New Hoe Attachment toy for me

[vinito]

I was lucky enough to pick up a loader attachment for my little skidsteer for $1500 today.
It's a Case Davis D100 which was adapted from a trencher or something. But as it sits, it's ready to just hook up the hydraulics and put to work. This is rare for me as most everything I ever get needs a total restoration before even thinking about trying to use it, so I'm really happy about that.
So yea, it's a little older and the controls are old-school, but it's certainly usable and only slightly different from the new stuff. This unit is in the smaller range so it's about perfect for my little machine. However, it's similar money, much easier to work and able to dig much deeper than those straight-arm simple one-cylinder hoe attachments I was considering. I think this is going to be extremely handy for me. I have had four projects on the todo list already where I might have had to rent a mini ex to do which this attachment will handle just fine.
So with no further ado, here's a pic of it on the trailer with my cool cousin Jason in front of it for scale:

Whadda ya think?

 

[TriHonu]

Looks like a good buy. The one thing you should add is a set of frame mounts.
If you look at any of today's models, you will notice the backhoe frame is attached to the loader frame in addition to the QuickTach.
When you start digging, both the weight and the twisting motion of the hoe attachment will exert considerable force on the loader arms and tilt cylinder(s). To prevent this, the frame of the backhoe attachment is attached to the frame of the loader. The unit will be more stable and more of the weight of the loader is available to stabilize the hoe while digging. This will increase the digging performance. It will also keep you from raising the loader arm with the hoe and jamming your body against the cab.
I have a Bradco Hoe and it can shove the loader around with no problem if I get the bucket against something solid.
You can adjust the loader RPM to decrease the hydraulic flow to the hoe. This will cause the hoe to move slower even when you stroke the valves all the way open. It can make it easier to control the hoe until you get used to it. Once you get comfortable, you can run the loader near full throttle to speed up the hoe movement.

 

[vinito]

Looks like a good buy. The one thing you should add is a set of frame mounts.
If you look at any of today's models, you will notice the backhoe frame is attached to the loader frame in addition to the QuickTach.
When you start digging, both the weight and the twisting motion of the hoe attachment will exert considerable force on the loader arms and tilt cylinder(s). To prevent this, the frame of the backhoe attachment is attached to the frame of the loader. The unit will be more stable and more of the weight of the loader is available to stabilize the hoe while digging. This will increase the digging performance. It will also keep you from raising the loader arm with the hoe and jamming your body against the cab.
I have a Bradco Hoe and it can shove the loader around with no problem if I get the bucket against something solid.
You can adjust the loader RPM to decrease the hydraulic flow to the hoe. This will cause the hoe to move slower even when you stroke the valves all the way open. It can make it easier to control the hoe until you get used to it. Once you get comfortable, you can run the loader near full throttle to speed up the hoe movement.

Thanks for the tips. Yea I've noticed how most of these are strapped fairly heavy to the frame instead of relying on the quick-attach alone, so I was counting on figuring out some frame mounts. Even the manual for the Gehl BH2500 has those so I figured I'd kind of copy that and maybe make it stiffer if I can.
I realized today that a friend of mine has a wheel loader with quick-attach and aux hydraulics so I called him and we're going to hook this up to his machine and check it out in the next couple days. That will be fun... unless we find something wrong and that will be more depression, but there's not so much to this attachment and it all looks pretty good visually, so chances are it's OK even if it turns out to need a couple little bits.

 

[Tazza]

Thanks for the tips. Yea I've noticed how most of these are strapped fairly heavy to the frame instead of relying on the quick-attach alone, so I was counting on figuring out some frame mounts. Even the manual for the Gehl BH2500 has those so I figured I'd kind of copy that and maybe make it stiffer if I can.
I realized today that a friend of mine has a wheel loader with quick-attach and aux hydraulics so I called him and we're going to hook this up to his machine and check it out in the next couple days. That will be fun... unless we find something wrong and that will be more depression, but there's not so much to this attachment and it all looks pretty good visually, so chances are it's OK even if it turns out to need a couple little bits.

