Backhoe Are you happy with your small backhoe

   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #1  

Rodger

New member
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
5
I have a JD 4110, which I love. However I was thinking of getting a BH for it. I contacted a Chinese importer and asked them for prices ($4500). The sales man said that my tractor couldnt handle a BH. It just wasnt heavey enough for it. He suggested I look at bradco.com, but that I wouldnt be able to get any real work done with it.

So I pose the question to you. Are these small 3-pt BH's workable? Do they get the job done? Are you happy with the product?
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #2  
I don't have a 3pt BH for my 4110, but I have the JD46 BH. I would note that the 46 is a full subframe backhoe which means to me that JD decided that the 4110/4115 would handle a BH, but that it needed the support of the full frame (which goes all the way up front to the FEL mounts.).

I find the 46 very valuable, but I don't know if the 3pt non-dealer options are as large or as powerful (or if they are more so)

Cliff
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #3  
There is a Great Bend backhoe sitting unused that I find to be a huge waste of money. Now lots of folks here like their little hoes and that is good for them. But my property doesn't have lots of rocks to dig out (actually I've not ever found 1 rock that wasn't brought in by me). And I don't have little stumps to dig out. So it is a waste. Now when I need a hoe, I typically need a real one. So I end up renting and the Great Bend was just a great waste.

A little hoe will pull up rocks (if you have them).
A little hoe will pull up stumps (if you have a lot of time).
A little hoe will not dig a septic field, set a septic tank, dig a home foundation or do any real work like that. Or if it will, it will takes weeks instead of days, or days instead of hours. Now when I say little hoe, I am talking about one that will fit on a 20 to 24hp tractor!

OK guys, the lonely voice who thinks little back hoes are a waste has spoken. You can all come out and dig your collective hole with your tiny hoes and bury me with them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'm sure I'll be out voted about 20 to 1 on this issue.
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #4  
Rodger,
I think it would depend on your needs for a backhoe. Most folks seem to only need a backhoe for a while then it is not used much.
For instance if you are building a house, etc you might use it a lot for a year or so then the projects requiring it are done and it just sits around a lot.

As to the size thing. Well that depends on what you want/.need to do with it. The subframe type are absolutely better than the 3 point types, and cost more too /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

If you are planning on digging a basement or pond don't expect to be satisfies with a small 3 point hoe. On the other hand if you are just digging the occasional ditch,etc then a small 3 point one should suffice. I am sort of the occasional hoe user and am currently looking ( if cheap enough) for a small to mid sized 3 point backhoe. I don't believe I would need it enough to deal with removing the subframe unit when I did not need it, which would be most of the time. Also the smaller tractor 3 point hitches and frames might not hold up too well to backhoe use, hence the subframes are recommended for them especially. A backhoe will jerk the heck out of your tractor sometimes.

Ben
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #5  
I would think you can do more than that Bob with the smaller Back hoes. Of course I dont have one, and overall I could use one to help plant trees, dig electrical and water lines, remove stumps, and dry wells...are just a few things i could do right away with it for my JD4100....as for the JD4100/4110 I would only consider the BH46 from Deere. Its coming down on price somewhat, i dont think they are unaffordable anymore..

Duc
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #6  
Duc, I agree, you can do those things, and probably more.

But I also think that the little hoes are so d@^m slow, and are basically still fairly expensive, that renting real equipment gets the job done much faster. I rented a track hoe for under $250 this summer, dug a 40' by 4' by 5' trench in a few hours, it would have taken 2 or 3 WEEKENDS do dig the same hole with the Great Bend.

For running an electric line, a trencher is faster and doesn't totally destroy the lawn, or if it is a simple pull, I just did a 60' high voltage line with a subsoiler, 2 hose clamps and a plastic pipe . . . cost was $100 for the subsoiler, 49 cents for a 2 pack of hose clamps and $1.98 for the plastic pipe with a 90 degree bend . . . it took about (and I'm not kidding) 3 or 4 minutes to pull about 60' of wire underground, can you do that with a hoe?

Don't get me wrong, some people have great use for the little hoes, but I'm one who finds a small hoe a waste of money.
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #7  
I have a JD 4310 with a 47 BH and I can tell you it beats the heck out of using a shovel /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Honestly, I haven't used it a heck of alot (only 20 hours on the tractor) but it has done everything I expected, which has <font color="red"> NOT </font> been digging a foundation, etc, but several landscaping chores thus far. If you need a "real" backhoe they tend to cost more /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe #8  
I have a BX 22 that is about as small a hoe as you can get. I use it all of the time. The ground around here except for the sand washes is hard. It would take you an hour to dig a hole for a small tree or bush with a shovel. I plant trees bushes ect. I have dug 100s of feet of water, propane and electric line with it. It is slow and it will not dig deep. But by the time I drive 40 miles to the closest rental place drive back dig and then return the rental I can dig a lot of trench. I also use it to dig foundations for block walls and ditches although I learned that I can dig most ditches faster with the back blade. I have never dug up a rock (can't imagine why I would want to) and we don't have stumps except for mesquite.
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe
  • Thread Starter
#9  
So ... Cliff_johns, am I to understand that you own a JD4110?
 
   / Are you happy with your small backhoe
  • Thread Starter
#10  
That salesman was trying to say it wouldn't be able to even break the ground.

Whether it is worth the money ... Who knows I guess that depends.

My second question is have any of you tried to make a homemade BH, in order to save $$$ ?
 
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

2011 MAGNUM PRODUCTS LIGHT TOWER/WATER TANK TRAILER (A50854)
2011 MAGNUM...
2009 Peterbilt 384 T/A Wet Kit Day Cab Truck Tactor (A50323)
2009 Peterbilt 384...
1998 CATERPILLAR D5M PIPE LAYER (A50854)
1998 CATERPILLAR...
LONG 445 TRACTOR (A51243)
LONG 445 TRACTOR...
2006 GMC C7500 DUMP TRUCK (A51406)
2006 GMC C7500...
Caterpillar 730 Articulated Dump Truck (A49346)
Caterpillar 730...
 
Top