Taking a look at the BX23

Jim_Becker · Sep 6, 2004

Does anyone know approximately how much that ATI Quick Attach for the BX FEL costs? It's an interesting idea and being able to put on some pallet forks could have a number of applications. TYIA

jim_wilson · Sep 7, 2004

I looked around on the internet and found www.abcgroff.com had ATI listed as a vendor. Jay Carpenter there responded to my request and said that the ATI quick attach for the BX FEL is available at $332.00. I am still trying to decide if I should order one or not.

Jim_Becker · Sep 7, 2004

I took the liberty to email ATI and Jack reports that the MSRP for the BX quick attach is $332 and the pallet fork assembly will be about $741. (forks are forged steel, not bent/fabricated) That was a little more than I was expecting, unfortuantely. I don't know that I could justify that, at least right now! But it really is a terrific product/idea!

bandit67 · Sep 7, 2004

Interesting predicament you have here. You are looking at 2 very different machines.

My neighbor (adjoining property) has a BX22, and although I was considering the BX23, I decided that it just didn't make sense for me to buy one when he was willing to let me borrow his for the occasions that I would need a backhoe. This weekend is the 2nd time I've borrowed it (I now have it for 2 weeks as he's out of town). It really is convenient to have the use of a backhoe, and I made plenty of use of it over the Labor Day weekend.

However, although I am thankful for the backhoe, while using it, I keep thinking of how dissapointed I would be if I had actually bought the BX23. To me, it is almost a bit of a tease. On the one hand, you have a backhoe to make life a lot easier, but on the other hand, it seems that while using it, I keep wishing I had a bigger backhoe that wouldn't bog down as much, and could get the job done a lot quicker.

After some seat time in a sub-compact backhoe, I realize that if I ever do decide to invest in a backhoe, it will have to be a larger backhoe on a bigger machine. It just seems to take a bit too long to dig out small tree stumps, and if I had shelled out 16k for a TLB, I'd rather shell out another 4 or 5k for a larger TLB with higher capacities.

However, the backhoe on the BX23 is definitely better than NO backhoe at all.

SCB · Sep 7, 2004

Here's a few pictures of some stumps I have removed with the BX23. The really large one took awhile. It can do it, but just not as fast as a larger backhoe. Hope this helps.

Big Stump

stumps

dmartin88 · Sep 8, 2004

I have a BX22 and when taking on a big job- I always try to remember that my alternative was a shovel, not a bigger backhoe!

I'm more than happy with my BX22, have 4 acres and use it for chipping wood, brush hogging, maintaining about a 200 foot gravel driveway, moving some snow, and all round landscape work. Biggest job was digging a 15'X22'X3' fish pond-- with the toothbar and the backhoe, it took some time but worked great and was a fun project.

jim_wilson · Sep 8, 2004

That's the way I try to look at it too. Prior to having my BX23 I never owned a tractor and the impetus for looking for one in the first place was a Saturday afternoon when I moving a pile of rocks by hand using a wheelbarrow and I looked around my yard and realized if I kept doing the work by hand I wouldn't live long enough to get it all finished. I can always think that I should have gotten a bigger tractor but in the end the BX23 does most of what I want it to do pretty well - and I know that a bigger tractor would do certain jobs faster, but the small size of the BX23 has already proven to be a plus for me a number of times too so that balances things out. In the end I ask myself every month whether I got enough work out of the tractor to make it worth the payment I just sent off and every month so far the answer has been yes.

bandit67 · Sep 8, 2004

Holy Cow! That big stump is bigger than the whole tractor! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

hosejockey2002 · Sep 8, 2004

Steve, how long did it take you to dig up that big stump and get it out of the hole with your BX23?

SCB · Sep 8, 2004

Hosejockey,
I spent the better part of a saturday digging out the roots, then came back and dug a ramp so I could get the hoe bucket to reach down low and pull out most of the dirt around the root ball. Maybe 4 hours doing that part. The BX would n't pull it out of the hole even with my 4x4 helping. So I spent some time with a come-along and the tractor and the truck pulling in different directions until the stump broke into three sections. The BX then was able to drag the sections to the burn pile. I would guess that all totaled, it would have been two full days of work. It was fun. I couldn't get an excavator in where it was and it was too close to burn it in place, so I just thought I would try it with the BX. It wasn't hard work, Just a little time consuming.