Greetings all, I am currently working on adding a breaker to my Case 680E backhoe loader. I got a good deal on a Toft 750 hammer locally and really needed this for the hard digging I've been doing on the property. While I build my house. Rental fees were getting out of hand. That said I'm a seeking advice on the best way to go about adding the breaker to the backhoe. I do not have an extendahoe unfortunately. I'm also not sure if I have a power beyond port, not sure if that was a thing on this particular model or not or how common it was on the 680E machines. Any info on the power beyond port would be greatly appreciated. So with that in mind I figured I have two options. 1. Use the curl function to power the hammer (less than ideal but gets me running quick) and simply route both hammer lines through the curl function. Or plumb the return line back to the hydraulic return line with a T fitting somewhere. Some folks say this is far preferable and will prevent damage to the backhoe spool valves. Not sure how accurate that is. But if it really make a difference I would like to know. 2. Would be to plumb in some sort of diverter that allows me to switch from the curl function to the hammer with a flip of a switch. I have little knowledge or experience of this technology and am not even sure if it's possible with my machine. Any advice, tips, tricks or feedback would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks, JP
The boom on a 680E is not designed to withstand the forces a breaker will put on it. The flow rate and pressure of the oil supply need to be adequate for the hammer. I am curious if the bucket circuit has enough volume. I would not want to operate a hammer on any backhoe that has the bucket function disabled. It is needed constantly to accurately position the hammer bit where you want it.
While not ideal, I’d be curious as to what you are needing the hammer for. That backhoe, with a decent digging bucket, should handle any ground, other than ledge or rock. It will dig a lot harder, with a big rock or load of fill in the loader bucket. Having lived in Tennessee, with baked red dirt and any other ground or even Chert, it will scrape as well as it can. If you are dead set on using that hammer, a diverter valve, would be the way to go. They are reasonably straightforward and you can find many threads on here to find out how. I would go with 5/8” fittings and as high a GPM diverter you can get. Caution needs to be addressed, with the boom, especially the non weldable tower. How do you plan on mounting the hammer? Does it line up with pin holes or will you have to fabricate a mount?
Thanks for the replies to address the questions so far. I was under the impression that the boom on the 680E was pretty strong, more than enough to withstand hard digging and demanding day-to-day construction. I have seen some of these machines with hammers and have not heard of any issues but that doesn't mean it wasn't designed for it. I know these are hard on a machine and I plan on being as kind as possible with it but I also don't want to cause undue wear on the machine or break something, especially the boom. That said, I felt like the hours of scraping hard, huge rock veins were harder on the machine than the hammer. The hammer I have is a Toft 750, which operates at a flow rate of 9.5-24 GPM so it should get plenty of flow from the curl circuit pressure is up to 2400 PSI and my machine should be right around 2,200 according to the service manual if i'm reading the specs right. As for why I need the hammer I am building a slab-on-grade house on a cut-and-fill pad. As soon as I'm on the cut side of the pad or off the pad like I currently am, digging septic lines about 15 inches down, you hit large rocks about the size of my 24-inch bucket. The deeper you go, the bigger the rocks get, all stacked on top of each other, and even further down, there are large rock veins, mostly nasty, hard volcanic rock that can be scraped, but it reduces the digging to being measured in fractions of an inch instead of feet. I spent 4 hours yesterday scraping and clawing with the machine idling pretty high, only making a few inches of progress over about 10 feet. Because these veins are so large, there is nothing for the backhoe to get under and pry up and out. I'm litterally just scraping through the top of the rock and pulverizing it with the teeth, eventually I wear enough of a groove down for the cutting edge to start taking those grooves down but it is painstakingly slow. Any advice or tips on digging through this would be greatly appreciated. I will certainly try filling the loader bucket as of now, I've just been pushing it into the ground to help stabilize the machine while digging. The backhoe simply goes into bypass when trying to pry the rocks up. It does not have the breakout force required to simply break the rock or rip a chunk from the ground. I agree that losing the curl function to position the hammer would make effective hammering difficult to say the least, so perhaps a diverter that I could plug into the curl function to be able to switch back and forth from the curl function to the hammer is the only way to go. Does anyone know of a product that would fill this role well? I am open to any recommendations or suggestions to accomplish my digging needs. Thank you for all the help! JP
Diverter valves with a electric solenoid (switch) are readily available on the internet and would work nicely for what you are wanting to do. Do you have tiger teeth on the bucket ? Your 24 inch bucket will make your 680 work pretty hard even in easy digging. I have an 18 inch on my 680 and I would not consider a bigger one unless I was cleaning ditches. Perhaps a narrower bucket with a full set of tiger teeth on it will make a difference for you. The situation that you are describing sounds like a job for a blasting contractor. Or a decent size track-hoe. IMHO of coarse
I would check the hammer specs as to what it requires for pressure. I haven't touched a hammer in quite a while but your machine pressures seem borderline for a breaker. I'd always set the machine reliefs a couple hundred PSI higher than what the breaker required for a minimum pressure. I would highly recommend running the return line straight back to the reservoir with minimal restrictions. Hammers do not like backpressure.
