Swinging boom - Sideloads

[ki5ka]

I am an untrained and inexperienced operator using an old and much abused Kubota MX5000 with a 4560 backhoe. I am building a mountain bike training track for the bike team I coach.

I developed a very effective method of building beautiful berms; breaking the soil loose, then sweeping the bucket in an arch to form the turn. Despite the fact that I was told this was OK to do by the guy who checked me out, I've since been told by his boss that I have done damage to the machine, putting side loads on the boom. Remarkably, they're still letting me use it!

Can someone explain what is being damaged and what the symptoms would be. Here's a video showing how I had been using it.

 

[4570Man]

It’s not the optimal way to use a backhoe and would cause increased wear but it’s not going to cause immediate damage. I do the same thing with my backhoe.

 

[dfkrug]

Pretty much EVERYONE does it that way, with backhoes and excavators. No problem for the hoe.

What I usually do is grab a bkt of dirt, then use the boom swing, barely off the ground, to sweep soil sideways feathering the swing and dipper at the same time. I then dump the bkt at the end of the swing. Sometimes I dump the bkt against my pile to push the last load down the farside of my pile or slope.

 

[Diggin It]

I think it depends on how much side load you try to move. At least with the smaller tractor mounted hoes, I can see the potential for skewing the dipper stick alignment.

 

[ki5ka]

Thanks for the replies. I've sent a note to the local dealer, curious what they will say. According to the supervisor who is allowing me to use it, it's them that said I had done the damage.

 

[Thomas]

I would wonder if abuse damage wasn't cause before your use...video doesn't show about.

 

[Henro]

These small backhoes are not designed to handle the side force that accompanies what you are doing.

They are designed to swing side to side carrying a load in the bucket that has been dug in the normal fashion and lifted above the ground, so there is little side force exerted on the backhoe assembly.

I have done what you show occasionally with my small backhoe, but it really is not recommended and the best advice is not to do it.

 

[ruffdog]

Just knocking the high spots off is one thing but trying to shove dirt at the limit of the machine is something different. It is not a track hoe excavator.

 

[ki5ka]

.... sweep soil sideways feathering the swing and dipper at the same time.

That sounds like a skill that takes a long time to learn. Maybe one day I'll be able to do that...

 

[ki5ka]

Just knocking the high spots off is one thing but trying to shove dirt at the limit of the machine is something different....

So would you call what I'm doing in the first 5 seconds of the video, "knocking the high spots", or is all of it too much?

 

[Rustyiron]

What your doing in your vid is fine. They set limits hydraulically on the available side loading power. Now if your "hammering" the ground, that is swinging with no load and hitting an object or grade, (shock load) no no no!

 

[Cataclysm]

What your doing in your vid is fine. They set limits hydraulically on the available side loading power. Now if your "hammering" the ground, that is swinging with no load and hitting an object or grade, (shock load) no no no!

I second what Rustyiron said. Your not going to hurt that machine at all swinging through that loose dirt like that.

I have hurt my Kubota K-008 mini-x doing just what your doing, however its just the oil seal on the shaft of the turret slew motor. Apparently on this tiny machine the shaft flexes and prematurely wears out the shaft seal. Keep in mind it has taken 1700 hrs to ruin the seal. I back fill pushing sideways (not hitting) and will continue to do so. It isn't that big of a deal.

 

[dfkrug]

I have hurt my Kubota K-008 mini-x doing just what your doing, however its just the oil seal on the shaft of the turret slew motor. Apparently on this tiny machine the shaft flexes and prematurely wears out the shaft seal. Keep in mind it has taken 1700 hrs to ruin the seal. I back fill pushing sideways (not hitting) and will continue to do so.

1700 hours seems like a lot of hours before this problem shows up. Did you have to buy and install a new house rotation motor?

Note that your mini-X has both boom swing and house rotation. Either can be used for pushing dirt sideways with the dipper. And using either one is not supposed to ruin your equipment, assuming that you are not ramming it into immovable piles at full speed.