Backhoe Towable backhoe vs Backhoe attachment

[brunswickboy]

I own a New Holland T1110 28 hp tractor and am debating whether to buy a backhoe att or a towable backhoe. The job is mainly ditching, but i would be looking at a thumb for lifting. Any thoughts on which one is better?

 

[irwin]

I own a New Holland T1110 28 hp tractor and am debating whether to buy a backhoe att or a towable backhoe. The job is mainly ditching, but i would be looking at a thumb for lifting. Any thoughts on which one is better?

Welcome to TBN brunswickboy.

A too small backhoe is better than a shovel..yes, but if you've got a lot of use for a backhoe, and all you have is one that is unable to dig up those stumps or it doesn't have the weight behind it to dig out the rocks.. well, that makes it a frustrating tool.

However..if all you need is shallow trenches, and your soil is soft and free of large rocks..or if your needs are varied but only light digging... the tow behind might work out okay for you.

In rocky SE Conn. I found my needs were greater than my small subframe mounted backhoe. I was fairly lucky, buying too small at first didn't cost me much. I bought something bigger and the previously impossible jobs became easy.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have never used a towable, but the way my hoe horses the tractor around, even when just digging in fairly soft dirt leads me to believe that a towable is useful only for light duty jobs.

The other issue is repositioning. In operation a backhoe is frequently repositioned. When it is attached to a tractor, that is easy. A towable seems much harder to do.

 

[California]

I asked that question here Harbor Freight's little Towable Backhoe and got a lot of good advice. Mostly 'forget it'.

Instead I bought a small 3 point backhoe that was matched to my tractor (was once a dealer option). This is far more useful.

Another thread where I go on and on describing what I bought.

A picture using mine that I captioned with the following comment:

Now that I have some experience I realize it would be impossible to back a towable hoe into nearly every place where I need it. In this picture it had rained for days. Then my tenant's sink drain backed up. It would have been impossible to get that HF rig in where I needed it; any tow vehicle short of a tractor would sink to the axles.

And thinking about it, trying to back the HF hoe along an open trench any time to backfill it would be a nightmare, especially on poor traction like in this picture.

 

[JoelD]

I've owned both, for what it is worth I ended up cutting my towable in half and frame mounted it to my tractor (Kubota b6000e).

Agreed completely on the repositioning comment, not easy to do with most towable backhoes. The larger are essentially mini mini excavators, those look easy to move around.

I'd go with a frame mount backhoe.

The towable, again, most small ones, are very light but very strong, therefore one of two things tends to happen, either you are thrown around like a bucking bronco rider (can be fund at times) or you hook a rock or stump that you've got the power to pull out but not enough weight in the machine and you end up rear in the air and object still on the ground.

They are amazing strong machines though.

Joel

 

[dfkrug]

Wait a minute here. There are several misconceptions here about these
towable mini diggers.

First, these units (like the one from HF Tools, or one of many CADDigger
models) are for those who do not have a tractor. If you have a tractor,
you go with a hoe attachment. Even the first CADDigger model (the one
I built in the mid-90s) was offered as a towable, or as a 3-pt version for
those with tractors.

Second, in actual use, these units are not towed. Towing is only for moving
the unit long distances. In use, you lift the outriggers off the ground with
the boom and push/pull/swivel it with the dipper/boom. It works to get you
into the tightest areas, or straddling trenches. In your example, CALIFORNIA,
the HF unit would have been easier, not harder, to get into that difficult
spot. One of my first jobs was to get my CADDigger down into a creek bed
to move some large (1000#) rocks. NO tractor could get in there.

Third, these light weight towable units can only lift with the bucket what
they are counter-weighted to lift. You build the unit to be able to lift
a full bucket of wet dirt at full boom and dipper extension. That is not a
lot of weight. Craning big weights is not what they are intended for.

Fourth, these towable units work by pinching dirt/rocks/etc between the
bucket and the outriggers. If you need the weight of the machine to dig,
they will not work well at all. In practical use, this means STARTING a
hole in hard dirt can be difficult because weight is required, but once started,
you are pinching between the back lip of your hole and the outriggers.

Finally, I had probably 100-150 hrs on my CADDigger 728, before I sold it
and got a tractor, and backhoe attachments. It was very useful and some
projects could not have been done at all with a tractor/hoe.

For the OP, who has a tractor, there is no question here that a backhoe
attachment is the way to go.

 

[California]

Maybe there's a misconception on my part. When working in muck, I thought the towable unit would need a tow vehicle attached to anchor it so it wouldn't slide all around.

I can see walking it into position using the boom, but I didn't expect the pads would resist moving it while digging.

In the photo above, the pads were near useless (sunk to China) and the action of the hoe settled the tractor tires some 6 inches down into the soft, saturated topsoil at each new point I advanced along the dig line.

It's not clear in that photo but there is both slope up toward the building, and side slope. It's the same spot (except more saturated) that I couldn't drive up before I properly ballasted my tires - as shown in this first-day photo from my sig pix. A 4x4 vehicle backing into position there on wet grass and saturated soil would go every way but where you needed it.

 

[brunswickboy]

Gents

I really appreciate your input here. I had been leaning towards a towable so that I could drop it in the job area and still have my tractor to move around, but from what I am reading here, a 3pt seems to be the way to go. Has anyone had problems with the sub frame and mounting their normal attachments on the rear PTO?

