B3200 Backhoe/Mower questions

[Fireball573]

I have been reading and learning for some time here and thank all of you for the education. I have a few questions if someone can contribute their experience.

I'm tractor shopping and these are my particular needs: I have a two acre yard in N.E. Ohio that I need to mow. We do get a fair amount of lake effect snow, and I've had too many snowthrowers that just don't last. I also have a 50's era house with cement block basement that needs dug up and waterproofed. Also a bomb shelter that needs repairs and enlarged to make it more usable.

I'm thinking of a B3200 with a BH76 backhoe and a front end loader and mid mounted 72" mower. I have worked on construction projects with larger backhoes all of my adult life, but I don't know the work capacity for these compact tractors. Could a BH76 dig down 5' down and 3' out, all the way around my house? Could it excavate a 7' wide by 16' long (5' deep) addition to the bomb shelter?

If it could, do you think this is too heavy of a machine for weekly grass cutting? It's not a beautiful lawn but I don't want to trash it with ruts either. Opinions on what kind of tires to do both jobs, plus clear snow with the FEL?

In Sept. I'll finish up two years with Enduring Freedom, and on my last RnR I was able to go to a Kubota dealer and actually see the size of the Kubota models. I went hoping a BX25 would work, but they aren't anywhere near big enough for excavating. I had thought of the B2920 as a back up plan, but the salesman said for the work I want to do a 4 cyl. B3200 would be a better choice. I'm home again for two weeks in June and would like to go back to the dealer with a few more questions answered by someone other than a salesman. Thanks for your help.

 

[Tompet]

I had a B2920TLB and traded it on a B3300TLB (I had the smaller R4 tires from a B3200 put on it). The 2920 had the BH65 and the B3300 has the BH77. Unless you are buying new or your dealer has some old stock, the BH76 is no longer in production. One reason I traded in was for the BH upgrade. Besides more power the BH77 has full 180 swing and full 180 bucket rotation compared to the BH 165 degree swing and rotation. The BH77 also has dual swing cylinders.

The B3200 has a MMM that rides on the ground vs the B2920 which has a floating deck. IMO the 2920 deck would be easier to handle and better to mow your property. I have zero turn for my yard, and for me a great and fast way to mow.

I think you could excavate what you outlined with the BH65 and that would be its limit. It would take awhile but if you ran excavators you know the difference a larger machine makes. The BH77 with 16" bucket would be better. If it wasn't for the snowblower requirement I think you might want to check into a used mini excavator or used larger loader backhoe (and sell it when you're done) and put the money for a MMM towards a dedicated lawnmower. i see you are in the snow belt so do you want a front mount or rear mount snowblower? The 3200 and 2920 both have mid pto and 3300 has no option for mid pto.

If that is the only two projects you want a BH for what about renting and get a 2920 (or 2620) with FEL, MMM, and front mount snowblower? It is nice to have a BH when you want it and I have used mine much more than I ever thought so for me it is worth it. I hope some of this helps in your future decisions. Best of luck!

 

[sandyc]

Thank you for your service to our country. Stay safe!

 

[jim_wilson]

I have been reading and learning for some time here and thank all of you for the education. I have a few questions if someone can contribute their experience.

I'm tractor shopping and these are my particular needs: I have a two acre yard in N.E. Ohio that I need to mow. We do get a fair amount of lake effect snow, and I've had too many snowthrowers that just don't last. I also have a 50's era house with cement block basement that needs dug up and waterproofed. Also a bomb shelter that needs repairs and enlarged to make it more usable.

I'm thinking of a B3200 with a BH76 backhoe and a front end loader and mid mounted 72" mower. I have worked on construction projects with larger backhoes all of my adult life, but I don't know the work capacity for these compact tractors. Could a BH76 dig down 5' down and 3' out, all the way around my house? Could it excavate a 7' wide by 16' long (5' deep) addition to the bomb shelter?

If it could, do you think this is too heavy of a machine for weekly grass cutting? It's not a beautiful lawn but I don't want to trash it with ruts either. Opinions on what kind of tires to do both jobs, plus clear snow with the FEL?