Looks good, thankfully there isn't a whole lot that can go wrong with them and when it does, it's generally a ram seal or hose.
I second the advise of making mounts to secure it to the frame.

 

[mmsllc]

Looks good, thankfully there isn't a whole lot that can go wrong with them and when it does, it's generally a ram seal or hose.
I second the advise of making mounts to secure it to the frame.

That looks EXACTLY like a home from a trencher. I have a DITCH WITCH 3610 and it has the A220 backhoe on it. It looks to be small, but I'm sure that it beats using a shovel all day long. Frame brackets are a real must. Outriggers really are too, though. Best of luckmusing it. Go slow and chances are you will be ok.

 

[vinito]

That looks EXACTLY like a home from a trencher. I have a DITCH WITCH 3610 and it has the A220 backhoe on it. It looks to be small, but I'm sure that it beats using a shovel all day long. Frame brackets are a real must. Outriggers really are too, though. Best of luckmusing it. Go slow and chances are you will be ok.

There are four brackets on the back face of the thing that might hint what it came from originally. I should snap a photo and see what you all think. It does have outriggers. I kind of cut the view of them off the bottom of the picture. They are the vertical "piston" kind rather than the swing down type. Seems like the swing down type would maybe be better for if you're digging close to a wall at a sideways orientation for the machine, but at least it does have outriggers.
I get to try it out a little tonight. We're going to hook it up to a friends' machine and put it through a few paces just to see how it functions.

 

[vinito]

There are four brackets on the back face of the thing that might hint what it came from originally. I should snap a photo and see what you all think. It does have outriggers. I kind of cut the view of them off the bottom of the picture. They are the vertical "piston" kind rather than the swing down type. Seems like the swing down type would maybe be better for if you're digging close to a wall at a sideways orientation for the machine, but at least it does have outriggers.
I get to try it out a little tonight. We're going to hook it up to a friends' machine and put it through a few paces just to see how it functions.

I got to hook it up and try it for a while tonight. What fun !! I dug a shallow hole then filled it back in just to get a few minites of orientation. It does work well enough that if I really needed to use it I could, but it isn't perfect. I'll try to describe it and hopefully you guys can help point me to where I need to start.
First, one cylinder leaks enough that it really should be re-packed soon. When I do that I'll check the others out closer and make sure they're all minty.
Otherwise it seems like the only "big" problem is with the valves.
Problem 1: When the valves are in center detent, things stay put as you would expect. But , especially for the boom and dipper, when I start to move the control off of center and the axis toward the sky, at first it will drop toward planet Earth until I move the control a little further before it starts to kick in and move in the intended direction. To be clearer, this rather quick downward drift will continue indefinitely if you don't move the control lever a little further past this dead zone. So for an absolute beginner to operating a hoe (me), this makes it twice as hard to try to get a feel for what I'm doing. More often than not I keep thinking I moved the lever in the wrong direction when I actually didn't. So it's confusing to try to learn how to operate the thing. Despite this, after about a half hour, I did barely start to figure out how to make it do what I wanted, kind of. I'm totally new to it and I don't expect to be very good at it for some time. But this squirrely valve thing makes things much harder to figure out. And as you can imagine, I'd think feathering some delicate movements would be pretty much impossible no matter how good you were.
Problem 2: There seems to be a kind of "priority" for the controls. What I mean is if, for example, I move both the dipper and curl inwards at the same time, the dipper will remain nearly stationary while the bucket curls until it has reached the end of its stroke, then the dipper will begin to move. This is more pronounced the further the control lever is moved toward its maximum travel.
So that's it. I'm sure these issues won't necessarily be easy or inexpensive to iron out, but as I said, it could be put to use if I really needed it so it is stuff that can wait until after my machine rebuild is complete at least. To me, the leak seems the most urgent. But I'd like to have it running really nicely someday. I'm sure it would be more enjoyable if it was all smooth and silky.