 

[dfkrug]

When working in muck, I thought the towable unit would need a tow vehicle attached to anchor it so it wouldn't slide all around.

I can see walking it into position using the boom, but I didn't expect the pads would resist moving it while digging.

My CADDigger may have weighed about 1000# total. I have moved it thru
some pretty muddy spots (self-propelled) and even up my mountain side.
I have never used a vehicle to anchor it as it is completely unnecessary. The
outrigger feet are very sharp verticle 6-in long pieces of 1/2" steel welded
to a large square horizontal piece of 1/2" steel to keep it from sinking. They
grab very well, and rarely sink past the horizontal part. I wish the outrigger
feet on my Kioti TLB would grab so well. Even with my 5500# TLB, if the
outriggers are not grabbing, the tractor is dragged.

 

[dfkrug]

...from what I am reading here, a 3pt seems to be the way to go. Has anyone had problems with the sub frame and mounting their normal attachments on the rear PTO?

I am not a fan of using the 3-pt for a hoe....subframes are much better.
Hundreds of pages on TBN about that issue.

The best subframes out there do not keep you from using your 3-pt for
other implements. There ARE some bad subframe designs that DO make
it difficult to use your 3-pt.

 

[LBrown59]

I own a New Holland T1110 28 hp tractor and am debating whether to buy a backhoe att or a towable backhoe. The job is mainly ditching, but i would be looking at a thumb for lifting. Any thoughts on which one is better?

Piece of junk

 

[California]

My CADDigger may have weighed about 1000# total.
I have never used a vehicle to anchor it as it is completely unnecessary. The
outrigger feet are very sharp verticle 6-in long pieces of 1/2" steel welded
to a large square horizontal piece of 1/2" steel to keep it from sinking. They
grab very well

That sounds like an excellent design. Absent a tractor, that would be a good rig to have.

I am not a fan of using the 3-pt for a hoe....subframes are much better.

I wish I could find one. But for my 30 year old antique I doubt any company could provide a subframe mount. It was blind luck to find a hoe that was once OEM for my tractor. It's not ideal, I could run a much larger subframe hoe, but this is sufficient for my digging drains and stumps. I doubt I'll ever upgrade.

 

[Baub]

This is my Go-For-Digger, made by R.H.&M. Industries. Gofor digger towable backhoes As you can see, it has four outriggers and a lot of weight for digging, and hydraulic motors on the front wheels for moving around the job-site. For moving and towing, you lift up on all four outriggers, pull a pin and the back wheels lift up, with the tow bar dropping down, ready to pull. Unlock the drive wheel hubs (like an older 4WD), and it pulls easy.

I found mine on E-Bay and love it. Don't let the list price scare you... you can find them used.

 

[PILOON]

I purchased a ToeHoe, Cricket model with full intentions of converting to 3-pt (or frame mount).
B4 that occured I got a contract to dig a 350 ft water line down hill to the lakeside in order to draw lake water, so I proceded with the towable.
If I recall corectly the trench took probably 4-5 hours to complete with average 2-4ft debths.

The terrain was so 'wild' that my tippy CUT along with a backhoe attached would have probably flipped a dozen times, so I never did convert it to 3-point usage.

For narrow trenching it does a great job, even to 4-5 ft deep water line trenches as well as ditches. Calling it a trencher might be a better description.

On the other hand, more than a few times I have excavated troublesome barrel sized rocks from drives without any problems. Now lifting and moving is another story, however with my CUT FEL I manage to lift/roll to wherever.

On a budget they do have a place. (I paid $1000. for mine from a rental yard)

 

[8934]

Get a mini excavator, they are made to dig and do it very well.

Construction is slow now due to economy, they can be found slightly used for very good prices. Frees up the tractor, saves mounting and unmounting.

 

[peavey]

Hey Guy's, I am in the process of converting a kubota back hoe attachment to operate from a 13hp gas engine with a 11 gpm (2500 psi) hydraulic pump. Big problem was when I powered the pump up to the back hoe, I blew one of the hydraulic valve sections into pieces, not sure why it happened, maybe too much pressure or hoses backwards. Any ideas.

 

[irwin]

Hey Guy's, I am in the process of converting a kubota back hoe attachment to operate from a 13hp gas engine with a 11 gpm (2500 psi) hydraulic pump. Big problem was when I powered the pump up to the back hoe, I blew one of the hydraulic valve sections into pieces, not sure why it happened, maybe too much pressure or hoses backwards. Any ideas.

Could be either.. Let us know what happened when you know.. or start a new thread and supply pictures or a diagram of the hydraulic flow..
BTW good luck with your project.

 

[peavey]

Thanks Irwin, JJ and some of the other Guy's are pushing me in the right direction. Seems like I had the hoses backwards, so now I am going to salvage whats left of my hydraulic valve sections and put a higher volume pump on the motor. maybe I can get the subframe made and attached to my Gravely 9000 and actually start digging ditches.

 

[peavey]

Okay, new project with the kubota bt 750 c bach hoe attachment. Made a hitch today that will fit on the 3 pt. hitch for my gravely 9000. Thinking of also making a frame that the bach hoe will attach to, so it will be more versital, plus not sure if the gravely will handle the picking up the hoe. What do you guy's think.