In Sept. I'll finish up two years with Enduring Freedom, and on my last RnR I was able to go to a Kubota dealer and actually see the size of the Kubota models. I went hoping a BX25 would work, but they aren't anywhere near big enough for excavating. I had thought of the B2920 as a back up plan, but the salesman said for the work I want to do a 4 cyl. B3200 would be a better choice. I'm home again for two weeks in June and would like to go back to the dealer with a few more questions answered by someone other than a salesman. Thanks for your help.

I have a B3200 - with the BH77 backhoe. I believe this model has superceded the BH76 as the current shipping model. Although you might find some dealers that still have the BH76 on the lots. I believe the specs on the BH76 and the BH77 are pretty much the same.

I am actually planning on using my BH77 to dig down about 6ft and 3ft out to do waterproofing on 2 remaining walls on my house foundation. I actually used my BX23 (much less dig depth) - to do the other two walls a few years back. Recently I've been using the BH77 to excavate some trenches for drain piping - and this included dragging out some pretty big rocks.

I would say that you could easily do all of that excavation work with the B3200 and either a BH76 or BH77 . I'm not an experienced operator - but the biggest problem I had with the foundation excavation when I used the BX23 was simply where to put the spoils. The BX23 made this even worse because the hoe rotation is only like 140 degrees rather than the 180 degrees you get out of the bigger hoes. I ended up having to move piles back with the loader in a few cases so I could keep digging.

That 7x16 by 5ft deep pit for the bomb shelter would be easy digging for something of the BH76 or BH77 size I would imagine. Depending on your soil type - go for a larger bucket to drag more out in each shot.

I have the R4 (industrial) tires on my B3200 - and they are loaded. I don't have a mower - but I will say that the B3200 trashes the lawn quite a bit better than the BX did - that had Ag tires. In areas where I drive over it repeatedly - I do kill the grass - and compact the soil. But we're talking about the tractor fully outfitted (loaded tires, backhoe attached, and loader attached and carrying a load). The R4's also like to dig in - especially while in 4 wheel drive - going around corners tends to chew things up.

If the tractor was outfitted properly for just mowing (turf tires - not loaded , no backhoe or FEL attached and in 2WD) - I would imagine it would do just fine.

There might be some compromise setup that would work for both - like maybe unloaded Ag tires instead of the R4's - I'm not sure.

You could always get two sets of tires - turf for mowing and Ag or R4 for dirt work - but the rear tires and rims on these are pretty expensive. A lot of BX owners just get two sets of tires - because you can (or at least you used to be able to) - get a complete set of tires on the rims for about $500. I think a complete set of tires and rims for the B3200 is going to run in the $1500 dollar range unless you can find some used.

 

[jim_wilson]

I had a B2920TLB and traded it on a B3300TLB (I had the smaller R4 tires from a B3200 put on it). The 2920 had the BH65 and the B3300 has the BH77. Unless you are buying new or your dealer has some old stock, the BH76 is no longer in production. One reason I traded in was for the BH upgrade. Besides more power the BH77 has full 180 swing and full 180 bucket rotation compared to the BH 165 degree swing and rotation. The BH77 also has dual swing cylinders.

The B3200 has a MMM that rides on the ground vs the B2920 which has a floating deck. IMO the 2920 deck would be easier to handle and better to mow your property. I have zero turn for my yard, and for me a great and fast way to mow.

I think you could excavate what you outlined with the BH65 and that would be its limit. It would take awhile but if you ran excavators you know the difference a larger machine makes. The BH77 with 16" bucket would be better. If it wasn't for the snowblower requirement I think you might want to check into a used mini excavator or used larger loader backhoe (and sell it when you're done) and put the money for a MMM towards a dedicated lawnmower. i see you are in the snow belt so do you want a front mount or rear mount snowblower? The 3200 and 2920 both have mid pto and 3300 has no option for mid pto.

If that is the only two projects you want a BH for what about renting and get a 2920 (or 2620) with FEL, MMM, and front mount snowblower? It is nice to have a BH when you want it and I have used mine much more than I ever thought so for me it is worth it. I hope some of this helps in your future decisions. Best of luck!

There's some good advice here.

