Backhoe Are you happy with your small backhoe

jwstewar · Sep 29, 2004

I hear what you are saying about the small hoes limitations, but I want one so bad for my TC24. We have a ditch/creek (whatever you want to call, I call it a PITA /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) that runs through our property that is constantly filling up with sand/silt from upstream/creek/ditch. A couple of years ago we had an excavator come in with large trackhoe to clean the ditch out & later a dozer to do some finish grade work. We paid over $2000. Was real happy with the results until the next hard rain came. Brought me some more soil. Unfortunately, all of the money we had just paid went down the creek /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. I really need to rent a hoe to get in and clean it out again. Hopefully I can afford to get one for my NH here shortly. The digging isn't hard (that is why I can't use the loader, I can't get the bucket full and back out). Yeah, a true commercial hoe would be faster, but I can do this in my spare time and if I kept up on the job it wouldn't be a big deal. And it would pay for itself pretty quick by the time I paid $250 rental fee 2 or 3 times a year.

Now I'm going to whine like I whine to my wife when I want something. I want a backhoe /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Bob_Skurka · Sep 29, 2004

Jim, in your case, your tractor is about the same overall size as Roger's little JD (although you have more hp). You have a real use and you have compared the costs of ownership versus rental (something I did not do).

So for you, in your special circumstance, because you thought long and hard and tried alternatives, I will grant you special permission to beg the missus until you get your backhoe /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

RobS · Sep 29, 2004

I've got a small hoe on my little 790 and I absolutely love it. I also completely agree with Bob Skurka in that these little hoes are very difficult to justify financially but I look at it like this...

How many people will run out and spend $5000 on a home theatre system? Snowmobiles? ATVs? Boats? Woodshops? Campers? Cruises? Any number of other hobby/recreational interests. I put the small backhoe in the same category. My hobby for the rest of my life will be home improvements. I love it and the little backhoe brings me untold happiness in the pursuit of my hobby. On top of that, every now and then I can do something with it that I may have had to pay someone else to do so I get a double smile when I save some money and enjoy what I'm doing.

For a contractor, it probably wouldn't make sense but for a homeowner/hobbiest it's just perfect /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Henro · Sep 29, 2004

OK guys, the lonely voice who thinks little back hoes are a waste has spoken. 

Bob, I think maybe you are misrepresenting yourself here... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I don't get the impression from your posts that you think little backhoes are a waste in all cases, but more that you think yours is a waste in your specific case.

Anything that one buys that he really has no use for is pretty much a waste. For example, if I bought a nice oven for my personal use in cooking it would be a waste... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

On the otherhand a nice cabinet saw would be a waste if my wife bought one for herself. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

To the original poster I would say that I am very happy I bought a small backhoe for my tractor.

If money is an issue, I would buy shoes for the kids before I bought the backhoe though. But if you can afford it and have a use for it, it sure beats a pick, shovel and digging bar!

Tractor first, loader second, all those things you can put on the back third. The backhoe is right up there with the best of the rear attachments, in my book. If backhoes cost the same price as box blades you can be sure everyone would have one.

Everything is relative. You are not going to move Mt. Everest with any backhoe you buy. But a small backhoe is so much better than no backhoe when you use it within its capabilities.

Did I mention that I am REALLY happy with my backhoe?

My kids are old enough to buy their own shoes though... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Edit: Guess I should know by now to read to the end of the thread before responding. Don't think I added anything not already said... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Bob_Skurka · Sep 29, 2004

Bob, I think maybe you are misrepresenting yourself here...

I don't get the impression from your posts that you think little backhoes are a waste in all cases, but more that you think yours is a waste in your specific case.


Henro, the question was asked "are you happy with your small backhoe" and my answer is no. And my backhoe (just like yours) is larger than the one Roger is looking at. I do admit that some people have plenty of uses for them. I have found many uses for a backhoe, but what I have also found is that renting a real backhoe will get the job done faster. I have also rented several skid steers when I had mountains to move and little time to do it. I also rented a small rubber track dozer thingy that was pretty darn amazing and faster than a tractor could ever dream of.

I do agree with you that if you have specific tasks that you need a BH for, then they are great tools. But I also hope that some people will agree with me that these little BHs have LIMITED uses and are not practical for many a task.

I've also found several work arounds that are actually faster than using a BH like using a PHD for planting trees, bushes and flowers. The PHD grinds up the soil into powder and allows for easy mixing with compost to enrich the soil around the new plant. The BH takes out large chunks that I must break up with a shovel to mix with compost. I've just buried electric wire with a subsoiler and it took about 3 or 4 minutes to bury about 60' of line, and only left one line of dirt in the yard without tearing much of the grass up, no way I could do that with a BH, well I could, in 30 or 40 minutes instead of 3 or 4, and it would have made a big wide gash in the lawn.

Bigger BHs have lots of uses. Smaller ones, at least in my limited mind, are often a waste of money unless there are plenty of specific AND realistic tasks lined up for them.

pekabu · Sep 29, 2004

I was looking at the 4110 when I bought a tractor. I decided that a BH would be a good thing for me and since there wasn't one availible, and a few other reasons I passed on it. I purchased a TC24d with a BH.

I think a lot of what I would say has been covered. Big jobs rent something big. I live in New Hampshire and I have more rock then dirt /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. A bh is a big expense, and one way to look at it is can I rent a excavator for a weekend or two and do all the work I need to?

