Melroe 911 backhoe vs 763 Bobcat

[fletchman919]

The backhoe has the old trailer hitch mounting system which won't work on my 763. So I'm curious what others have done to marry them together.

 

[fletchman919]

Here's a few pics of what I have.

 

[fletchman919]

I'm considering mounting turnbuckles or 3 point hitch adjusters right here. Any reason why that wouldn't work.

 

[fletchman919]

Or chain binders...

 

[AJ-17]

That is exactly what I had done to attach the 907 Bobcat to my Thomas T133s. One single turn buckle in the center attached to the loader arm frame. Bought a 3 point turn buckle from Harbor freight, and then had to shorten it to fit. You really want it attached to the machine frame to minimize stress on the loader arms. I had to remove the ball mounts because the mounts were going to hit the hydraulic lines from the attachment. I have three backhoe attachments, Bobcat 907, 709 and the Thomas BH 108 with a mechanical thumb. The BH 108 is the only one in the world with the thumb. Had to spend days engineering this to work the way it was designed. Needless to say, I do not use the Bobcat attachments any more because they do not have the thumb. I have been digging many stumps on my property In the mountains over the last year and a half. It is great for picking up the stumps and getting the dirt out of them to burn. The property in a river bed from thousands of years ago and it also works great to pick up rocks in the holes.
Just be careful on the loader arms, this is a lot of stress. Hopefully you will just be digging easy dirt with a few small rocks.

 

[Terry l]

Which ever way you choose, make sure it is rock solid, (no possible lift arm movement). I found that out when I fabricated my attaching mounts for an 811 to my S300. It took some head scratching, but I built mine patterned after the mounts for an 8811 to S300. They work great.

 

[fletchman919]

AJ, thanks for the reply! It's good to hear that this works. I plan on connecting it to the frame so that all the back and forth pressure isn't exerted on the cylinders. It was kind of you to go into detail and post pics. Very helpful!

The ball mounts on mine are a bit of a nuisance, but they don't interfere with anything, so I'm going to leave them in case I re-sell down the road.

If this had a thumb, I'd never consider selling it.

Terry, thank you as well. I'll be sure to do that.

Second question...
I planned on lowering the arms all the way down. Is that how they were intended or was it designed to be slightly lifted for more ground clearance? All the way down will be a lot easier and how I'm going to do it.

 

[Terry l]

Yes, arms must be down. Th is what mine looks like.

 

[AJ-17]

Terry,
Great mounts!!!

The only thing I do not like is when the backhoe attachment is fully attached directly to the machine frame, (Bobcat skid steers), if you need to move it you have to stop and and unlatch, unscrew the balls, or what ever, to lift the backhoe attachment, to move the machine. There is a very big difference between the Bobcat and the Thomas machines. Bobcats machines are narrow and tall with the drive axles stick out from the main frame a very long ways. The Thomas T133 S that I have is very wide and has a lower profile. This made it very difficult to modify the Bobcat 709 mounts to fit the Thomas. I do not like to have to unlatch the backhoe every time I want to move the skid steer. To me after using the Thomas backhoe attachment, I love the fact that if I need move, I jump back in the seat, lift the backhoe, and move. Very quick because it is not attached to the machine frame.

 

[fletchman919]

Yes, arms must be down. Th is what mine looks like.View attachment 8754

That's great fabrication! Not sure I understand how it works though. Thanks for sharing!

 

[thoughtbelt923]

Yes, arms must be down. Th is what mine looks like.View attachment 8754

Did you get those arms from bobcat or make them yourself? I have a similar set up, but yours is much nicer.

 

[Terry l]

Did you get those arms from bobcat or make them yourself? I have a similar set up, but yours is much nicer.

Thank you. I made them and mounts on the machine from scratch. Both sets together from Bobcat around $1700.00.

 

[Terry l]

That's great fabrication! Not sure I understand how it works though. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you. The handles on top lift to release the locks that hook over latches on machine. Works well. I was pretty happy with how they worked.

 

[fletchman919]

Thank you. The handles on top lift to release the locks that hook over latches on machine. Works well. I was pretty happy with how they worked.

That's how I thought it worked. That's awesome!

 

[thoughtbelt923]

Thank you. I made them and mounts on the machine from scratch. Both sets together from Bobcat around $1700.00.

That's impressive. If you ever have some time, I'd really appreciate a parts list/ short explanation of how you made the locking arms. Making mounts like that is on my todo list and the locking mechanism is what I've struggled to come up with.

 

[Terry l]

Terry,
Great mounts!!!

The only thing I do not like is when the backhoe attachment is fully attached directly to the machine frame, (Bobcat skid steers), if you need to move it you have to stop and and unlatch, unscrew the balls, or what ever, to lift the backhoe attachment, to move the machine. There is a very big difference between the Bobcat and the Thomas machines. Bobcats machines are narrow and tall with the drive axles stick out from the main frame a very long ways. The Thomas T133 S that I have is very wide and has a lower profile. This made it very difficult to modify the Bobcat 709 mounts to fit the Thomas. I do not like to have to unlatch the backhoe every time I want to move the skid steer. To me after using the Thomas backhoe attachment, I love the fact that if I need move, I jump back in the seat, lift the backhoe, and move. Very quick because it is not attached to the machine frame.

Thank you. Not sure what you mean there. If I need to relocate, I just lift the outriggers, move or readjust the machine, then back to digging. Only time removing the hoe is necessary is when I'm done with it.

That's impressive. If you ever have some time, I'd really appreciate a parts list/ short explanation of how you made the locking arms. Making mounts like that is on my todo list and the locking mechanism is what I've struggled to come up with.

I'll see if I can come up with something. There was a lot of head scratching, trial and error, mock ups-and patience. It's a pretty complicated yet simple system , to perform a simple task.