tow behind small backhoe

[Soundguy]

at a local estate auction coming up is a little? tow behind backhoe.. lookslike something the size that if it was a tractor hoe, might bemounted on a 20 or 30hp machine.

is a self contained trailer unit with a gass 'lawnmower engine'.. self contained hyds.. etc.

looks like it might be something that was northern tool ( nortrac ) or harbor freight. still new, with some strapping and pallate.

are these things worth it? can they actrually dig a hole?

soundguy

 

[Ductape]

$3,000 brandy new at HF.

Used...... dunno.

http://www.harborfreight.com/towable-ride-on-trencher-65162.html

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A good friend has one identical to what you describe, 'cept it was a "build-it-yourself" kit. I wouldn't trade my 580 Case for it, but that little thing is HANDY at times. And it sure beats the daylights outta a shovel.

 

[PILOON]

I had one made in Canada called a Cricket.
It had a 5 hp briggs engine which provided all the muscle needed.
I have dug 4 ft deep trenches, excavated barrel sized rocks etc with ease.
4 ft deep by about 35 ft long took me all of about 1.5 hours, so they are fairly productive.
Being non power drive takes a bit of practice but you get used to it fairly fast.
Origionally I had planned to mount it on my Mitsubishi 3 point but found it so stable on steep wooded slopes that I never did so.
I have dug pump trench lines down mountain sides that the tractor could never negotiate.
They aptly named it a 'Cricket' as it hops around as its namesake, twisting around trees and rocks like no tomorrow.
Fun to use. Main downside is the lack of weight for stump work.When you hook on a root the whole machine gets jacked off of the ground.
I'd say a worthy machine for limited production.
I gather they were very popular for trenching for hedges and sprinkler lined B4 the advent of mini excavators.
Paid $1000. and sold it 10 yrs later for same price.

 

[JoelD]

I owned a caddigger with 5 hp

That thing was strong

I frame mounted to my little kubota and it was awesome

Joel

 

[Brad_Blazer]

There are 23 user reviews on the HF link above and 6 for the Northern Trencherman.
NorthStar Trencherman Backhoe — 270cc Honda GX Engine | Backhoes | Northern Tool + Equipment
Most give them high marks.

 

[crazyal]

Like anything if the price is right it's worth it. Like Farmwithjunk said, I wouldn't trade my 580k for it but I also wouldn't mind one for the odd jobs like putting in some drainage pipe or conduit, things that don't need to be 6 feet down or need a 2 foot or wider trench. Plus being light has advantages too.

 

[Soundguy]

I've been looking for a while for a 3pt hoe for one of my tractors.. but for some reason down here. they just don't come up.

a while back looked at some ford industrials too.. but everything under 10000$ was clapped out and barely ran with the pins and bushing beat out of the hoe and the tractor on it's last breath.

these small towable units, look to me, like I could weld a few tabs on the back and make then 3pt mountable for one of my larger tractors.. say the 4600, 5000, or 7610s.

will have to go take a closer look.. could only see from the roadside and couldn't tell who made it.. deffinately looks like either the northern or harbor freight unit.. IE.. chinese.. but heck.. if I can get it for a good price, since my budget is limited.. it might be nice.

I will eventually be burrying some horses and the wife wants a small pond one day.. and loaders don't dig..

soundguy

 

[pat32rf]

If the price is right I'd go for it. Even if you used it a few times then stripped it for the cylinders, pump and valves.
Around here with all the roots and rocks it wouldn't replace a small tractor mounted hoe, but it might be handy to use for filling a FEL bucket while pond (small) digging, and it will fit into places that a bigger unit won't.

 

[Soundguy]

luckilly no rocks on my property.. which is a bonus for digging.

soundguy

 

[Thomas]

Years back many equipment rentals offer Cricket backhoe...5hp,strong bulit but oh so slow...easy to get parts for it was US.

 

[Soundguy]

i see a woods 6500 3pt hoes for sale in local adds to.. am calling on it.

souindguy

 

[Soundguy]

ok.. went and looked at the tow-a-hoe and it's deffinately a chinese northern tool or harbor freight unit. new.

also went by a house that has a woods ?6500? 3pt hoe for sale. guy sold his trasctor has the hoe.. has pto pump, contol valves feel good.. cyls look good.. got most of it's original paint on it.. looks tight.. almost no wear on the pins or bushings or 3pt parts.. don't looklike it's been used much.

Me and my stepfather are looking for a hoe to split between use on out farms.. bury animals, dig small ponds, drainage.. etc.

what's that 6500 worth?

