Trying to see the real thing. Towaable backhoe!

[Elvin Karl]

My son has a plumbing company in the San Jose CA area. I am considering buying an Harbor Freight towable backhoe or similar for him but I have never seen one up close and personal. I am wondering if any of you are proud owners and live near San Jose and wouldn't mind giving me the grand tour.
Also, have any of you dealt directly with alibaba? I haven't done anything real stupid for a while so.....

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Spend your money on a mini excavator. I don't care which one. Or just go by once a week and keep his shovels sharp...

 

[fried1765]

My son has a plumbing company in the San Jose CA area. I am considering buying an Harbor Freight towable backhoe or similar for him but I have never seen one up close and personal. I am wondering if any of you are proud owners and live near San Jose and wouldn't mind giving me the grand tour.
Also, have any of you dealt directly with alibaba? I haven't done anything real stupid for a while so.....

Forget about the HF POS toy!

 

[Rebeldad1]

Bought 3 mini excavator buckets thru Alibaba. Everything went very smoothly thru them. Would do it again in a heart beat.

 

[Elvin Karl]

Rebeldad1
Can you tell me what company yo went thru?

 

[Patrick Herd]

A bit far from San Jose but we bought one about three years ago second hand. Definitely refer to it as the toy digger but for what it cost it has been invaluable. Large projects have included 150m of trench for power and phone cables, and emergency drains during a storm to stop the house flooding. Back Hoe For Atvs | Topmaq

Only issues with it have been the rubber suspension was garbage, replaced it with solid mounted stub axles and much larger wheels.

 

[4570Man]

Unless your only intended goal is to dig up a line for repair I second the mini x idea. Even the smallest 1 ton model would work circles around the towable backhoe.

 

[bcp]

Some may be built better than others.

Look at some of the videos of the Kellfri towable backhoe Metsa Man used to post here.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MetsaMan/search?query=kellfri

Bruce

 

[Elvin Karl]

Patrick, Thanks for the input. Very helpful. (Actual 1st hand experience. Wahoo! I thot that was forbidden on the internet.) I'd love to drop by and have you give me a demo. My uncle was on a series of hospital ships in NZ during WW2 .
He thot it was a grand place.

 

[Elvin Karl]

bcp
Thanx for the link. I have seen that some look a bit more stout than others. Also ther seems to be lots of pump options, Mpa / gpm.