Backhoe attachments not popular says dealer.

[soutthpaw]

was picking up some parts today at the dealer and was talking to him about my backhoe mounts.. he told me in the 4 years he as worked at the dealer they have not sold a single backhoe attachment.
I can see where having a seperate backhoe machine would be advantagous but will all the small operators and ranchers out there I am surpirsed they are not selling more???

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Many of the bigger contractor have gone mini ex, but a backhoe still offers good bang for the buck imo. Though with the market downturn right now you can buy a used mini ex for the price of a new hoe. I'm happy with mine and had the chance to try out a 328 mini ex but I thought my 709 hoe had more break out force on the bucket and dipper stick. The mini ex only travels at about 2.5 mph in high range, where the hoe travels at 7 mph with the loader.
That being able to turn 360 degrees would be nice at times though.
Ken

 

[Orgnoi1]

Many of the bigger contractor have gone mini ex, but a backhoe still offers good bang for the buck imo. Though with the market downturn right now you can buy a used mini ex for the price of a new hoe. I'm happy with mine and had the chance to try out a 328 mini ex but I thought my 709 hoe had more break out force on the bucket and dipper stick. The mini ex only travels at about 2.5 mph in high range, where the hoe travels at 7 mph with the loader.
That being able to turn 360 degrees would be nice at times though.
Ken

I would probably consider buying one... if I had a place to put it... AND had the cash for it... but as far as attachments it will be a while before I can afford even the second bucket...LOL

 

[soutthpaw]

I would probably consider buying one... if I had a place to put it... AND had the cash for it... but as far as attachments it will be a while before I can afford even the second bucket...LOL

one of the biggest advantages I can see to the Backhoe attachment it weight and maintanence savings. you can easily haul a bobcat and backhoe on a single trailer probably under 10K for a 7 series machine with trailer, and you are only having to service and maintain one engine...
I was a one man operation when I had my business several years back so having 2 machines would be no advantage to an owner operator setup

 

[coreya3212]

one of the biggest advantages I can see to the Backhoe attachment it weight and maintanence savings. you can easily haul a bobcat and backhoe on a single trailer probably under 10K for a 7 series machine with trailer, and you are only having to service and maintain one engine...
I was a one man operation when I had my business several years back so having 2 machines would be no advantage to an owner operator setup

My neighbout has a backhoe attachment for his case 1840. I have never seen him use it. Coarse he has a backhoe too...

 

[scsindust]

My neighbout has a backhoe attachment for his case 1840. I have never seen him use it. Coarse he has a backhoe too...

I used one for a small job i did about 2 years ago. They are really a pain to use. The soil I was working in was a little wet, and the weight of the attatchment made the front wheels dig into the ground, and that would then make the attatchment dig into the ground. It was a 711 unit on a 863. I found that a 325 Bobcat ex had much more digging power then the 863 combo. It was also very awkward to move the machine around, since you have to climb off the attatchment and hop into the machine. I was actually looking at the unit that you control from inside the cab. they look much easier to use. The one I was looking into was the kind that uses the bucket as the main knuckel and the switch in the cab runs the bucket. The only downside is that the unit doesn't swing around, you have to use the machine. But it was a lot cheaper new then a used fully self contained unit.

 

[Iowa Dave]

I would probably consider buying one... if I had a place to put it... AND had the cash for it... but as far as attachments it will be a while before I can afford even the second bucket...LOL

Backhoe won't fit on a mini. Neither will the vast majority of all attachments. You will soon learn the limitations of a mini--we tried to warn you..... (I know you have a low ceiling and did what you had to) A 463 is GREAT to replace a hand shovel--that alone is enough reason to have one, and they will do a lot of light "bucket" jobs. Its just that they won't do much else. If you are even contemplating attachments such as a hoe, then you should have found a taller place to store and bought a full-sized machine. As far as the buckets-- you have the wide tires, so a 36" bucket would be WORTHLESS. What you need is a 44" toothed bucket for digging, and something a little bigger for spreading, backdragging, pushing snow, etc. All other attachments either won't fit or won't do much.

 

[coreya3212]

Backhoe won't fit on a mini. Neither will the vast majority of all attachments. You will soon learn the limitations of a mini--we tried to warn you..... (I know you have a low ceiling and did what you had to) A 463 is GREAT to replace a hand shovel--that alone is enough reason to have one, and they will do a lot of light "bucket" jobs. Its just that they won't do much else. If you are even contemplating attachments such as a hoe, then you should have found a taller place to store and bought a full-sized machine. As far as the buckets-- you have the wide tires, so a 36" bucket would be WORTHLESS. What you need is a 44" toothed bucket for digging, and something a little bigger for spreading, backdragging, pushing snow, etc. All other attachments either won't fit or won't do much.

