Backhoe Input Please! "Constructive" Positives and Negatives

Big wide tires don't go better in snow, steering all depends on weight per square inch. Traction depends more on tire size. The big tires in the front really help and staying afloat in muddy areas..

My opinion only..

 

Yes tall and narrow is great for snow..

 

Never worked that well for my 10 spd bike back in the day.


Maybe it was that lack of traction.


Sorry Dave, I have self-restraint issues.

 

I have the BH77 on my L2501 kubota.
Same hoe fits all L series machines.

It’s dug 15 good sized stumps at my leisurely pace to clear out a space for a pole barn.
You have to temper expectations of performance with weight and surface area of the machine, dig larger and deeper around bigger stumps and they eventually budge.

It’s not a trackhoe nor did I expect it to be but does a decent job without the general hassle of renting transporting both ways and getting something done in a tight timeframe.

As far as anyone complaining about lack of crawling just reach back with left hand raise FEL right hand on seat switch then press HST pedal - if you have long enough arms I guess

 

I’ve read that when storing backhoes, it is best to bring them up to operating temps for a few hours each weekend!

 

I have a few acres and do a lot of land clearing, both for myself and on a contracting basis, and my method is to use my tractor (2500 Kubota) for just about everything, but then rent an excavator for stumping.

Stumping really requires weight, and honestly the bigger the better. I can rent a 34,000 machine for $6500 a month and it takes 3 swipes to remove a stump, or I can rent a 72,000 machine for $8500 a month and be three times faster doing it, for only $2000 more. The same thing applies to bulldozers...

By the way, removing a stump is not what people think, it is not like extracting a tooth with a deep root system. It is more like a plate of glass on a table with water under it. Once the suction of the stump is broken, they roll right out. The best method is to get your bucket teeth under the stump, then curl your bucket using the bucket itself as a lever. If that fails to work, then its time to yard back on the stick, bring your tracks off the ground and start using the weight of the excavator to wrench the stump free. Just be ready for a sudden return to earth!

 

Don't you worry Dave, many of the small business owners and farmers in the Northeast need /own little excavators. We are a neighborly bunch.. Especially if you need it when its not busy for a long weekend and provide and.., and maybe a few 20s for fuel...
I can only tell you this cause I have met and you and Chrissy and can vouch for the character of these particular flat landers..

Obviously if they drop it off.. It goes back full of fuel, washed and greased..

 

Sorry WeldrDave I haven’t got anymore pictures taken, life has been busy I’ll get some soon. Good luck on your hunt. Take your time and I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Heavy equipment rental is expensive but if you know how to run it you’ll save $50-100 per hour. The big kicker is except for stumping like LodgedTree is doing or trenching most projects are not done with a single piece of equipment.

 

The kicker with rental is getting the most time out of it. You have to get in the full seat time to make it worth it.

Another aspect is transportation. An excavator is faster at stumping then a bulldozer, but for me, the transport charge is $500 per piece of equipment, so to get an excavator, then a bulldozer to push the stump across the field after the excavator rips it out is more expensive then just using the bulldozer to do the stumping in the first place.

I am thinking about buying my own big dozer, but that has its own set of issues too. Break a track on a rental dozer and it is just a call to have it get fixed (been there, done that...on top of a mountain), but break your own track, and it is an expensive fix. However right now I git about 100 acres of stumping to do on my land, as well as others. I am hashing over the idea of being a land clearing contractor here in my retirement years. I like the idea of it just being me, my bulldozer and land clearing jobs. The only person who is currently doing it now in my area is charging $3000 per acre, and the high cost is limiting people from doing more, and the fact he has a high overhead.

 

LodgedTree is doing or trenching most projects are not done with a single piece of equipment.[/QUOTE]

This is true.. why I recommend a tractor. Most implements can be rented for 150 bucks a weekend. And carried in the back of a small trailer or pick up.
Per instance I have a Kubota, snowblower, box blade, brush hog and York rake. rent Harley rake once a year for 150.. It costs 7k and I don't have to store it or pay for it.

 

I am NOT the authority on this at all.

Me...I am limited to a 25 HP tractor for life, not because I think bigger tractors are bad, it is because all the implements I have, some dating back 60-70 years, are sized for small Farmall M's and Ford 9n's. If I bought a bigger tractor, I would have to upgrade all my implements and that is way too expensive. So I get by with 25 hp, and use bulldozers and rental equipment for the bigger stuff.

Rental Companies make money on two types of renters: Contractors and Homeowners. Here, it is not unusual for a contractor to rent a tractor and then let it sit, happy to have it when they need it. For them it is all included in the price of the job they are doing. Unused, but rented out; it is making the rental company good money by not being really used. Think giant bucket loaders in mall parking lots here for snow removal. When it snows, they are used, but the rest of the time they sit and wait.

The other one is homeowners because they rent an excavator and it takes them one whole day to get proficient with it, so they rent the thing for a week so they can get 2 days worth of digging done.

They HATE me. I rent something for 160 hours, I am sitting in it 160 hours and digging.