Backhoe To hoe, or not to hoe?

[Car Doc]

I had a water line break, shut off the meter, pulled up the back hoe, after about the third shovel of soup, I put the backhoe back in the barn and called a guy to fix the line. He spent three hours slogging in the mud, about an hour of it in the hole with a short handled shovel, knee deep in muck.

It was $300 well spent. LOL.

I would have stayed with it if it was me a little water and mud is not going to kill anyone its only work.

I save probably at least that much every time I use mine still worth every penny. ymmv


Steve

 

[IslandTractor]

I would have stayed with it if it was me a little water and mud is not going to kill anyone its only work.

I save probably at least that much every time I use mine still worth every penny. ymmv


Steve

We have a small community water system and we all "volunteer" to help when we have breaks/leaks etc. These happen routinely due to the shale and freezing around here. As I have the tractor/backhoe, I am always too busy doing the major digging to have to dismount and get into the muck with the rest of the guys. And, they sure do appreciate my (TLB) presence as otherwise they'd have to dig more so I get to stay clean and be a valued member of the team. Best of both worlds.:thumbsup:

 

[Car Doc]

You are a good man for volunteering I would probably do the very same thing and you manage to stay clean too that's an accomplishment to say the least!

Steve

 

[IslandTractor]

You are a good man for volunteering

We are all in the same boat, it is a cooperatively owned system and if we don't "volunteer" to fix leaks then none of us have water. So, it's one of those not so voluntary tasks. Still, it usually takes just a couple of hours and the work crew always ends up on someone's porch drinking beer when we've finished so it is not a bad way to be freed up from honey do assignments etc. Come to think of it, none of the wives ever participate so we could probably arrange to just get together and dig a hole, stand around for a while then fill it up and go have beers. I may give that a shot sometime this summer.

 

[savageactor7]

Famah fortunately for us our dealer was also honest and forthcoming about the usefulness of the 3PH BH.

His advice was to save the money for other more needed equipment. He suggested to do BH work in the off season. Then you could rent a huge tracked BH/operator for a song. the correct machine can do in a day what would take a Kubota BH all summer to do.

We had 3 large projects done that I can think of off hand and still haven't paid out what it would have cost me for a 3PT BH.

My advice is to save your money. 3PH BH's are for folks that like puttering around if you're into making production they will drive you nuts esp if you've had real experience with real BH's...

...and I haven't even addressed mounting/dismounting, maintenance or repairs. Sure maybe you can dig up 1 or 2 stumps carefully without breaking a cylinder.

But if you have land to clear you need a machine that can dig up 15-20 stumps, bury 'em, and move on efficiently to the next group stumps.

This opinion is offered in good faith and in no way meant to disparage 3PH owners.

 

[Water Boy]

All depends on what you need it for.......



WB

 

[Mousefield]

Famah fortunately for us our dealer was also Then you could rent a huge tracked BH/operator for a song.

Not in our part of the world.

 

[Car Doc]

Everything has its limits that's all anyone needs to know this is a compact tractor thread after all. If a person cant decipher the limit of a particular tool probably shouldn't be using it or paying big money for it but that's my own opinion.

Steve

 

[Scotty370]

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed my BH on my (smaller) JD4200. I've dug out a cellar-way for replacement, that would have taken forever by hand! Waterlines, etc. Even planted trees with it yesterday. Stumps are a "Be-och"! If they're not small, or rotted, they're not going to pop out! That's what prompted me to built a stump-grinder! That said, I guess it's a Cost/Value decision. I really enjoy my BH time, and the 'therapy' and self-satisfaction quotient can't be dismissed. ~Scotty

PS The effective weight on the back of the tractor is also a "plus" for FEL use, but that's a **** of a price for counterbalance!! I payed 3700- on ebay! ~S