Spoke to my neighbour and he echos some of the not so user friendly details about a SS backhoe attachment. Getting on and off being the worst part. Since he has a Case, with hand controls, and has cut his cab off, and has disabled every safety feature there was, he can sit on the backhoe attachment to work it, and also reach back to his SS sticks , lift the attachment, while sitting on it, and move the machine around. That being said, I am just going to toss out a warning that I am sure this is super unsafe and not the best way to go about running one of these.

I am also thinking of putting one together, sort of single acting. Just one cylinder to work the bucket open and closed and using the tilt and lift for aiming the "arm". Work the sticks for side to side. I am a acreage owner, not at all commercial use, so for me I think this will work for the odd narrow trench, and deeper holes. Skid steers have there main function, which they are great at, and with attachments become versatile at secondary functions. I always remind myslef that a " Leatherman tool" is versatile, and handy and can function like many different tools, but are not a great substitute for any one tool. Try and build a fence with one.

 

[mrfixitpaul]

Backhoe won't fit on a mini. Neither will the vast majority of all attachments. You will soon learn the limitations of a mini--we tried to warn you..... (I know you have a low ceiling and did what you had to) A 463 is GREAT to replace a hand shovel--that alone is enough reason to have one, and they will do a lot of light "bucket" jobs. Its just that they won't do much else. If you are even contemplating attachments such as a hoe, then you should have found a taller place to store and bought a full-sized machine. As far as the buckets-- you have the wide tires, so a 36" bucket would be WORTHLESS. What you need is a 44" toothed bucket for digging, and something a little bigger for spreading, backdragging, pushing snow, etc. All other attachments either won't fit or won't do much.

Bobcat used to make a backhoe attachment for the minis, not sure if they still do, though. The operator stayed in the machine to run it....probably not too good for visibility, but better than a spade.

 

[frank b]

Bobcat used to make a backhoe attachment for the minis, not sure if they still do, though. The operator stayed in the machine to run it....probably not too good for visibility, but better than a spade.

If you are going to use a hoe often, get a back hoe or mini-ex big enough to do the job and then some. If your rarely going to use a hoe, get an attachment. A good friend of mine used to have a Case skidloader with a backhoe attachment. It worked well for the homeowner, but was a pain to get on and off of. He now has a small kubota tractor with backhoe attachment, does a good job but is a pain to use since it's not a part of the original machine, it's a 3-point attachment. I used it for a solid day and cussed it properly. If your going to spend a full day at a time in it, get the machine that's purpose built.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

If you are going to use a hoe often, get a back hoe or mini-ex big enough to do the job and then some. If your rarely going to use a hoe, get an attachment. A good friend of mine used to have a Case skidloader with a backhoe attachment. It worked well for the homeowner, but was a pain to get on and off of. He now has a small kubota tractor with backhoe attachment, does a good job but is a pain to use since it's not a part of the original machine, it's a 3-point attachment. I used it for a solid day and cussed it properly. If your going to spend a full day at a time in it, get the machine that's purpose built.

With my 773 and 709 hoe combo, I just leave the parking brake off for all but the toughest digging and reach back from the hoe seat to the steering levers to drive it around when digging. No need to climb into the cab. Might not work if your a smaller person but at 5'10" I have no trouble doing this. The only improvement I could see, would be to wire the park brake switch out to the hoe or onto a steering lever.
Ken

 

[soutthpaw]

With my 773 and 709 hoe combo, I just leave the parking brake off for all but the toughest digging and reach back from the hoe seat to the steering levers to drive it around when digging. No need to climb into the cab. Might not work if your a smaller person but at 5'10" I have no trouble doing this. The only improvement I could see, would be to wire the park brake switch out to the hoe or onto a steering lever.
Ken

I can reach back to the steering levers too. I can also reach the switch for the rear stabilizers while sitting on the bakhoe... from what I have seen most of the mini excavators have much smaller capacity buckets than the Backhoe Attachments like 709, 8709, 811, 911 etc. mine has the 12" standard capacity, would like to get a second bucket maybe a 18-20ish inch one

 

[jjb16033]

I can reach back to the steering levers too. I can also reach the switch for the rear stabilizers while sitting on the bakhoe... from what I have seen most of the mini excavators have much smaller capacity buckets than the Backhoe Attachments like 709, 8709, 811, 911 etc. mine has the 12" standard capacity, would like to get a second bucket maybe a 18-20ish inch one

I have a 843B bobcat with a 709 backhoe attatchment i bought on ebay for $2500. and it is perfect. I was looking for two years for one and i could not find any under $5000. and a new one was $10,000. plus. There was no way i was buying a new one that is why i think no one else is buying a new one because of the price. I have a two foot bucket and have no problem digging with it.