You need teeth on a bucket, for what you’re doing. You mentioned a cutting edge. Please post a picture of the bucket and if it doesn’t have teeth, start searching CL and FB marketplace for one that does. You should be able to get one for under 500 bucks and it will literally be a night and day difference. Somewhere on here and the internet is a bucket interchange list that pretty comprehensive and I would be looking for a 12” bucket.
Cowboy ; Your 680E has a 1 inch return line that goes from the backhoe control valve to the hydraulic tank. You could tee into for a hammer return (I think). It is easy to get at if you remove the backhoe control tower. I can post a picture of it if you want. My control tower is off because I need to add 5 foot extensions to the supply and return lines. Then I will drive the tractor forward so I can see and get at a nasty leak that cannot be done with the hoe mounted.
Hi Tinker, I'll start looking into that for sure thank you very much. I found a couple of kits from Summit Hydraulics that look like they may be a good fit. I've been operating a while but I'm relatively new to the mechanic side of things for Backhoes but their stuff seems pretty simple. I definitely need a smaller bucket my 24" bucket is too big for most the stuff I'm doing. This particular job though the trench cross section is 3ft wide. I do have the two prong rock teeth on it. I have broken 3 of them with all the digging on this property. I think the single point tiger teeth would probably be even better with a narrower bucket. I have done some limited blasting on the property but being so close to the house foundation and septic clean out pipes I'm really hesitant to blast. The neighbor up the hill used a 40 ton excavator and the other neighbor wound up blasting. I know I'm asking a lot of this machine but at the same time I'm so close with just a few more projects to go. Appreciate all the help advice you've helped me a lot on here
Thanks for the advice! The flow rate on my hammer is 13-23GPM and max pressure is 1,740-2465PSI. According to my service manual my machine should be about 2,200PSI at 2,200RPM. Not sure how to even set the relief on my machine I'll be the first to admit I have a whole lot to learn about this machine it's much older than what I'm used to running but it's mine and she's been great so far! As for running the return line straight back to the tank that is interesting that would require me to plumb a new line directly into the return line I'm assuming? Rather than routing it back through the backhoe valves like I was originally thinking with the diverter on the two curl lines? Sounds like I may have to fork over some cash to the local hydraulic shop for that... Not the end of the world but he doesn't move quick and he's a far drive in a backhoe as my trailers can't handle the weight of the machine.
I do have teeth on the bucket, the bucket has always had teeth on it, currently it has the two prong rock teeth on it and regular teeth due to breaking some teeth earlier on other projects. Once I scape the rock enough with the teeth the cutting edge will begin to hit the rock and while you may think that would pry the rock out it just makes my poor machine scream stop. I'll try and get a picture of the current bucket setup tomorrow. It's a little rough as when I bought it the previous owner was not kind to it and I had to fix a large crack in the bucket. I'm not welder but I'm proud to say it's held up dang well considering the abuse in this rock. I do have a picture of the crack that I fixed which was before the rock teeth were properly installed with pins. I have been searching Facebook and Craigslist for a while trying to find a deal on a small bucket or even a ripper tooth. Minimal luck on the good deal most guys was 1,000 or more for a bucket and the others don't seem to fit in particular the ripper ear spacing is usually too small or too big to be practical for my machine. I'm sure it would be worlds better than my big bucket. One thing I should mention is I have tried using the factory frost tooth to break the rock with no luck at all. What I am digging in is pretty solid pink/gray volcanic rock. Hence why I thought a hammer might just be the way to go.
Tinker if you got a picture of that you would be my hero for the day. That would be nice just so I know what the heck I'm looking at and not digging through my huge service manual. My wife thinks I'm nuts because for the last week that service manual has been my bedtime reading material. If that is where I should route the hammer with a picture I think I could T Into that pretty easily. Leaks are the bane of these machines and why I picked up this machine so cheap even I could afford it. With it I've been making hopes and dreams a reality building our home and we're so close to being done I've just got to get through this rock for the septic. Best of luck with your project if I can help you let me know I have a printed copy of the service manual for the 680E.
Here is the promised picture of the backhoe bucket crack before I welded it, the backhoe came with those teeth on the machine and I have since swapped them to the two prong rock teeth. Broken a few and had to put the original teeth back on while I wait for replacement single point rock teeth to come in.