I couldn't. I am constantly putting it back on. It goes on quick, but lately I am feeling like Bob and Henro and that maybe I need another tractor! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My biggest complaints:
1. Reach. You always want more, I bet it doesn't matter what size machine you have.
2. Speed. It could be a bit quicker, and I believe that on my bh I can't always do two things at once. Meaning uncurl the bucket and extend both the jib and the main boom. (This is an example, I can't remember exactly what it is, I just do it.)
3. Clearance. I have a subframe mount, but that's not where I find I hang up. It's the way at the back. I have some short steep grades that it rubs. Not really a big deal, I have the same issue with the boxblade but not as bad.

The Good:
I have also gotten so stuck that I needed to use the loader, the bh, and the go pedal to get unstuck. It also is stronger than the loader, so I have been able to pull out rocks that I am unable to lift with the loader. Did I mention I move a lot of rocks with it? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I just put in a second driveway and it has been really helpful in stacking rocks, and cleanup. Also I am on a corner property and the culverts are constantly plugging. Unfortunatly those neighbors go away in the fall and come back in the spring. If I don't clean them, then I get all the run off.

The best part is I don't use a shovel very often anymore.

It has been a worthwhile though expensive option for me. YMMV

rameye · Sep 29, 2004

I'm in southern Nh and have the same problem...way more rocks than soil. When we excavated my 30x40 basement we got about 5 yards of soil..the rest were God awful boulders!

I have been contemplating buying a used track hoe. For a little more than a new hoe for my tractor I can pick one up. Of course now I'd have a second machine to maintain.

Am I nuts? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Henro · Sep 29, 2004

Henro, the question was asked "are you happy with your small backhoe" and my answer is no. 

Bob, I in no way wish to beat this horse to death.

I just keep getting the feeling that you really are more unhappy with the decision to buy the backhoe than with the backhoe itself.

If you had as many uses for that backhoe as some of us do, then you might feel differently.

I think this is what I was trying to say.

If one had a bowl of ice cream, and bought a shovel rather than a spoon, he would be unhappy with the shovel I would think. And if he wanted to plant a 3' pine tree and bought a spoon, rather than a shovel he would be unhappy with the spoon in that case I bet.

In general I think we are all saying the same thing in different ways.

Either we bought something that is useful because it matches our needs, or regret buying something that could be useful to someone else, but does not match our personal needs.

I get the feeling you are not unhappy with you backhoe due to the limitations/capabilities related to its size, but rather you are unhappy because you don't have tasks that match its capabilities. So you rent something bigger when you have something that needs done.

I really do believe if backhoes were cheap, most people would have one...

Just to drag this out a little farther (wife's flight to Osaka was diverted to Anchorage, waiting for a phone call upon her arrival 3+ hours late) seems to me there are two ways to be dissatisfied.

One is because one spent good money for something he doesn't use much, if at all. Maybe because he doesn't really have a use, or maybe because he did not size the backhoe to the tasks at hand.

The second may be because what he bought breaks all the time, and is expensive to maintain. Or pehaps parts are not easily found. Or whatever...

If one is considering a backhoe purchase (or tractor purchase for that matter) he would be wise to consider both of these areas before making his purchase decision. There are probably other things to consider too...

Maybe the question posted is important too...

* Are you happy with your decision to purchase a backhoe?

VS

* Is the backhoe you purchased reliable?

VS

* Tell me the problems you have had with your small backhoe, what brand it is...and so on...

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Wife isn't gone a day yet and I've become stuck to my TBN screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Cliff_Johns · Sep 29, 2004

I think people are agreeing that if you have a good use for one, a small backhoe has it's uses.

Yes, it's not too useful a statement when put that way, but that's what we are saying. As someone who has the same tractor (JD4110) with a BH mounted on it almost all the time, I can say that for me it's been astonishingly useful and a real enabler. My property looks completely different than it did at the begining of the summer, mostly because I have a BH sitting there ready to go whenever I have some time to work.

I do a bit over a weekend, look at the results and decide over the next week what I should do next. Yes, I could rent, but only with a great deal of planning and forethought, which I would get wrong anyway, so I could make good use of the $300 rental fee each time I needed it.

When I'm all done, I have a backhoe instead of a bunch of rental receipts.

Fact is, I think rear finish mowers are a useless waste of money because I don't have a use for one. As are bush hogs, and cup holders. Heck, if I didn't have a backhoe, I wouldn't have a tractor (even if Bob does think it's just a little tractor.)

Cliff

Varmintmist · Sep 29, 2004

It really depends on your needs.

I have run a family JD950 with a hoe. We used it in a small blacktop operation for about 10 years. It skimmed blacktop, dug trenches, put in water lines, dug a foundation for a barn extension with help from a Case Uni-loader, moved trees and a lot of stuff I cant think of at the moment.

When my father sold the company, the tractor and hoe went to farm work. Now it goes on the back of the tractor about 6-7 times a year. It dug the foundation for his house, dug a hole for the septic, cleaned creeks, developed springs, dug ditches for water, phone and electric, pulled trees out of huge multiflora rose plantations /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif , set poles, regrade banks, and more that I cant remember.

I can think of about 15-20 places I could use a small hoe right now on my 52 AC. About 1/2 of them you wouldnt get a full sized hoe to without destroying a lot of hardwoods, and most of the rest I could do with a small hoe almost as fast as a big one, little jobs.

After they got done I could find more use for it but right now I cant justify 6000+- for a hoe. Some of the jobs will get done with the FEL, bigger hole but it will still be a hole /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. The springs I want to develop will get done with the SBET, Strong (Sore) Back Earth Transporter or wont get done.

They can be handy as heck and will dig anything you want, it will just take longer than a big machine. You are the only person that can decide if it is cost effective to you.