Buying Advice To buy or not to buy, that is the question...

[rgr33]

I guess I fall into the largest category here, I would love to have a backhoe, but I don't want to pay for it. Where I live, we don't have rocky soil, but we make up for it with stumps and soggy ground. I am sure if I ever got one, I'd never go back again, kinda like the first car We bought with A/C.
Definitely agree that if you're going to get one, now is the best time to do it.

 

[sea2summit]

I upgraded my fist tractor just a few HP to get a BH. Now I've got two tractors with BHs, I've found lots of work for them to do and if you run out of stuff other people want you to do a "quick" job quite often and if you're of a mind to I'm sure you could make some serious cash with a BH on a few weekends.

 

[ruffdog]

If a person likes to tinker around and play with equipment, go for it. I have run contractor grade equipment and the small hoes seem just.... too small. I do have the option to just have the neighbor (excavator) come over and get a big job done in a hour or two.

 

[paulfun9]

Having a backhoe for me is the way to go. I just went over the numbers that would result in costs for a rental to do the jobs that just the backhoe on the newest tractor would have cost me. Backhoe cost with cash back incentives when I purchased the machine $6000 + tax. 17 real jobs done just for me on my home property local cost of a small rental $265.00 for 8 hours + delivery if you don't have a trailer and +25 dollars if you have to pay for the fuel to go get it. Now consider the time it takes to go get it as time you could be getting the job done also lets not forget the upcharge for better insurance in case you break it which is right at 20 bucks .

So 265.00 +25.00 +20 +my time to go get it - the time it takes to mount and or dismount the hoe from the tractor about 30 bucks when you consider it takes less than 5 min to mount. This is about a days rental at 340.00 x 17 actual jobs just on my home site alone not counting other properties or jobs that paid me when doing things for others. That's a total of 5780.00 to rent a backhoe as close to my home as possible and do the jobs I have already done in the 2 years that I have had the Kioti. So it would seem that I could make that amount a little less by planning my jobs better and renting but then you also have the added cost of more material at one time due to more jobs being done, you also have the added time doing more jobs at once which many times isn't feasible.

Now add into that the ability to simply put the backhoe on for the occasional quick job that the wife decides she needs done like pulling out those trees so she can make a different type flower bed, or when we have to bury a pet or when the power company says this tree has to go because its too close to the power line and they cut it leaving a stump that you can now simply take out in about 10 min before you cut the field.

Yes every ones needs and wants are different and I could have went with a bucket spade or even made due with a box blade and the loader for some jobs confusing the numbers a little but in the long run the backhoe does its job and does it well I could also use and adjustable and a vise grip to fix my car but that darn ratchet and socket thing just works so much better! Could a full size backhoe do some of the jobs? YES would it always be feasible to use a full size backhoe? NO! You can take those answers to the bank because I also have them one that is 12,500LBS and a crawler with a backhoe that is over 25,000LBS and many of the jobs I need to do they just are not the right tool for the job because of size and weight. On the other hand when the Job gets big they are the right tool and only you can decide on which is going to fit your current needs

So to be sure my answer is clear. I would go with the backhoe!

 

[big bubba]

I'm in the "rent it if you need it" category. Sure, would have been a nice option but not enough need to justify. Have had my tractor two 1/2 years and still have no BH need great enough to justify the rental. However, I have several attachments I could not use without removing the backhoe first. So I've saved myself a lot of hassle taking the BH off and putting it back on.

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agree with this poster. how often will you really need a b/h compared to other 3ph implements you'd use for utility? b/h is nice when you really need one, but i'd consider rental for that use, and the versatility of interchangeable equipment around the farm you wouldn't be able to use (w/o considerable trouble removing b/h) with the hoe installed... good luck!

 

[sea2summit]

agree with this poster. how often will you really need a b/h compared to other 3ph implements you'd use for utility? b/h is nice when you really need one, but i'd consider rental for that use, and the versatility of interchangeable equipment around the farm you wouldn't be able to use (w/o considerable trouble removing b/h) with the hoe installed... good luck!

Even my big tractor takes less than 15 minutes to transition from BH to 3-point. I wouldn't let that slow you down...would make sure it's an option.

 

[big bubba]

Even my big tractor takes less than 15 minutes to transition from BH to 3-point. I wouldn't let that slow you down...would make sure it's an option.

if that is all it takes to change out in your own application, and your budget is set for the b/h, then spring for the hoe. but it always pays to do your homework on your particular equip before making the plunge...... best regards

 

[4570Man]

It takes me 2 minutes 30 seconds to remove my backhoe and 3 minutes 30 seconds to put it back on. I timed it , so those times aren't guesses. It might take another 10 minutes for the 3 point arms.

 

[fried1765]

Greetings Highland Hunter,

Last spring I bought my 1st tractor . . A scut . . Massey gc1715. I thought about a backhoe and decided against it. Today I'm glad I chose as I did because I wanted "nimble but powerful". Alot of users of backhoes seem to keep them on the unit a great deal of the time "in case they might need it". That would not be my desire to have this unit on mine all the time.


Plus you have to store it somewhere convenient. I'd rather use that space for a set of forks and a 3 pt sprayer and my fel. I use my fel alot . . But its easy to attach and detach. I cut 2 lawns of an acre. And this year I will add a mini grapple for use with my fel. That grapple will allow me to pick up rock as big as 27" . . or a log or big slice of trunk up to the same 27". That same unit will let be pull/tug a shrub out of the ground or pick up a bunch of branches. Quick, fast, convenient with my quick attach . . and its on . . Its off and takes little space and reinforces my fel focus. And when I redo part of my irrigation this year . . I'll rent a trencher for $150 a day that will let me run hundreds of feet in a few hours.

A backhoe can be a good thing . . But I'll rent a post hole digger or trencher or backhoe for occasional needs at far less cost and no space required. "Nimble and powerful" is the goal

It boils down to the fact that we all have different wants/needs, and are at different phases of our lives.

I am fortunate to have a nice clean Ford 1920 FEL, with 3pt. forks, bush hog, and tiller.
I also have a Ford 3400 TLB ( bucket, curl on forks, and backhoe - it is 45 years old, but I bought it 25 years ago)

I am an old guy using old machinery to play with, but it is all very low time, and I maintain it in excellent condition.
The 3400 TLB will get it's second re-paint this year. The 1920 FEL got a re-paint last year.

I paid $10,000 for the used TLB back in 1990. It paid for itself in the first year, with my new septic system, and extensive personal grading/landscape work.
I have used the TLB MANY other times over the past 25 years. It is an incredibly useful tool!
I do not use it as much now, and wish it could be used to dig my final resting place, but I doubt that the VA would approve.

I will NEVER sell my TLB!
One never does have enough indoor storage space, but I am fortunate to have a minimally adequate amount for all my toys.

 

[sixdogs]

...

I paid $10,000 for the used TLB back in 1990. It paid for itself in the first year, with my new septic system, and extensive personal grading/landscape work.

...
I do not use it as much now, and wish it could be used to dig my final resting place, but I doubt that the VA would approve.

The VA doesn't care; they just hire a local guy with a backhoe and that works out to maybe $300 to $350 a hole. My friend digs them. I used to know an older guy in Maine that dug graves by hand...and he was in his late 70's. He was the town's official gravedigger and never owned a backhoe, only an old shovel.

On the saving money thing, I figure almost all of my equipment has been FREE because of the money it saved me over the years by doing my own work when we built houses, etc. Plus I do work on the side that pays more so my stuff has a net cost to me of zero.