 

[TriHonu]

I got to hook it up and try it for a while tonight. What fun !! I dug a shallow hole then filled it back in just to get a few minites of orientation. It does work well enough that if I really needed to use it I could, but it isn't perfect. I'll try to describe it and hopefully you guys can help point me to where I need to start.
First, one cylinder leaks enough that it really should be re-packed soon. When I do that I'll check the others out closer and make sure they're all minty.
Otherwise it seems like the only "big" problem is with the valves.
Problem 1: When the valves are in center detent, things stay put as you would expect. But , especially for the boom and dipper, when I start to move the control off of center and the axis toward the sky, at first it will drop toward planet Earth until I move the control a little further before it starts to kick in and move in the intended direction. To be clearer, this rather quick downward drift will continue indefinitely if you don't move the control lever a little further past this dead zone. So for an absolute beginner to operating a hoe (me), this makes it twice as hard to try to get a feel for what I'm doing. More often than not I keep thinking I moved the lever in the wrong direction when I actually didn't. So it's confusing to try to learn how to operate the thing. Despite this, after about a half hour, I did barely start to figure out how to make it do what I wanted, kind of. I'm totally new to it and I don't expect to be very good at it for some time. But this squirrely valve thing makes things much harder to figure out. And as you can imagine, I'd think feathering some delicate movements would be pretty much impossible no matter how good you were.
Problem 2: There seems to be a kind of "priority" for the controls. What I mean is if, for example, I move both the dipper and curl inwards at the same time, the dipper will remain nearly stationary while the bucket curls until it has reached the end of its stroke, then the dipper will begin to move. This is more pronounced the further the control lever is moved toward its maximum travel.
So that's it. I'm sure these issues won't necessarily be easy or inexpensive to iron out, but as I said, it could be put to use if I really needed it so it is stuff that can wait until after my machine rebuild is complete at least. To me, the leak seems the most urgent. But I'd like to have it running really nicely someday. I'm sure it would be more enjoyable if it was all smooth and silky.

Are you sure the hydraulic flow is in the correct direction? If the flow from the loader is going to the "Out" port on the valve you can get some strange symptoms when trying to operate the valves.
That is the first thing I would verify before going any deeper. If you get a helper to sit in the loader, use the momentary control to try the hoe in one direction and then have your helper reverse the flow and try the hoe again. If you don't have a helper, just swap the couplers on the hoe hoses and try it with the flow in the opposite direction.

 

[Tazza]

Are you sure the hydraulic flow is in the correct direction? If the flow from the loader is going to the "Out" port on the valve you can get some strange symptoms when trying to operate the valves.
That is the first thing I would verify before going any deeper. If you get a helper to sit in the loader, use the momentary control to try the hoe in one direction and then have your helper reverse the flow and try the hoe again. If you don't have a helper, just swap the couplers on the hoe hoses and try it with the flow in the opposite direction.

I second that, reversed flow will make it do crazy things.

 

[vinito]

I second that, reversed flow will make it do crazy things.

I was concerned about reversing the flow before I tried the attachment, so I did a short test right off the bat and sure enough, the travels were backwards from what it was supposed to do, so I switched the connectors and it seemed to work better. Of course this was the first thing I did and not knowing nuthin' who knows, I may have read that wrong. So I'm hoping that hooking it up backwards doesn't damage anything. We'll see.
One thing I just realized today though is that the previous owner told me (and I verified this later) that he had switched the connections between the swing and boom to make it similar to his way of doing things. The thing is, the valve setup isn't identical all the way down the line so I'm thinking I'd do well to switch it back to the original configuration and see if it improves things. Once I get my machine rebuild done, the next order of business is to convert this hoe to wobble stick controls, so I can configure it somewhat how I desire at that time anyway.
The home situation continues to be one crisis after another so I've made absolutely zero progress on any front. Even finding time to mow the dang grass has been a big problem. Hopefully things calm down a bit soon and some things can get done. Doesn't look real promising for the near future though. Never thought I took free time for granted that much before, but it sure seems like a rare event anymore.