Buying Advice MF 202 loader/backhoe

[Carl in CT]

More pics.

 

[Carl in CT]

One more set of pics. I threw in one of my old Gravely walk behind with the MF in the background just for the heck of it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

It is heavy duty for sure. Bet it will work hard.:thumbsup:

 

[Carl in CT]

I used my 202 this weekend and am very happy with it. One thing happened though, it got stuck in reverse and when it finally did come out it worked fine. Later as I was backblading after digging out some stumps it popped out of reverse a couple of times. It also popped out of reverse when I was backing up a hill to get the backhoe into position to dig away at a portion of stone wall I am opening up. I will start a new thread for this question on the MF Owning/Operating forum so if you have any ideas look for me there (I pasted the link below).

1958 MHF 202 stuck in/popping out of reverse - TractorByNet.com

 

[Carl in CT]

Seems like I can get it to stay in reverse by holding the shifter. Had to move my pre-cast concrete steps from in front of my house so I could build a new deck instead (only 2 steps high but still big and very heavy). Used the loader and after getting the proper air pressure in the tires it handled it pretty easily. I just went slow and easy. I was thrilled! This is more than I hoped, I thought I'd end up dragging them across the yard. I am so happy with this tractor!

 

[bronsonma]

Hello Carl--Im from massachusetts and bought a 202 from CT about 10 years ago --It looks just like yours in your pics --could you tell me what the back hoe number is? i have the same bucket as you but would like to find the back hoe that belongs on it --Thanks--Russ

 

[Carl in CT]

Hi Russ, sorry to be away so long. We had a death in the family last fall, then the holidays, etc and been busy plowing, work, etc. Anyway, I will take a look at my backhoe as I don't have much in the original service manual I got with the tractor. I know the loader is a Davis 102 that was factory installed and I have some info on that but the backhoe was probably added later.

In fact the seat is on the tractor not original and I think it had to be removed and replaced with what I have in order to make room for the backhoe. My seat is kind of mickey-mouse as it just sits up a little higher in a round tube someone welded onto the tractor. It works OK as I can either just sit backwards in the seat if I'm doing something quick with the hoe or I pull the seat out and turn it around to face the back of the tractor if I'm working with the hoe for a while.

Other than that the hoe is awesome, very strong and heavy duty. My brother-in-law who is a landscaper was amazed at how big the hoe is and said none of his bigger, newer Kubotas have hoes nearly that heavy duty (same for the front loader).

I will go look for some numbers or other ID info on the hoe when I can but I haven't seen anything obvious on it yet.

 

[sgtD]

I have a question concerning the 202 model. Is it capable of digging a pond? I am going to look at one later today that is for sale for $3,100

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have a question concerning the 202 model. Is it capable of digging a pond? I am going to look at one later today that is for sale for $3,100

Yes if it is ready to work and you know/can learn how to work it. While hiring a track hoe should be cheaper and faster it could be a nice project if you are just wanting some seat time.

Are you digging one on a flat spot or into a bank? Draw you out a diagram to see where you need to pile the dirt when digging. By planning ahead you could dig a one acre lake as deep as you could reach if you keep moving the dirt from the location after each dig. If you could catch a time of no rain you could dig in the bottom of the last dig and keep going deeper.

Now if you got a back hoe with a 15' reach you could get a deep pond at least 50' wide and as long as the property would permit if it was totally flat or you could build a levee with dirt removed.

What do you know about the 202. See if the pump will clear all four wheels by a foot or two.

 

[Carl in CT]

So I am on to my next project with this backhoe which is digging a 140 foot 4-5 foot deep drainage ditch (still need to finish my access road later). 5 feet seems to be no problem, could go a bit deeper. I'll add some pics when I can. Like Gale Hawkins said, if you can dig in stages and remove the excess dirt you could dig as deep as you want, just leave yourself a ramp to get out, lol.

I still can't find any ID tags on the backhoe itself. I have found a couple of others but they look more like tags for the pump or other parts. I have burst two hydraulic lines the last last few weeks. Not surprised, they were very old and in bad shape. I replaced the lines but I did not bleed the system. It works but I would assume it really needs to be bled to work at it's best. Any advice on how to do that?