I think I have the same 24” bucket. If that bucket isn’t doing it, you may need the hammer. People around here are really proud of their rippers, they want an arm and leg for used ones. Since I was done with my trenching, I loaned my 12” Geith bucket to a friend but that thing saved my ass, digging through rotten ledge. I can usually find the 12” ones for anywhere from 300 to a 1000 bucks, usually in good shape because they don’t get used much.
That was my thinking as well, especially since trying to use the frost tooth was completely ineffective as well. Granted it doesn't have the strength that the bucket now has but it wasn't making much of a difference. I'll keep looking for a ripper or 12-inch bucket that would fit my machine. I could use one for future projects anyway. However, this is why I want to get this hammer setup.
I wanted to thank everyone for helping me get this hammer up and running. I've got a closer local machine shop making the bushings to adapt the hammer from 50mm bushings down to 45, so it will fit my machine as far as the mechanical connection. As for the hydraulic connection, it sounds like I need to get a diverter valve so I can keep my curl function and hammer by simply toggling a switch. I have an email to Summit Hydraulics asking for advice on what product would be a good fit for my needs. I am open to any suggestions on this one. Lastly, it sounds like I need to tie into my tank return line with a T-valve for the hammer's return line. Which doesn't appear to be labeled in the owner's manual, but other hammers I've used, it just depends on which hose you connect to the feed vs. the return line, so I imagine this hammer is the same way. So my hydraulic setup would look like this: Bucket Curl Lines --->Diverter Valve--> Curl cylinder-->Hammer Feed line--> Hammer --> Hammer return line--> Separate large return line to backhoe hydraulic tank return line with T fitting. I'm sure i'll need some adapters and fittings to get everything connected but hopefully this all sounds right and makes sense to get the hammer up and running quickly and efficiently.
I posted a detailed thread as to how a I added a thumb to my 680. The plumbing isn't much different from what you are doing for your hammer. With the exception of your return line from the hammer. I used a manual diverter valve because it was easier to install than running wires for an electric one. Bailey Hydraulics will have a valve that will work for you. HeavyEquipmentForums
I took some pictures of the P&R lines on my backhoe yesterday. I looked at the 680E on-line parts book and the 680C hoses are routed differently. So my photos aren't any help for you. CASE CONSTRUCTION KING LOADER BACKHOE | CASE Construction | MyCNH US Store www.mycnhstore.com
Hey Tinker, thanks for all the information I have been learning a ton about hydraulics it sounds pretty simple. I'm gonna need quite a few adapters, the lines for this machine are huge!! I ran some big excavators that had smaller lines! I'll definitely add yours thumb addition to my nighttime reading. Seems like I've got the information and advice I need so thank you for all the help!!
Would a ripper tooth help?
I know the general consensus around here is pride and praise for doing things on your own, but I grew up around a 680E. You've already destroyed the bucket. If your cylinders on the backhoe make it long enough before the cast elbows crack, and if your boom doesn't break off right at the boom cylinder pin boss before you get this job done, my hat's off to you. Good luck.
I think it would help quite a bit, whether or not it would get through the rock, I am not sure but I do think it would help as I am not very deep and hitting large rocks if I could get my hands on one it would be a whole lot better than my big bucket that is currently on the machine.
Unless the ripper and bucket have a quick coupler on them you will be spending a lot of time switching them on and off. I ran an excavator that didn't have a QC on the ripper and bucket , it was incredibly slow getting any anything done per day. I spent more time switching the attachments than I did digging.
The bucket was like that when I got it, which is why I had to weld it, the rest of the machine was in pretty good shape. I am sure someone abused it quite a bit before me and that is why I got a good deal on it and had to put a little work into it. I appreciate the warning in the words and I certainly don't want to destroy my machine as I have many plans for it in the future. I thought that an hour or two of hammering would be easier on the machine than a few days of ripping and clawing through solid rock. I understand the machine is not really designed for this kind of work, which is why I thought the hammer was the way to go and in the long run would be easier on the machine. The alternative is to pay someone else more than I paid for the machine to have someone with a 20-ton-plus machine come and dig another couple of hundred feet of trench and a hole for the septic tank. It just seems like i'm so close to finishing and this last bit of rock is all that is left. However, I don't want to destroy the machine in the process. Is the hammer going to crack my boom or the hard digging with a ripper or the bucket? Am I simply asking way too much of this machine?
That is my biggest worry about the hammer. I know it's a lot of work swapping back and forth without a QC, especially the way my 680E is set up with the factory frost tooth. There are a lot of shims, and the pins are pretty dang tight in there. I did get some new pins that will hopefully help with that, but I am sure getting the hammer mounted is going to be a chore, especially the first few times. Eventually I would love to get a QC for this machine.