Backhoe Are you happy with your small backhoe

ronjhall · Sep 28, 2004

Rodger
I have a 90" 3PH backhoe on my Kubota B2910. It will do many jobs within the limitation of a small backhoe.
If you want one for landscaping projects it would be great. Like Bob says if you want to do any big jobs rent one big enough to get the job done.
On a small tractor like yours I would recommend a BH that is designed by the tractor manufacture. The cost to repair a broken tractor will exceed the savings.

Ken_CT · Sep 28, 2004

Rodger, you didn't fill in your profile, so I don't know what area you are from. I have a BX23 in CT where the glaciers dumped all the rocks. I use the backhoe a lot for getting out rocks & pulling up relativly small stumps. The hoe beats the heck out of the way I used to do it, with bar and shovel. I wouldn't have gotten the machine if it didn't come with the backhoe, but I don't know what you will use yours for. As others have said if you have only a couple of larger projects, then you're probably better renting a bigger unit. The small hoes do more than one would think, but they do have their limitations. The picture is a rock I dug up, it was 71" across, but only 8"-12" thick. It took a while but the BX did it. BTW, we dig up the rocks that work their way to the surface because of frost. They really do a number on mower blades.

aardvark · Sep 28, 2004

I like the hoe on my BX23. Works well, just realize it's limitations. Like others said, you won't probably be digging a foundation with a small backhoe, but it sure has made alot of other stuff easier around my property.

8561 · Sep 28, 2004

In some respects I agree with Bob's original post, in some respects I disagree. There is virtually no way, on a dollar for dollar basis, you can justify the cost of a small hoe. Maybe a few can, but the vast majority of us can't. That said, I have a 7' backhoe for my tractor. For me, and many others, the hoe provides an extension of what the original tractor provided: the ability to a job when we want and at our convenience. For example, I am cutting a snowmobile trail out the back of my property to connect to the main trail system. With my own hoe, I can poke away at the job an hour or two at a time. A construction backhoe would work better, but it would be too large to get where I'm going, and more importantly, I'd have to set aside an entire day or weekend to do the job. I'd feel like I had to to because I spent $400 to get the machine here. This way, I can do the work at my convenience, just like most of the other work I use the tractor for, which was the reason I bought the whole thing in the first place.

Renting for real work is the way to go, and I still do it on occasion. But my backhoe and all my other implements let me do small projects. If I didn't have a hoe, I'd have to hand dig holes to plant trees. I'd never rent a machine for that job. I had a maple tree in my yard die this spring. It took three or four hours to stump it when a construction backhoe would have done it in 15 or 20 minutes, but I probably never would have bothered to rent one. I could name 10 or 15 other jobs like the two I just mentioned. A hoe is a lot of money, but the freedom it gives me is priceless.

Cliff_Johns · Sep 28, 2004

( So ... Cliff_johns, am I to understand that you own a JD4110? )

Yes, that's what it says in my profile. As others have said, it would help if you filled yours in too.
Cliff

rswyan · Sep 29, 2004

( In some respects I agree with Bob's original post, in some respects I disagree. )

Same here, for similar reasons. We have about 16.5 acres (probably 10+ wooded) and have quite few things planned that make having a backhoe handy - lots of stump removal, installation of outside electric lines, possibly putting up another outbuilding, transplanting about a dozen 30 year-old Japanese yews and numerous other trees and shrubs, another 350' of french drain along the new driveway, several small ponds I'd like to put in, etc., etc. Being able to do this kind of stuff as time permits, at my convienence, without have to dork around with a rental center and logistics is priceless.

The attached image shows about 250' of french drain that I put in. It took me probably a day or so over a period of about a week to dig the trench. It probably will go quite a bit faster for the remaining 350' I have to put in - since that was the first time I had ever operated a backhoe and it took me a bit to feel comfortable with it (especially after I slipped climbing on the 'hoe and fell onto the control levers and activated the swing circuit /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif ) Would a small tracked excavator be faster ? Sure, you bet - but I will be doing enough around here over the next 5 years that the amount that I would outlay in rentals would be pretty significant - not to mention the inconvienence of it. Having the equipment here to hand, I can go out at any time, and put an hour or two in on a project and push it a little further towards completion.

aloha · Sep 29, 2004

I have a Woods 7500 on a subframe for my Kubota B7800. It is a great digging machine. The complete subframe/backhoe assembly goes on or off in under 5 minutes, much more easily than 3 PH implements. It is a well-designed system.

Even if the cost in dollars was hard to justify, the savings in wear and tear on my aging back makes it very worthwhile to me.

Jackrabbit_Slim · Sep 29, 2004

I'm still not sure... I've got a BL4690B on my B2710 and when I need to use it, it's great. As Bob Skurka pointed out, when I don't need it, I've got a lot of money sitting in the yard.

I purchased this rather late in the season and probably missed the bulk of the landscaping work that it could have been used for in my area. I'll give it two years to make itself pay and if it doesn't, it'll be down the road.

Slim

GrayBeard · Sep 29, 2004

Rodger,
I've got a 7264 Cub with a hoe and not been sorry .
My place is about 12ac , with approx. 8 or 9 wooded.
I'm busy maintaining drainage ditches along my 1000' drive and several roads thru the woods.
I've also reclaimed some areas of woods to just "green space". In doing so, have dug some stumps that amaze me. (18 - 22" white oak)
Albeit not fast, speed is not my concern.
I work around all kinds of very large "dirt" equipment every day (50 - 300 hp) so if I need serious digging done; those are the guys to call.
To answer your question, in most cases they may not be cost effective but they sure are handy and fun to play with.
GrayBeard

Bob_Skurka · Sep 29, 2004

Does it strike anyone else that Roger has a low hp small frame CUT while most of the people posting who have backhoes have tractors wtih larger frame machines and about 25%-to-30% more horsepower? While at the same time some Sub-CUT owners also posted and stated they loved them but they have very limited capabilities.

Just trying to keep things in perspective here. If Roger gets a backhoe, it will be for a smaller tractor than most of the folks here seem to operate.