically copied the front hookup of the frame (in the middle of the tractor.)
I had to chop off the existing hookup system on the NH subframe and welded on a 3/4 by 4" plate across the subframe which slides into the hooks I made that you see bolted on the tractor.
At the rear I made something similar to how Kioti makes their bracket - basically they remove the stock bracket that has the towbar tongue and replace that with a larger bracket that in addition to using the same bolt holes it also uses 2 bolts above it that hold the toplink bracket. I took my stock towbar bracket and added to it and make something similar to what Kioti does. (utilizing the same bolting points they use for their backhoe bracket.) On the subframe I welded a 1" round bar that slides into the bracket on the tractor.
The subframe is then kept from coming off the tractor by 2 pins that drop down behind the bar that's in the rear bracket. Again similar to the Kioti setup.
Sorry no good pictures of that bracket! Thought I had some so I'll have to post that up later if anyone's interested.
The only thing I did really different from Kioti is that I made the rear hookup points similar to the front in that the hook has an arm that extends back far enough that once I back the tracto up over the frame I can then lift the frame up till it contacts both the front and rear hooks and then at that point I just back up the last few inches and the backhoe is on, drop the pins in and I'm ready to go. The few test hookup's I did seemed pretty easy - 5 minute affairs, biggest challenge being driving back straight over the subframe.
Gave it a test run digging out a few stumps, worked great. The backhoe is not quite a manly as the Kioti one but frankly I can't see the differences as being something I'll be upset about down the road. It specs out not quite as powerful, it swings 150 degrees vs 180d degrees for the Kioti model but it will dig slightly deeper. (marginal - 4 inches!) And interestingly it's no where near as heavy which I think is actually a bonus as I've read lots of reports of guys saying they find the CK20 a bit back heavy with the hoe on. This backhoe isn't even as heavy as my rear counter weight! (800lbs concrete barrel.)
Now that I've tested it out and I'm happy with it the brackets will come off and get a coat of paint. The backhoe will loose the blues but not till the spring when things warm up.
E.
