Backhoe Curious...

[zionview]

We use ours to plant trees, repair water lines on our properties, dig trenches, help with the landscaping, dig foundations, take out stumps, move rocks, you name it. I don't use it as much as I used to(could I be getting caught up??), but I wouldn't want to be without it. I've also done work for others: it's a pretty good thing to have if you like to barter. I've dug for excess machinery, use of a skid steer, labor putting on a roof, surveying and wiring. I try to find out who wants what in the Spring, get everything done, and take it off for the year. That way the tractor is freed up for grass and the gardens.

 

[Carl_NH]

Would not be without one - this is my second BH and third tractor in 18 years at this place - there are too many rocks in NH and it goes on in the spring and off in the winter.

Tasks - digging or trenching water/power lines, planting and transplanting trees, building walls, wood lot helper holding logs to cut to length, digging stumps, loading/unloading stuff.

Last year we had tree crew in to do some high thinning and take out a dozen trees spread over a few acres - the crew said "we should have brought our grapple" but between the forks on the FEL and thumb on the BH I kept the guys chipping the brush busy and they finished 2 hours early saved me $175/hour. Then I gathered up all the log lengths and took them to the wood pile - with the BH/Thumb of course.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

For the price of a Backhoe ($7,000+) you can just about trade up to a Kubota "Grand L" L3560 tractor-loader with optional L2296 Heavy Duty Round Back bucket and a 110 pound Bucket Spade.

A <$400 bolt-on Bucket Spade is NOT a Backhoe. It is not much for trenching. But for digging holes and excavating and planting trees and shrubs it is about as effective as a Backhoe when mounted on a Heavy Duty bucket.

Photos 1-3: Digging, separating and replanting fifteen year old Blueberry plants, taken December 12-13, 2014 in Florida.

Photos: 4-5-6: Planting Bradford Pear

Photos: 6-7: Use, minimal storage space.


More bucket spade info in LINK:

LINK: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...da-planting-sand-pears-kubota.html?highlight=

You need to remember that you are digging in Florida sand, while some of us are digging in black gummy clay and/or rocks. That bucket spade wouldn't be useless in my clay soil, but it would be a PITA to try to use. No thanks.

 

[Indygunworks]

yea, I don't think I could get a bucket spade to dig more than 6 inch's... would definitely bend the bucket once it hit the hard pan.

 

[jeff9366]

Bucket Spade is 110 pounds of sharp steel, mounted on optional Kubota 397 pound heavy duty bucket, pushed by 1,279 pound FEL. One thousand seven hundred eighty-six pounds, ALMOST A TON, of force on the sharp edge; BEFORE wheel force of tractor is applied.

Trust me, it will handle clay fine, unless, perhaps, clay is dry as adobe.

I do not recommend it for EXTENDED use on any but a heavy duty bucket.

Bucket Spade is the Rodney Dangerfield of attachments: it never gets any respect.

 

[Indygunworks]

You do have me considering one. I will have about 30 cottonwood stumps to pull out possibly as soon as this summer. I am currently planning on using the 3ph backhoe but am worried about that amount of stress being put on the tractor I just found a spade for 150 Load-Quip Spade Attachment | Skid-Steers Attachments| Northern Tool + Equipment

That would allow me to use ALOT of the tractors weight to break through the roots to free up the stump then use the backhoe. Would be ALOT of maneuvering of the tractor and w/out a hydro tranny would take a lot of time, esp w/ the length of the tractor in the woods, but I could see where it would be very handy for cutting those nasty roots to allow the backhoe some easier work.

 

[jeff9366]

No weight is listed for the Load Equip spade. WEIGHT is important, as is a RIGID mount. Stress applied to a bucket spade is huge.

If Load Equip won't hold an edge you will be grinding on it continuously.

Load Equip $150 price does not include freight. Bucket Solutions Bucket Spade is <$400 delivered. I have been using BS/BS for two years and I have never sharpened it; IT IS STILL SHARP. (Colorado is mining country.)

You pays your money and you makes your choice.

(BS/BS has a set of tunnel clamps on the bottom, so you can clamp it to a pair of short pallet forks to dig deeper. I have always used mine clamped directly on a bucket; never on pallet forks.)

 

[Indygunworks]

for 400, I will just buy ar 400 steel and have the thing welded here right around the corner... looks pretty darn easy to engineer.

 

[Raincoast]

For us, the tractor would be pretty much useless without the hoe. Much of our 6 acres is previously (60 years ago) logged, uncleared land, now densely grown over with alder, cedar & fir. There are many huge old stumps that will require an excavator, but our little hoe makes quick work of the smaller second growth stumps. Not to mention knocking down small mountains of topsoil, left Behind by heavy logging equipment.
We will be putting in new power lines in the spring. That job alone will save a significant percentage of the initial cost.
We have big time drainage problems too, which will need long ditches to fix.
Yes, it's a big expense. If you are asking the question, I suspect you may not NEED a hoe.
I like having it, because I can plan & work at my own pace, not worrying about getting a whole bunch of work ready for a hired backhoe & sweating the cost per hour.
And besides all that... It's good fun!

 

[Piston]

I have a full sized backhoe and I rarely use it, when I do, sure it's nice. I don't think I'd be happy with a small tractor backhoe, but that's just me. I use the full sized backhoe more for loader lift capacity than anything. I find it much quicker, neater, and less bothersome to use the stumpgrinder to make stumps disappear. However, there are times where I really do NEED the backhoe, and those times it is great to have. If they made a backhoe that fit on a cab tractor that you could operate right from the cab seat, I'd be more open to it....OR, if they made the M59 available with a factory cab, I'd probably already have one. Even still, I wouldn't be able to justify the cost, but it's nice to have.

It all depends on your uses, and your situation. You can't really say if it's worth it or not, you can only say if it's worth it to you.

If I was buying new, I'd buy my new tractor without a backhoe, then take that 7 or 8 grand I was going to spend on the backhoe, save it, slowly save up some more money, and once I got to about 10k I'd find a well used, but well maintained mini excavator, and dig circles around any tractor mounted backhoe that exists today.

If I already had my tractor, and was thinking of adding a hoe to it, I'd look at the used market, you can get them for about half price used if you have a popular tractor, sometimes cheaper. But really, I think the mini ex would be the ideal way to go.


I personally think that the tractor with FEL grapple, and a mini ex, would be a far better investment and a lot more fun That would suit me well, but may not suit others well at all, depends on your situation. One thing is for sure though, if you buy a brand new backhoe for your tractor, be darn well sure you really want it, because you will lose a lot of money if you decide it wasn't worth the cost and you want to sell it. :thumbsup:


Side note: Be sure to budget in for a grapple, well before you budget for a backhoe. There is no better tool that can make your tractor 100 times more productive if you do anything other than move lose material.