backhoe strong enough?

[cowboydoc]

You can raise the tractor and tires as high up off the ground as the stabilizers will go effortlessly.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Effortlessly and VERY quickly. If I don't feather the controls on my 47 backhoe a bit it really jerks up the back end of my 4200. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

 

[Hoeman00]

I'm not sure if the Deere hoes have flip over
stabilizers (Woods does) but if they do, it
will make a big difference when digging
in tough conditions.
The flip over shoes have flat rubber on one side
and cleats that will dig in on other side.
The tractor tires should be off the ground when
digging.

 

[centex]

The 48 BH just has a metal foot on the stabilizer with no rubber and no cleats. Since I have rocky soil it is not at all uncommon for the bucket to hit a large rock. When this happens the BH lifts the tractor off the stabilizers and the tractor moves toward the bucket instead of the bucket moving towards the tractor. This is very frustrating since I have to then raise the stabilizers and move back to the tractor seat to reposition it.

 

[gerard]

I'm certainly no expert but did own an International 18000lb extendahoe for a while that I used to put in my pond. The pulling action you describe seems to be from using the dipper stick to do most of the work instead of curling the bucket. If you try and just crowd the dipper, ie pull the bucket through the dirt, you'll probably always be pulling the whole tractor because all the force is parrallel to the ground. If you crowd the dipper at the same time you curl the bucket, some of the force goes straight up or perpendicular to the ground. You also have more "breakout force" with the bucket curl than trying to pull the bucket through the dirt. After all, the goal is to get a full bucket and once that's accomplished the bucket should come up and spoils dumped. That's pretty easy to do if you curl and crowd simutaneously.

 

[centex]

That's what I try to do but I think I will need a lot more practice to be able to do it consistently. Of course, my setup only weighs around 6,000 lbs so it moves a lot more easily and since I bent the bucket curl cylinder I am a lot more cautious about retracting the dipperstick with the bucket curled for fear it will bend that cylinder again. Maybe I need to keep a stock of spare cylinders on hand so I won't be down for a month the next time it bends.

 

[MJB]

You can flip the stabilizers over on the 48 hoe also. This would bury the points on top of the pivot into the ground instead of the larger flat surface. You can also buy rubber pads to bolt onto the stabilizers if you do a lot of work on hard surfaces like concrete or asphalt. I have done quite a bit of digging with my 48 hoe and have not had any trouble with it yet.

 

[gerard]

I'd forgotten that you were the one who bent the ram. I wouldn't be real happy with Deere if they didn't take care of things real quickly. You should NOT be able to bend the ram merely by curling against an immovable force, that's what relief valves are for. Either the rods are flawed or the relief valve is set too high. Seems like an in line guage should be able to tell what the releif valve is set for pretty easily.

 

[OkieG]

Tracy,

My tractor is an "old" JD 855 (24 hp), 1997 model. The x55 series survived as THE line of hydrostat JD CUTs for nearly a decade (maybe more). Since the demise of the x55s, there have been two (?) evolutions of JD CUTs. The backhoes also evolved. The 47 and 48 hoes are the evolution, more or less, of the JD 7 and 8 backhoes.

I found a #8A backhoe 3 years ago or so, and am really glad to have it. I am sure the 47 is a great hoe, but...you will find projects where the extra power of the 48 will help get the job done.....You will also find jobs too big for the 48 to handle. However, the extra power of the 48 will maximize the usefulness of your tractor. Who knows what tomorrow's backhoe task will be?

OkieG

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Tracy,

I am in 100% agreement with Okie on this. I have a JD 4200 so the 47 backhoe is my only option. I guarantee you if I had the 4300 I wouldn't even consider the backhoe I have and would go with the 48.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm very happy with the backhoe I have on my tractor and wouldn't be without it for anything. One of the reasons I'm happy with it is that it's the biggest I can put on my tractor. I think you deserve to be just as happy. Get the biggest backhoe (and FEL for that matter) that's available for your machine. That way when you're struggling to get that stump out you won't be wondering "what if" and cursing yourself for not spending the extra dollar. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Above all else, please remember this is just one guy's opinion and only guaranteed to be worth what you paid to read it. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope this helps. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif