</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I take it you guys aren't using your loader bucket for stability and braking. My hoe tends to drag the stabilizers around and cause a lot of stress there, unless I get my front end weight on the loader bucket. )</font>
I usually keep the loader bucket up and the brakes off so I can move ahead with the backhoe.
I bolted 2 1/2" angle iron on my stabalizer pads to grab the dirt for traction to keep the tractor from being drug around so much.
I'm sure it does add stress to the stabalizer arms doing it this way, but it still beats moving from seat to seat moving the tractor after a few buckets full of dirt.
Adding an extension on the loader control handle sounds like a good idea, I may give that a try.