Minihoe uses

[BobRip]

I have not used my minihoe much lately, and yet I see people state that a backhoe is one of their most useful attachments. What extra uses have people found for the minihoe? What am I missing out on?

 

[Homebrew]

I am extremely grateful to all those folks who talked me into getting the minihoe. I'm working on clearing off about 3 acres. There are tons of surface rocks in my area...average size of probably 100 to 300 pounds. I've been using the hoe to pry them out of the ground so I can move them and then run the brush cutter. I've also been using it to dig up stumps of 2 to 5 inch diameter scrub trees I've been cutting. It's also come in quite handy for grabbing and dragging large old dead tree logs that are littering the property. And I've used it to dig up some high areas on the lot in order to both level the area and loosen the soil which is then scooped and either moved to the yard or used to fill in the holes left by prying up rocks. I also plan to dig some drainage ditches with it, and perhaps a small pond below a nice little spring that runs most of the year.

 

[pajoube]

Just today I spent over 2 hours using my mini hoe. I rented a sod cutter that was supposed to cut down to 2 inches. Was able to only get one inch and that ony crumbled the sod up. Returned cutter for total refund and hooked up the mini hoe and proceeded to scrape the sod off at two inches. Not as neat as a sod cutter at two inches (that works) but did the job.
I also will be digging many holes for planting in about two weeks.
As has been said before, each attachment is the right one at the right time.
PJ

 

[woodlandfarms]

This will sound totally bizarre, but I use my hoe to help me knock back blackberries.

The crack addict who owned our property dug holes all over the place, in random spots. The blackberries are 10 to 15 years old. Really thick. I live in fear of falling into one of the holes, so as I explore the 40 acres I use the backhoe to tamp / pull stuff out. Think of it as a long prod or a cane for the blind. No dirt digging. Also I can get blackberry vines out of trees with it...

Buried my dog with it as well....

 

[KentT]

I am extremely grateful to all those folks who talked me into getting the minihoe.

Good deal -- I thought you'd find it very useful. As I've said often, it's the second most used implement I have, behind the grapple bucket -- and it's much more versatile than the grapple bucket...

Bob, I think the difference may be that you own a home that has virtually all the landscaping done, and has been maintained... whereas some of us are still "shaping a wilderness" that has not been cleared/landscaped or that was done so far in the past that it has since overgrown...

In a pinch, I find the minihoe makes a handy lifting boom also -- if it's something that can't be easily grasped with the hoe and thumb, you can easily attach a chain or strap to pick something up. The weight of the bucket and thumb does decrease the amount you can lift out there on the end of the boom, but it's still a useful trick for items that weigh 200-300 lbs...

 

[KMA]

I use it for digging drainage ditches on a property with a lot of natural springs. I also used it most recently to put in a small vineyard, both for digging holes for the vines and for the posts that make up the trellis. I definitely could not get by without it.

 

[BobRip]

Thanks for all of the replies. There are some good ideas here. I could have used it to level an area for the neighbor just last week.

 

[toy]

I have not used my minihoe much lately, and yet I see people state that a backhoe is one of their most useful attachments. What extra uses have people found for the minihoe? What am I missing out on?

I built a thumb for mine last year but other than picking up a few rocks with it to try the mini hoe out with the thumb when I first built the thumb I hadn't used the thumb. There was two trees that had washed down the creek in front of my place and got hung up. I tied a tow rope around the trees[one at a time] and hooked the tow rope to my mini hoe and pulled the trees to my side of the creek ,shortened the rope as much as I could and then lifted one end of the tree up over the creek bank and between two trees that are still standing and pulled the trees out of the creek. I then clamped down on the trees with the mini hoe and thumb and lifted the trees and I carried them to a place where I could leave them until I have enough brush to burn. I was real pleased with the mini hoe and the thumb. The thumb makes a world of difference in picking up things and makes the minihoe more usable. My thumb is adjustable and as I use it and learn what positions is more effective I may modify it some to make it a little lighter but for now it works great.

 

[cqaigy2]

This will sound totally bizarre, but I use my hoe to help me knock back blackberries.

The crack addict who owned our property dug holes all over the place, in random spots.

Imagine if he had a backhoe.
I don't own a minihoe but, I've used backhoe the same way, reach up into trees and over ditches to rake blackberrys toward the machine. Also picking up things and such.

 

[farm23]

I agree my minihoe is one of the most used attachment I have. I found the minihoe with my thumb is very useful to pull up T-post, uprooting bushes and small trees.

 

[kjm3232]

I have not used my minihoe much lately, and yet I see people state that a backhoe is one of their most useful attachments. What extra uses have people found for the minihoe? What am I missing out on?

bob, as i was going thru my pictures of my wheel motor leaking here are some of the stuff i have been using my mini hoe for just prior to the finding the oil on the ground. the 1st pic is the big rocks that i'm digging out of the ground so i can get a pasture going. the 2nd is the root of a big stump that i was able to rip out and the last is the land i'm clearing to get a pasture in and hopefully build a barn later on in the year.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Man I love NW Mass. SPent a summer there as a kid.... back in '76. It was sooooo coool. All that American history and such a beautiful chunk of country...