If the only two excavation jobs you think you'll ever do are the foundation and the bomb shelter - you'll get away a lot cheaper by just renting a mini-excavator for a few days to get that done - and just get the tractor without the backhoe - setup for mowing.

I believe the BH77 retail with the mounts is in the $7K range. That buys a lot of excavator rental days.

Excavating with excavator next to the foundation will be easier than trying to use the backhoe on the tractor with it's limited swing radius.

If you see ongoing projects for the backhoe - then that is a different story.

 

[beckmurph]

I use my B3200 to mow my YARD. I don't have a Lawn.
It does not leave tracks or ruts in normal weather. I have R4's. I mow in 2wd in the front yard, but I have to use
4wd in the back yard. If I make a short fast turn in 4wd, it will tear the yard up. I have the 60" deck.
The BH77 has a digging depth of 7'7", according to Kubota.

 

[azbinder]

Actually, for no longer that it takes, you can drop the backhoe and loader, and mount the MMM, and go mow to your hearts content, IN TWO WHEEL drive and don't try to turn TOO short, a B3200 w/ R4 tires should work fine.

 

[Fireball573]

Thank you guys for your insight and advice.

I know there are machines that could do my digging faster or cheaper by renting. It's just that I am going to have tackle these projects over a longer period of time. I hope to go back to work soon after getting back to the US, so most of what I want to do will have to get done on the weekends working by myself.

The dealer had given me a brochure for the B3200 that listed the BH76, I do see on the build-a-Kubota site, the BH77 is the current model.

My intention was to take off the FEL and BH when mowing, and I guess the MMM when digging. I see a few people here having trouble taking their BH's off, can I ask you guys how hard is it to take off and put on a 72" MMM? Better or worse than the 60""?

 

[beckmurph]

Taking the BH and FEL are simple. Takes about 5 minutes to take the FEL off, and about 10 minutes for the BH. I have removed the MMM and put the BH on in under 30 minutes. And it takes about another 15 minutes to take the 3PT hitch off or put it back on. You have to put the 3 point hitch on to use the MMM. You can leave the MMM on with the BH if you pin it in place. But it is not useable because you have to remove the 3point hitch when installing the BH.
When installing the MMM, I need a lot of space in the garage to move it around. The deck is heavy, but fairly easy to move around. Hardest part for me, is to get the drive shaft hooked up. Or unhooking it.
I think the MMM does a good job of cutting the grass. :2cents:

 

[UpNorth1]

I have a b3300su with the b77 backhoe. I have no doubt that you can get those projects done with similar equipment. Everyone I have helped out with it is surprised at the depth the b77 can dig to... That being said, I recently spent a couple days digging ~300' of trench at my house for telecom conduit and if I had to do it again I would rent a mini-excavator for a weekend.

 

[jim_wilson]

Thank you guys for your insight and advice.

I know there are machines that could do my digging faster or cheaper by renting. It's just that I am going to have tackle these projects over a longer period of time. I hope to go back to work soon after getting back to the US, so most of what I want to do will have to get done on the weekends working by myself.

The dealer had given me a brochure for the B3200 that listed the BH76, I do see on the build-a-Kubota site, the BH77 is the current model.

My intention was to take off the FEL and BH when mowing, and I guess the MMM when digging. I see a few people here having trouble taking their BH's off, can I ask you guys how hard is it to take off and put on a 72" MMM? Better or worse than the 60""?

That is pretty much what my situation was/is. I have rented equipment in the past - but found that it was a pain. You've got to schedule the rental - hope the weather is going to be good - plan on being available for an entire day to take advantage of the hour meter time you're alloted, etc. To me owning means that if I have an hour here and an hour there - I simply grab the keys and go get some work done. It gets a LOT more complicated to coordinate everything when you have to rent. Doing it once or twice or a few times is easy - but doing it over and over again gets tedious and sucks up valuable time.

I don't have a MMM so I can't testify to that one - but I've found that I do have an occasional problem getting the BH77 on and off - doing it on a completely flat surface helps a lot. The two upper pins have to be lined up to go thru - if the tractor is uneven it seems like it throws the balance off a little and makes it harder to line the pins up. It's probably just a practice thing and I need more of it.