B and L series bh operators

[Kub39]

I agree with everything people have said above. I bought a new BX25 Friday, Saturday I used the backhoe to dig up some ugly woody bushes in front of the house the previous owners had planted and to dig up a steel pole cemented into the ground with a satellite dish attached to it. Sure glad I had it cause that spade with me operating it would have never gotten that pole out of the ground!

 

[Carl_NH]

Kootenai,

Great - glad to hear - having a TLB will enable you to do the work of two people - its that extra hand and tough arm and thumb when you need it makes all the difference.

What's more important is you can work safer, and do more. I had lower back problems, the BH didnt fix them, but prevented further strain and problems - I haven't had any major back pain since I got the TLB as I work smarter now having a tool to do the work.

Carl

 

[PapaPerk]

$5,000 will buy ALOT of mini excavator rental time.

 

[Carl_NH]

$5,000 will buy ALOT of mini excavator rental time.

No disagreement at all PapaPerk, likely 20 8 hour days at $250 a day average. Can get a lot of work done in 150-160 rental hours and put the wear and tear on someone else's machine. But it's on thier time and you need to plan

I have used my BH for maybe 150 hours total in 12 years, but nearly every time it I use the tractor I use the BH for 10 min or 30 minutes at one time from spring to fall and it has saved countless hours and improved the utility of the machine.

I think it depends on your location, and anywhere it snows, there are more hoes, and a lot of that is due to glacial till, the rocks and stuff left behind - it's really tough digging in New England areas so a BH is a necessity for most jobs.

Carl

 

[tractchores]

I have had mine a bit over a year. I used to rent a mini ex, now i have my own bh65 on my b2920. The nice part is i have it when i need it. Here are some projects i have done: removal of big rocks from trails and lawn, rebuilding a natural stone wall (used the thumb), lots of drainage including french drains, burying pvc downspouts for gutters, cleaning a drainage ditch yearly, moving wood (thumb again), moving big rocks (thumb), transplanting trees, stump removal, digging up part of a septic system for replacement, buryng electrical wires, tree and bush removal. I tried splitting wood with it, but couldn't get it to work, others have. I don't use it often, but when i do i really appreciate it!

 

[jim_wilson]

Thanks for the replies. I am about to pull the trigger on a whole new package and I am trying to curtail the inevitable buyers remorse. ie, did I really just buy a $5000 shovel? I don't need it, but I want it. I knew you guys would help me justify its use.

$5000?? - that's a bargain!.

I went thru the same buyers remorse and hemmed and hawed quite a bit when I was trying to decide whether to buy the BX23. I figured maybe I could get away with just the tractor with the loader - and then rent a backhoe when I needed one.

What I found was that having the backhoe available RIGHT NOW - is invaluable. I've lost count of the amount of times when I was stuck trying to move something - or dig something up - so I just turned the tractor around and used the backhoe to break up some hard ground or pop a rock or tree stump out of the ground.

It's hard to put a dollar value on it - but to me one of the major justifications in having the backhoe is just the simple convenience of it. If I was relying on renting a trackhoe to get all the digging done - then I'd have to save up jobs for that one day when I had it, I'd have to deal with reserving the equipment , and also hoping that the day the thing arrived - that I actually had good weather to use it.

That rock I talked about earlier - had been sitting in the ground since last year in an open trench (dug with a rented trackhoe) - where it totally stopped any further progress because even the trackhoe couldn't get it out of the ground.

After I got the B3200 last year - I used it to clear a bunch of trees off the back property line of my lot - and during that clearing I used the backhoe to pull the cut trees out of the woods, dig the stumps, and then knock down the berm that was blocking access of the tractor in that trench I had dug before. Trying to coordinate getting a rented piece of equipment in for those 1/2 hour and 1 hour jobs - would have been a waste of money and time.

If you keep the tractor long enough and use the backhoe enough times - I think you'll find the money will have been well spent in the end

 

[Luremaker]

$5000?? - that's a bargain!.

I went thru the same buyers remorse and hemmed and hawed quite a bit when I was trying to decide whether to buy the BX23. I figured maybe I could get away with just the tractor with the loader - and then rent a backhoe when I needed one.

What I found was that having the backhoe available RIGHT NOW - is invaluable. I've lost count of the amount of times when I was stuck trying to move something - or dig something up - so I just turned the tractor around and used the backhoe to break up some hard ground or pop a rock or tree stump out of the ground.

It's hard to put a dollar value on it - but to me one of the major justifications in having the backhoe is just the simple convenience of it. If I was relying on renting a trackhoe to get all the digging done - then I'd have to save up jobs for that one day when I had it, I'd have to deal with reserving the equipment , and also hoping that the day the thing arrived - that I actually had good weather to use it.

That rock I talked about earlier - had been sitting in the ground since last year in an open trench (dug with a rented trackhoe) - where it totally stopped any further progress because even the trackhoe couldn't get it out of the ground.

After I got the B3200 last year - I used it to clear a bunch of trees off the back property line of my lot - and during that clearing I used the backhoe to pull the cut trees out of the woods, dig the stumps, and then knock down the berm that was blocking access of the tractor in that trench I had dug before. Trying to coordinate getting a rented piece of equipment in for those 1/2 hour and 1 hour jobs - would have been a waste of money and time.

If you keep the tractor long enough and use the backhoe enough times - I think you'll find the money will have been well spent in the end

Well said Jim, I waited almost 8 years before purchasing my backhoe. If I would have known then what I know now, just how handy having a backhoe is, I would have purchased a backhoe when I originally purchased my tractor in 2004.

 

[deathtoblackberries]

I have had mine a bit over a year. I used to rent a mini ex, now i have my own bh65 on my b2920. The nice part is i have it when i need it. Here are some projects i have done: removal of big rocks from trails and lawn, rebuilding a natural stone wall (used the thumb), lots of drainage including french drains, burying pvc downspouts for gutters, cleaning a drainage ditch yearly, moving wood (thumb again), moving big rocks (thumb), transplanting trees, stump removal, digging up part of a septic system for replacement, buryng electrical wires, tree and bush removal. I tried splitting wood with it, but couldn't get it to work, others have. I don't use it often, but when i do i really appreciate it!

Hey tractchores I used mine again today for a rush job. The builder forgot to bury a PVC drain pipe and I have a tree service coming tomorrow to fell a bunch of trees in that area. I dug out the pipe on each side with the 16" bucket, used the FEL to haul 400 lbs of river rock out to the pipe, pulled the dirt back over it and packed it down with the BH. I was surprised how precise you can be with the BH the PVC pipe was in no danger.

 

[deathtoblackberries]

It's hard to put a dollar value on it

I was quoted $300 an hour for stump grinding this week. :shocked:

 

[tractchores]

Hey tractchores I used mine again today for a rush job. The builder forgot to bury a PVC drain pipe and I have a tree service coming tomorrow to fell a bunch of trees in that area. I dug out the pipe on each side with the 16" bucket, used the FEL to haul 400 lbs of river rock out to the pipe, pulled the dirt back over it and packed it down with the BH. I was surprised how precise you can be with the BH the PVC pipe was in no danger.

Nice!