Backhoe Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul?

[Kendrick]

The one part that seems to have been missed in this whole conversation for not buying a bh is...

use that 6-10k for buying a lovengly used industrial. a nice case extenahoe or somthing of the like where you can just pull the lever and rotate the seat around in the cab and wala you are runnin the bh. a friend of mine who is in the heavy machinery business mentioned that. I did not take the suggestion and may have made a mistake doing so. I payed about 9k for mine which could have goten me quite a bit of industrial grade. the flip side of that argument is you are not getting some one elses lemon.


uses to be used:
10' irrigation pond where the land gets swampy.
trench drainage around 100' of the house so the crawl space does not mold over
put water barges or other drainage in the 1500' of driveway
replace the collapsed culvert next to where i hope to put the pond
trench the varous cables to the barn 500'+
trench piping from barn to greenhouses
work on posts for 20 ac of land
put in a 2nd big dish
plant many trees to stop erosion near creek and make hedge like screen.
remove all the crap the prevous owner has laying around including a 1/2 submerged bug

and these are just the ones i know of and can think of.

 

[valleydweller1]

Have you considered building one of them backhoes that you pull your self around with your hoe. They have some good ones that you can buy the plans for not to much,and if you can weld a bit, couple thousand, and you will have an extra machine that will probaly do all the work you will ever want done.

I purchased a BX 2230 a couple years ago, I considered the BX 23 but I couldn't justify it. At the time a friend of mine had an old Case BH that I could borrow at any time. He still has the Case, but it's real tired and he expects it go give up the ghost any time now.

Now I'm looking at doing a bunch of BH work around my property, hundreds of feet of pipe and electrical line in addition to various road building projects, culverts etc. I now need a BH.

I wish I would have bought the BX 23, but hindsight is always 20/20, right? Now I'm looking at buying one of the UBuiltItPlans.com trailer BH's that Blackfoot was talking about. From what I've heard, they cost about $4,000 in parts +/- to build. My buddy built one and is willing to sell it for less than that.

Would I prefer a BH on my BX? Sure, but a new Woods installed costs $5-6,000.

In short, once you get your tractor you essentially get a new pair of glasses and can "see" projects and solutions you never saw before. Get the most equipment you can, I can promise you will use it.

Greg

 

[3RRL]

I see it's been about a year since my last post in this thread.
Is your backhoe worth it over the long-haul?

Well, to answer that question, I've had my backhoe over 2-1/2 years now. I figure I've done about 25 or more projects with it over the years. That doesn't count the nick knacks I've used it for either. Some projects were big like large holes for my solar trackers and hundreds of feet of ditches to run run water lines and electric, etc. Some small too. But after figuring what it would cost in time and money to rent one or sub out the work, I'm pretty sure I'm way ahead having bought one.

For me to rent in my area would be about $500 bucks a pop since I'd need to take off work Friday and Monday for the pick up and return. Maybe double that if you figure lost wages on those days, fuel and trailer time, but at least that. To sub out the work your looking at a minimum of $500 as well by the time a guy and operator gets to the property and does the work... and that's probably a fair average in my area.

I paid under $5,000 for my Nardi back then so I figure that I'm ahead in the long run. It still runs great and I'm sure there will be more and more projects coming up.

 

[LOOPHOLE]

I don't know which would be worse/ Having to buy a backhoe or give one up! Sure would hate to pull that $ out of my pocket- at the same time the tractor I bought already had one on it and it sure comes in handy.

 

[alchemysa]

In short, once you get your tractor you essentially get a new pair of glasses and can "see" projects and solutions you never saw before. Get the most equipment you can, I can promise you will use it. Greg

Thats a great way to describe it! Unexpected projects 'appear' and become reality because the hard work is no longer a problem. It just becomes a case of "Do i want a trench there or not". (Instead of "Do I really have to dig a ********* trench all the way to there!!")

I had to dig up a 10 squ yard slab of concrete over the weekend. The backhoe handled that easily but the best part was that, instead of making 3 expensive trips to the dump to get rid of it, I just dug a big hole with the BH and FEL and buried it. Beautiful!

 

[Builder]

Each one of my jobs involves 3K-7K of backhoe work. I do 2 or 3 of those jobs per year. I spent 50K on my backhoe, so it should pay for itself in 4-5 years. That doesn't count all the help it's provided in lifting lumber, moving snow, leveling driveways, knocking trees over, etc.

Plus I have the conveniece of having it immediately when I need it. I don't have to wait for an excavator to show up or a rental.

I never fully bought the "rental equipment" arguement in a dollar for dollar comparison. Rental companies will rent you a claw hammer too, but most people own one because there's times when you need it off and on every other day for a month. A rental will just sit there unused wasting money.

God willing, I hope to be able to keep a backhoe in my business for as long as I stay in business.

 

[swampvol]

It just becomes a case of "Do i want a trench there or not". (Instead of "Do I really have to dig a ********* trench all the way to there!!")

Thats classic!



Great thread. I too am on the fence of whether or not to fork out the doe for a hoe. I do a fair amount of trenching in my line of work to lay conduit but find a ditch witch to be a lot quicker...but thats all it will do.

 

[Runner]

Everyone needs a hoe!

 

[Builder]

Everyone needs a hoe!

That ain't a hoe, that's a mechanical shovel.

 

[Cade]

I couldn't fathum the idea of not having a hoe!