In spring 2006 I posted several questions asking about mounting a 3ph BH on my NH TC26DA. The dealer (I bought the tractor and BH new together) said the 3ph would be no problem, but about 98.3% of respondants on this site said "NEVER get a 3ph mounted BH". Our area is flat but rocky and I wanted ground clearance and ease of mount/dismount so I went with the 3ph mount. After about 30 hours use (only maybe 10 using the bh) I developed a leak in the rear transmission area - lost about a quart overnight. They picked up the tractor and found a hairline crack in the housing, which required a complete rebuild of the backend and replacing the housing... all under warranty (buying new was a good move for me!). The dealer never admitted (or could tell) if it was the backhoe or just a defective casting. But I decided I didn't want this to happen again so I bugged the sales guy to replace the 3ph mount on my bh with the frame mount (which is about a $300 materials premium) and to configure my tractor. He worked a deal with the supplier (I have a Wallenstien BX600 hoe, it's great) to get the mounting hardware for the frame mount (the 3ph mount unbolts and the frame mount goes on its place) for no charge. I paid him $100 for labour to install the frame mount.
He delivered the whole thing back to me a week later and WHAT A DIFFERENCE. It is much sturdier with the frame mount, and although I lost about 2" in ground clearance when the hoe is mounted (virtually no loss when not mounted, just a couple of brackets under the tractor) it's REALLY worth it. It feels so much better using it, and I can see that the forces are no longer trying to tear the back end apart.
So my advice is the same as most others you'll find when you search for "3ph mounted backhoe" on this site...GET THE FRAME MOUNT.
The other reason - ease of mount and dismount - is also not a good reason to go 3ph. Mine needs me to take off the 3ph arms (remove 6 clevis pins, 1 minute) then back the tractor up and connect the hydraulics. I need to then back carefully to align two hooks on the frame to go around the bottom 3ph pins on the tractor. I can use the stabilizer and dipper boom hydraulic controls to line up the hoe and get this pretty good within a couple of tries. Then I use the dipper boom to tilt the frame up to align the aforementioned brackets attached to the tractor frame to line up with holes at the front of the bh frame, and insert two more pins. It might take 10 minutes all told. Taking it off is even faster, less than 5 minutes. And this is on gravel (I have no paved areas on my property).
GO with the FRAME mount...please. As far as I see it there is no reason not to, and I admit I was wrong in choosing the 3ph the first time around. I have pics of the mounting if anyone's interested.