I'm leaning toward the 3pt hoe vs the tow behind.

would WELCOME opinions on this.

from talking with the guy.. I bet we can get the 3pt hoe cheaper than the tow behind...

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A couple years back, I took in a Woods 750 on a trade. It stayed here for a summer. The little "tow a hoe" things are handy. A good 3-point hoe is just about as handy, and a little bit more "capable". If the tow a hoe is "better than a shovel", a 3-point hoe is better'n TWO shovels. I still like my 580 Case

 

[Soundguy]

cool.. so then you have used both.. that's the info I needed to hear.

I can get the 3pt hoe for about 600-700 cheaper than the towable one.

from looking at the towable one, it look slike once you get it towed to where you want to dig, you lift it off the ground with th ebucket, and swap the wheels to the trailer hitch side, from the bucket side, then put in the fixed stabilizer bars, when ready to remove it from the jobsite, you remov ethe stabilizer bars, then swap the wheels back to the bucket side.

sounds like the 3pt hoe, since it will be settin gon a tractor is quite a bit less work to setup and move, and sounds like it does no worse of a job.. with the flip side being if you need a hoe at a small job, you just hitch the towable one up and go, vs having to hitch a trailer and load up a tractor

the towable hoe also sounds like it's downside id the 8-12 hp engine and 3-4 gpm pump vs the higher capacity pump on a 3pt unit with a pto pump..

wonder how good them chinese engines are for running hours / lifespan? then again.. don't sound like something that will get even as many hours on it as a lawnmower..

decisions.. decisions..

am leaning toward 3pt. as always, thanks for your insite. I've never played on either of those little hoes, though i have driven a komatsu tracked hoe ( small unit, plus a bob cat with a hoe front attachment... oh and out 580l at work..

soundguy

 

[Brad_Blazer]

The Woods 750 is heavier duty, first tier Made in USA, and significantly less expensive. If you don't need to dig where your tractor can't go it sounds like a better deal.

Are you sure you can't dig a pond with a loader? You must be in the part of CF that isn't sand. My loader will dig pretty good in red clay especially if there is some moisture.

 

[Ductape]

I had a Woods 6500, no PTO pump, but like new condition. I got around 3 grandish when I sold it.

It was a really nice little backhoe.

 

[Sherweld]

I built a CAD Digger quite a few years ago and did things with it that I never could have done as well with tractor mounted.

An example would be getting lowered over and perched on a steep sloping rockery while hitched to a 4WD pickup truck, to dig up a plugged septic drain field elbow through (very) hard frozen ground and snow in mid winter.

Another was fabricating a short leg and foot for one side of the digger to allow digging over six feet deep and fairly flush along a couple of house foundations for new curtain drains.

As for speed, as I recall it took about three hours to dig a two foot waterline trench for a hundred and twenty feet along and in a one hundred year old, and very well packed gravel driveway.

I could go on, but the main advantage as I saw it was that the tractor was free to move dirt, bring in gravel, bedding material, etc. while the digger just dug.

I would agree that tractor mounted hoe (once mounted) is faster in most cases, but more often than not, it was really handy to have that digger ready to dig at a moments notice with no mounting to the tractor needed.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[PILOON]

cool.. so then you have used both.. that's the info I needed to hear.

Ithe towable hoe also sounds like it's downside id the 8-12 hp engine and 3-4 gpm pump vs the higher capacity pump on a 3pt unit with a pto pump..

soundguy

Not really.
I have used many small tracked excavators and can say that the towed units with a mere 5-6 hp dig and swing just as fast as any mini ex's.
The tear out power is also impressive in earth and rocky soil.
The only downside I found to be were displacement.
Set up, ie change over from towing to digging status is but mere 5 mins or so.
Remember it is the hydraulics that do the work and PSI's are just that, no matter what drives the pump.
Having a tractor we resorted to never swapping the wheels from tow to dig, instead we simply hooked the digger bucket into the FEL bucket and trailed it from place to place.
On the plus side, being a separate unit the FEL was always available allowing a second operator to move stock without swapping seats and stowing the digger stc.
Much faster to jump from one machine to the other than retracting a boom, the outriggers and swinging seat around etc.
Mind you I'd say this only applies to a CUT + towable set up and not to a, say, Case 580 comparison.
Much also depends on price as well.
A towable at $2000 ish vs a 3-point BH at $4000 ish would IMHO be an excellent option to consider for that occasional DIY (dig it yourself,LOL) need.

 

[Soundguy]

i'd likely leave this hoe on a tractor permanently.. just pic one of the ones I don't use alot.. etc..

i'm gonna go look at the hoe again this am.

looking like the 3pt is better than the tow behind..

soundguy