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

[fried1765]

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.

How many yards does that mini-ex bucket hold when you need to load, or spread material?
A mini-ex is great for digging, but it is a one trick pony!

 

[shooterdon]

I know a guy with the tractor mounted BH. He does not charge me very much (150 ft trench for power cost me $250). In 7 years, I have had one stump of a huge maple ground down....cannot recall what it cost but it must have been reasonable or I would have had the BH guy dig it out.

A BH is a very useful thing to have when you need it. I do not need it, but my property is fairly well developed to where I want it.

 

[Rmart30]

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.

I never dig out stumps either unless its a building/septic spot or driveway. I cut down over 200 pines from a acre of land and had stumps forestry mulched to bellow grade.. Id be digging up stumps till doomsday if I dug all those up. Not to mention all the ground disturbance id have.

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.

A full size brand new 4x4 backhoe rents for about $1700-2200 a month. A Mid (8-10k) mini ex is about the same . We rent 23k full size excavators for about 3500 a month. That 6k is wayyyyyyyy high.


Most people who aren't around equipment don't realize just how much work a full size machine will do and how fast compared to a small unit. What someone could do with a full size machine vs especially some of these micro attachments is a 2 day job vs a months weekends or more. I had a buddy who had a 3 pt backhoe attachment on about a 40 hp deere. Bought it used and paid about $3500 for it iirc. He had spent well over a month of tryng to clear a few acres he had bought. I finally convinced him to rent a full size backhoe for a weekend. He did more with the full size unit in 2 days than the whole time he had with the attachment. It cost him $800 for a weekend rental delivered. He said if he had rented the full size unit to begin with, he probably could have done all he needed in one weekend.
For someone who piddles here and there with one renting doesn't make sense. If your going to knock a job out renting a larger machine is almost always more beneficial.

 

[4570Man]

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?
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The soil type makes a big difference. How long did it take to do the whole job. Around here in the mostly rock soil it would take a tractor backhoe 15 minutes per stump to get one out. My full size 310 was the minimum size machine I’d consider practical for clearing land and even then for doing 5 acres I’d want a full size trackhoe.

 

[Ortimber]

I bought a Kubota BH76 a few years back and only kept it for about a year. Yes, it worked for trenching and digging up small stumps. The amount of work I could get done with it in a weekend was limited due to how often I had to get off and move. I ended up trading it in on a small used excavator that weighed 6,000lbs. It ran circles around my TLB combo.

 

[Cat_Driver]

 

[JbirdNC]

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

I want a ripper like that. Do you customer build? Or maybe share plans? I have a local welder who could make it happen.

 

[Diggin It]

A full size brand new 4x4 backhoe rents for about $1700-2200 a month. A Mid (8-10k) mini ex is about the same . We rent 23k full size excavators for about 3500 a month.

Most people who aren't around equipment don't realize just how much work a full size machine will do ...

Tilling? Pull a trailer? Sprayer? Box blade? Snow plow? Landscape rake?

Y'all with unlimited budgets don't get how some of us have to combine resources and equipment.

 

[sea2summit]

The soil type makes a big difference. How long did it take to do the whole job. Around here in the mostly rock soil it would take a tractor backhoe 15 minutes per stump to get one out. My full size 310 was the minimum size machine I’d consider practical for clearing land and even then for doing 5 acres I’d want a full size trackhoe.

As I said, really sandy so acknowledge it's a lot easier to pop them out of that. You just said it couldn't be done which is hogwash. The whole job...pulling stumps like 3-4 weekends...finishing it out to pasture about a year of weekends

 

[ovrszd]

I had two on two different Tractors and they were useless now that I know the difference.

I just purchased a Takeuchi TB260 that makes quick work out of anything I tackle. I just dug up a 30 tall tree with a 24" trunk
in about 10 minutes. That included taking down the tree and then removing the root ball.

What did you pay for your new hoe?