WinterDeere
Super Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2011
- Messages
- 5,604
- Location
- Philadelphia
- Tractor
- John Deere 3033R, 855 MFWD, 757 ZTrak; IH Cub Cadet 123
I've got a few projects piled up, where a backhoe would be real handy. When I bought my tractor, I skipped the $15k added cost of the backhoe, thinking I'd not get enough use out of it to make it worth the expense and storing the thing. That might still be the case, but at least in the near-term, I have several jobs that are going to need one.
I know I could just rent a mini-ex, but my schedule is unpredicatable and very busy these days, such that nearly every project seems to get interrupted mid-stream anymore. My days of a predictable schedule, where I could start a job and see it through in one continuous string of evenings or weekends, seem to be gone for now. So, I need the flexibility to just have the thing here for weeks/months, so I can jump on the job when I get free time, and let it sit when that time gets interrupted with a hot business project.
Deere sells the 385A backhoe for my 3033r, which looks like a great implement with full subframe... but it's $15k. Seems like an awful lot to spend for a few "now" projects, and then maybe some future use many years from now, but not any regular need. I was really thinking I should be shopping the $5k second-hand market.
I'd guess that brings us to 3-point backhoes, which I've always heard are trouble, that they break tractors, etc. There's some truth in nearly every stereotype, but also many are over-blown or exaggerated. Moreover, factors such as usage frequency and carefulness or carelessness of the operator may be big determinants on the advisability of this.
What have you folks found and experienced, here?
I know I could just rent a mini-ex, but my schedule is unpredicatable and very busy these days, such that nearly every project seems to get interrupted mid-stream anymore. My days of a predictable schedule, where I could start a job and see it through in one continuous string of evenings or weekends, seem to be gone for now. So, I need the flexibility to just have the thing here for weeks/months, so I can jump on the job when I get free time, and let it sit when that time gets interrupted with a hot business project.
Deere sells the 385A backhoe for my 3033r, which looks like a great implement with full subframe... but it's $15k. Seems like an awful lot to spend for a few "now" projects, and then maybe some future use many years from now, but not any regular need. I was really thinking I should be shopping the $5k second-hand market.
I'd guess that brings us to 3-point backhoes, which I've always heard are trouble, that they break tractors, etc. There's some truth in nearly every stereotype, but also many are over-blown or exaggerated. Moreover, factors such as usage frequency and carefulness or carelessness of the operator may be big determinants on the advisability of this.
What have you folks found and experienced, here?