 

[soutthpaw]

I have a 843B bobcat with a 709 backhoe attatchment i bought on ebay for $2500. and it is perfect. I was looking for two years for one and i could not find any under $5000. and a new one was $10,000. plus. There was no way i was buying a new one that is why i think no one else is buying a new one because of the price. I have a two foot bucket and have no problem digging with it.

I know what u mean about trying to find one. As I mentioned before I ended up driving to Reno NV and back to get mine. I looked at 2 at local auctions but they were both 8709's for the vertical lift machines so I would have to modify them to fit the 753. Though the specs for the 8709 and 709 were almost identical otherwise. One at auction went for $3750 in ok condition and the next auction had a real nice one but figured it would sell for even more... I guess they are not popular new due to cost but on the used market there seems to be a big demand for them... Most of the ones I saw in decent shape were going for $4-7K
Glad to know the 709 can run the 24" bucket without feeling overloaded. I am keeping my eye out for a wider bucket too as mine had the 12" one now.. However it's still a pretty deep and good sized bucket compared to the mini excavator buckets I have seen at the dealer. May even buy a used bucket at auction and modify the mounts to fit the 709
Initally I wanted the fold down stabilizers but after getting the vertical stabilizer version I realized that it has benefits too. for example I am going to be doing some digging between my house and garage which is about 8 feet wide... so the fold down stablizers would not work in that situation...
One feature I would like to add, maybe someone has a suggestion is a way to adjust the swing speed of the boom side to side. saw another brand (bradco I think) and it had a knob to adjust how fast the swing side to side was .

 

[farmboy55]

I know what u mean about trying to find one. As I mentioned before I ended up driving to Reno NV and back to get mine. I looked at 2 at local auctions but they were both 8709's for the vertical lift machines so I would have to modify them to fit the 753. Though the specs for the 8709 and 709 were almost identical otherwise. One at auction went for $3750 in ok condition and the next auction had a real nice one but figured it would sell for even more... I guess they are not popular new due to cost but on the used market there seems to be a big demand for them... Most of the ones I saw in decent shape were going for $4-7K
Glad to know the 709 can run the 24" bucket without feeling overloaded. I am keeping my eye out for a wider bucket too as mine had the 12" one now.. However it's still a pretty deep and good sized bucket compared to the mini excavator buckets I have seen at the dealer. May even buy a used bucket at auction and modify the mounts to fit the 709
Initally I wanted the fold down stabilizers but after getting the vertical stabilizer version I realized that it has benefits too. for example I am going to be doing some digging between my house and garage which is about 8 feet wide... so the fold down stablizers would not work in that situation...
One feature I would like to add, maybe someone has a suggestion is a way to adjust the swing speed of the boom side to side. saw another brand (bradco I think) and it had a knob to adjust how fast the swing side to side was .

If your boom swing is too fast, sounds like someone replace a hyd line and lost the restricter out of it. I didn't it was in the fitting for the hyd line that operaters the swing until I blew one and it fell out when I unhooked the line.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

If your boom swing is too fast, sounds like someone replace a hyd line and lost the restricter out of it. I didn't it was in the fitting for the hyd line that operaters the swing until I blew one and it fell out when I unhooked the line.

I got a couple flow restrictor needle valves from surplus center for @ 30 each. Then I could dial the speed either fast or slow as needed.
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009102907201480&item=9-5302-25&catname=hydraulic
Ken

 

[soutthpaw]

I got a couple flow restrictor needle valves from surplus center for @ 30 each. Then I could dial the speed either fast or slow as needed.
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009102907201480&item=9-5302-25&catname=hydraulic
Ken

Great, thats what I am looking for... I have one of their old catalogs but was not sure exactly what I needed

 

[Chandler]

I got a couple flow restrictor needle valves from surplus center for @ 30 each. Then I could dial the speed either fast or slow as needed.
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009102907201480&item=9-5302-25&catname=hydraulic
Ken

After reading this thread I thought that I would try the solution mentioned above. I've have a problem with the grapple arm on the bucket moving too fast, so I got a couple of those flow restrictor needle valves from surplus center. Upon looking at them, I noticed they are different on each end. Of course the threaded part is the same, but inside the valve it is open at one end and a smaller hole at the other. Does it matter which way they are turned, as far as hydraulic flow is concerned?