Some final advice.........

[Bill in VA]

I'm getting close to making a purchase which will most likely be an M59. I've considered every task I can imagine at this point to do with the TLB and talked to numerous individuals for advice (one from the board which I am very appreciative of) and the M59 seems to match up pretty well. I've driven the M59 once and plan to do so again this week. I've now got prices from 4 dealers, including Barlows, with one more dealer yet to respond with their final price. Right now I know I'll get the aux hydraulics front and rear, a snowblade for the loader, an 18" backhoe bucket and a hydraulic thumb for the backhoe. Since I'm getting close I wanted to ask owners about their opinions on a couple of other options/features/attachments. Those of you who have the following, how useful were they in your situation and would you purchase them again:

• Extra work lights front and or rear?
• Quick coupler on the backhoe (I will probably have at least two buckets eventually)?
• Single ripper tooth for backhoe?

Any opinions on the three items above would be greatly appreciated. I realize that ultimately I have to consider what I'll do with the unit. If there is something else someone would like to suggest that I should consider, please do so. For me this will most likely be a once in a lifetime purchase of a unit this size.

Thanks in advance!

 

[BruceWard]

I added work lights to my B21. The parts cost less than $100. I find them very useful during the short days of the year. I have even dug trenches after dark with the rear worklights pointed into the trench.

 

[Bird]

I didn't have a backhoe, but I added an extra light on both front and rear of my B2710. I didn't work a lot during the hours of darkness, but when I did, they were invaluable.

 

[CurlyDave]

Quick coupler on the backhoe (I will probably have at least two buckets eventually)?

I went with a quick coupler for the backhoe after watching a professional operator change his pin-on bucket.

Maybe he was having a bad day, but he clearly had thousands of hours more experience than I, and he was "blessing" the pins, the bucket, and the whole operation frequently and vociferously. It also took him quite a while to do it -- long enough that I lost interest and stopped watching before he completed the job.

The QA bucket attach also means that you can defer the decision on the single tooth ripper since it will easily attach.

 

[ManAtArms]

Bill,

I would definately get the quick coupler....very easy to swap buckets. And I also would get the extra worklights....you can never have enough light.

You might want to consider auxilliary rear hydraulics...so you can run things like a power angle harley rake.

And while you're at it, don't forget that any landpride implement you purchase with the tractor can be rolled into the tractor's financing rate...if you purchase them later, you won't get the kubota rate. I made this mistake.

 

[Bill in VA]

Thanks for the comments all. I suspect I'll go for the lights and the quick coupler because they really don't cost that much. I'm also considering a 12" bucket along with the 18" for the backhoe.
Unfortunately landpride doesn't make much of what I want although I'd love to have it all.

Anybody have and use a ripper?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Just my opinion here, and not knowing what all your going to do with the tractor, but an M59 is a fair size tractor. I would be getting a 24" bucket also. If you have to do much work in the trench, it is a lot easier in a 24" trench. We have a Case 580E, and we have 13", 18" and 24" buckets. We use the 24" the most.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thanks for the comments all. I suspect I'll go for the lights and the quick coupler because they really don't cost that much. I'm also considering a 12" bucket along with the 18" for the backhoe.
Unfortunately landpride doesn't make much of what I want although I'd love to have it all.

Anybody have and use a ripper?

It depends on your soil... here, my 12" bucket is not nearly as useful as I had hoped... the adobe will pack-in like cement depending on moisture content.

The ripper can be useful in dealing with tree roots when taking out stumps... the rippers on my dozer make quick work of roots... my backhoe is really too small... even then, I still use the single ripper occasionally...

 

[CurlyDave]

I would much prefer 18" and 24" buckets to 12" and 18".

My experience is much the same as ultrarunner. Dirt packs into the 12" bucket and does not want to come out. Time to dismount and chisel it out.

 

[rScotty]

I would much prefer 18" and 24" buckets to 12" and 18".

Hello CurlyDave. Hows the JD110 doing? As you know, I came very close to staying JD before ending up with the M59 (the Wonder Pumpkin).
Do you think there will ever be a third medium size TBL? Or is it TLB?

I have the same bucket sizes. An 18" - which just exactly fits the M59 thumb - and a 24". Near as I can tell, the 24" holds about twice the material as the 18" and that's enough strain for me at full extension. Maybe someone has the actual specs.

You were right about the rock bucket. Lucked onto a used 75" Bradco with some bent tines and it went cheap....well, something like $1100.....Some gentle work between one bucket tooth and the thumb easily straightened out the bent times. For us guys with rocky soil a rock bucket is the ticket. The Bradco shape with the slight bend in the front works well. The Kubota FEL QA works well but looks crude compared with the JD110 QA with the cast handles. Don't know if the JD QA takes the bobcat attachments though.

