Backhoe Backhoes--who has one? Would you buy again?

[5030]

Never dug a stump out. I have the local tree guy come with his stump grinder and wack them. Charges a dollar an inch. actually nothing as I sharpen his carbide stump cutter teeth for him... Do his chipper knives too, along with just about every local tree company around here.

 

[fried1765]

I have used several sub frame back hoe attachments. I have taken on and off several of them also. I switch implements a lot. When I went to buy my new tractor for the cost of them and the swapping around it wasnt for me.
I bought a full size 4x4 backhoe for $15k. Digs faster, lifts more, more breakout force than a CUT one. After I do all Im going to do with it in a few years , if I cant get all of my $15k back out of it, its going to be very close to it.
If I was someone who was going to have the need for a backhoe attachment a lot, Id look at a dedicated backhoe.

EXCELLENT ADVICE !!!!

 

[fried1765]

Had one (on a previous tractor) sold it and never bought another. Useless expensive implement when I can go to Black Swamp or Herc Rental and rent a JCB or a mini Ex for 250 a day for when I need one. No worries, no maintenance. Come with fuel in them.

Far as trenching for waterlines, etc, a self propelled trencher runs circles around any BH. I can lay 500 feet of trench, 5 feet deep in an afternoon and backfill is a rake in job. Little spoil.

How does that rental method work, when you need a TLB for one hour today, no hours tomorrow, 45 minutes the next day, two hours next week, etc.
Rental for a month seems a bit expensive at $6000 per month.

 

[Jw5875]

Having any 3 pt attachment for your tractor is a learning curve. You must understand the capability of it.
One of the biggest problem I have seen is having a 3 pt backhoe on a tractor without the proper mounting.
IE: 3pt vs 4pt subframe.
Several years ago their where pictures of Kubota tractors with split / broken top link mounts on the
rear housing from backhoe attachments.(operator error?)
Many dealers didn't know that Kubota has a top link support for it. (see pic) both 3pt and 4pt subframe.
Educate and understand what you want to do with the hoe.
The top link bracket is welded to the support bracket so that it does not pull the bolts out / break housing.

I have a Kubota L3400 with a Woods BH80 4 pt subframe AND TOP LINK SUPPORT.
Also I built a ripper tooth which makes digging roots easier with less soil disturbance
than using a bucket.
I have removed several large root balls with some extra time involved, but I am 71
retired and enjoy the noise from the machine more than I enjoy the noise from
the wife! (funny how I can understand the machine noise).

Had thought about buying a mini hoe, but decided I don't need some thing else to
maintain and store.

We all have needs for equipment, just have to understand what they are.

Enjoy you equipment!

JW5875

 

[Thickets]

When we bought our 450 acres 27 years ago, my father in law said I should get a backhoe. I thought he was crazy. A few years later we bought an old Case 580C. We loved it! But we had to work on it for two hours every time we wanted to use it for 10 minutes. In 1997, we bit the bullet, got rid of it, and bought a new Case 580L 4WD with the 4 in one front loader that opens like a clamshell. We have two Kubota 95 HP tractors, a Case 550G dozer and lots of other stuff, but the backhoe is definitely the last piece of equipment I'd get rid of. The loader that opens up is wonderful. Picking up logs, cutting firewood, etc. A great machine.

 

[mikester]

I had a TC55DA with subframe mounted BH with a 16 inch bucket. I traded up to an M59 with a 24 inch bucket.

Last fall I removed a 16 inch diameter spruce tree stump with the M59 in about 10 minutes. Dig around 3 sides to cut roots, reposition the machine, cut the remaining side roots and yank out the stump. The same tree with the old tractor would take 2-3x longer because the BH has less power for pulling meaning you have to dig more to cut more roots. You also waste a lot of time climbing on and off the tractor switching between BH and tractor. The hoe on the M59 is big enough to yank the stump from one position but usually leaves a bigger hole doing it that way. The old tractor was not big enough to be able to do it from one side and I would need the grapple on the loader to do the final pull out. My M59 has a thumb so I can pull the complete stump, move it to the side, then use the thumb to yank out the remaining roots without moving the machine.

My preference is a full sized construction TLB like a case 580 or cat 420 as on the backhoe end and cab ergo they win hands down. If you need to get into tight spaces while having enough grunt to do things and an optional 3PH the M59 fills a nice niche for an owner looking for a single small jack-of-all-trades machine.

I would never buy a 3PH or subframe mounted BH for an AG tractor ever again nor would I recommend one. It is better than digging by hand but is no comparison to the M59 in terms of speed and convenience.

 

[Diggin It]

Wow, it usually takes more than one post to get from a tractor mounted BH to a trackhoe.

I've dug several 8-12 " stumps with no problem. It's not so much the size of the stump as the species of tree and ground conditions. It's also better if the tree has been down for a while and the stump has begun to rot. Within the first month of having my BH and having never operated one before, I pulled three stumps, one of which was a 12" Locust that had been down about two years or so. My ground is very rocky/gravel in that area and it was late Summer and very dry. It took a while mostly due to my lack of experience, but I got it out with no trouble.

I can install/remove mine in 15 minutes or less and can leave the 3PT arms in place.

Obviously a bigger machine will have more capability. Mine is the smallest they make as far as I know.

All that said, there have been horror stories of 3PT BHs seriously damaging tractors due to the way they mount. Mine is a 4 point subframe cradle mount, so all of the stress is taken by the frame.

 

[TnAndy]

Bought an after market (Bush Hog) unit for my previous tractor. Under powered POS in my opinion. No way I ever got my initial 5k back in work done, but like many, I had "stars in my eyes" about the amount of work it would do. Sold the tractor (33hp NH) with backhoe attached and was glad to see it go.

Now I have an old IHI 35J mini-ex (about 8,000lb machine) that would run circles around that tractor unit in terms of the work it will do. I could sell it today for exactly what I paid for it and all the work would have been nearly free.

 

[sea2summit]

You can about forgot about digging stumps with one.

What?

I've got a MX5800 with the hoe and hydraulic thumb and love it. Its first job was clearing 5 acres of harvested pine stumps most between 8-12? I averaged 10 per hour with it in pretty sandy soil. I helped a guy get a really large pine stump out after a storm, maybe a 24 tree and that one I think I had to reposition twice before it popped out, maybe half an hour?

 

[fried1765]

I had a TC55DA with subframe mounted BH with a 16 inch bucket. I traded up to an M59 with a 24 inch bucket.

Last fall I removed a 16 inch diameter spruce tree stump with the M59 in about 10 minutes. Dig around 3 sides to cut roots, reposition the machine, cut the remaining side roots and yank out the stump. The same tree with the old tractor would take 2-3x longer because the BH has less power for pulling meaning you have to dig more to cut more roots. You also waste a lot of time climbing on and off the tractor switching between BH and tractor. The hoe on the M59 is big enough to yank the stump from one position but usually leaves a bigger hole doing it that way. The old tractor was not big enough to be able to do it from one side and I would need the grapple on the loader to do the final pull out. My M59 has a thumb so I can pull the complete stump, move it to the side, then use the thumb to yank out the remaining roots without moving the machine.

My preference is a full sized construction TLB like a case 580 or cat 420 as on the backhoe end and cab ergo they win hands down. If you need to get into tight spaces while having enough grunt to do things and an optional 3PH the M59 fills a nice niche for an owner looking for a single small jack-of-all-trades machine.

I would never buy a 3PH or subframe mounted BH for an AG tractor ever again nor would I recommend one. It is better than digging by hand but is no comparison to the M59 in terms of speed and convenience.

DITTO !!!
From the owner of the M59s slightly older brother,... L48