About the backhoe QA I'm not so sure. I don't have QA on the M59 backhoe, but don't change the buckets much anyway. When I do, I never do it without my set of tapered line up pins. No pounding required. But three nice Snap-On tapered pins cost near as much as the QA! One salesguy told me that in his opinion (not humble) that the QA was sloppier and noisier than the pin-on type. Anyone know? That would make a difference to me as I use the backhoe for delicate work fairly often. I do a little gardening with it, place pavers, trim branches, and pluck stones from just inside culvert mouth....things like that. All places where a delicate touch is required. So far the M59 has that fraction of an inch contol - might be because it's new yet. My old 3-pt backhoe - on our Ag JD, but not JD - had a lot of power and fast cycle, but it wasn't reliable give or take about half a foot out there at the bucket end. So does anyone know if the QA is as tight as the pins?
oops, I've written a book instead of a post...
rScotty.

 

[CurlyDave]

I haven't seen the Kubota backhoe QA, but the one on my Deere locks up as tight as the pins. Essentially it draws a tapered wedge into a tapered slot.

I might not change buckets frequently, but there are implements other than a bucket which can be used on a hoe. Jenkinsph has a 110 and he just bought the Deere planetary auger which requires the QA to attach to the hoe.

I would love to see a third entry into the medium sized TLB field, but who knows if there is enough room for another player?

I went a less expensive route and got a used Bobcat planetary auger on eBay for $750 including 12" and 18" bits. Steve (Jenkinsph) has been kind enough to make up an adaptor to attach this to my hoe, which will be a slick setup, but which would be a lot harder without the QA.

 

[rScotty]

I went a less expensive route and got a used Bobcat planetary auger on eBay for $750 including 12" and 18" bits. Steve (Jenkinsph) has been kind enough to make up an adaptor to attach this to my hoe, which will be a slick setup, but which would be a lot harder without the QA.

That sounds like a good by on the auger. I've got bits for my old PTO-driven Bradco up to about two feet diameter, but I think I paid that much for the largest bit alone.

I'm beginning to think that the most important thing about deciding which size backhoe buckets to get is to look at your common soil type and get a bucket large enough so that the soil will dump....but not so large it will strain the hoe at full extension. Our soil here is DG (disintegrated granite), a little loam, sand, and rocks. There is no clay so nothing sticks to a bucket and so we can use a narrow 12" bucket, dig by bucket rotation, and really bite down or around the rocks. But a friend down the way has mostly clay-type soil. His soil will pack into the BH bucket if he takes a hard bite. So to keep it loose he uses a larger bucket but digs by scraping and "crowding the boom" rather than by rotating the bucket. It's a less efficient use - but a larger bucket - and as a result we probably move close to the same amount of dirt in the same time.

With 40 acres to tend... do you ever wish you had gotten a larger TBL?? I've only half that but sometimes with I'd gone with a JCB or 580 Case....then it wouldn't fit everywhere. Best would be the 110 or 59 with an extendahoe.
rScotty

 

[rScotty]

I haven't seen the Kubota backhoe QA, but the one on my Deere locks up as tight as the pins. Essentially it draws a tapered wedge into a tapered slot.
.......later.....
Steve (Jenkinsph) has been kind enough to make up an adaptor to attach this to my hoe, which will be a slick setup, but which would be a lot harder without the QA.

OK, OK...laughing, now....you guys have made me a believer in the QA - but only if it attaches with some sort of a taper so as not to shake around. Really, what I'd like is not the ability to attach a different bucket or a post hole drill....No, the attachment I'd like is a long pole to give the ability to reach out and roll a rock that is slightly out of reach of the normal backhoe. That would be very handy working in the creek.
rScotty

 

[CurlyDave]

With 40 acres to tend... do you ever wish you had gotten a larger TBL?? I've only half that but sometimes with I'd gone with a JCB or 580 Case....then it wouldn't fit everywhere. Best would be the 110 or 59 with an extendahoe.

Sure I have wished that. Maybe not every day, but at least once a week.

While I am wishing I also have a preference for the biggest Deere tracked excavator.

But, the reality of a budget has to set in somewhere, and I can't yet use the 110 to its fullest capacity. But I learn more with every project, and I am very pleased with the machine.

No, the attachment I'd like is a long pole to give the ability to reach out and roll a rock that is slightly out of reach of the normal backhoe.

There is always going to be a rock that is just out of reach, no matter how long your hoe and no matter how long your extension.