Saw this on Iron Planet. Don't know how useful it would be but is different. 1990 Freightliner UC06NG 4x4 Backhoe Loader Enclosed Cab, Auxiliary Hydraulics, 80 in Loader Bucket, 24 in Backhoe Digging Bucket www.ironplanet.com
That is one weird looking contraption
3 of my guys were in the Guard that served in Iraq and Afghanistan, operating engineers. They said that is probably the worst contraption the Army provided for them to work with. Just an all round worthless build. There is a reason why there is on 86 miles on a 25 year old machine.
I thought it was a Unimog but it says Freightliner. The backhoe is definitely sourced from Case. The loader is a real one off. I'd bet finding certain parts would be near impossible. The buy now price of $40K is probably about a tenth of what it cost originally being a military special. I've seen JCB military backhoes that are probably a little more useful. I'd be surprised if it brought half the buy now price. Some engineers trying to justify their jobs.
It is a Unimog (Mercedes)... for a while they had some kind of partnership with Freightliner/case. Based on the U900 (406) Unimog. I drive past one just north of Williams Lake on my way north to Quesnel. It has been sitting on an acreage for the last 20 years...never moved. If i recall powered by om352 Mercedes non-turbo (5.7l)
Now I'm curious how many of those contraptions were made? I was at a ground breaking for a new veterans hospital here. They had a backhoe arm attached on the front of a tank like vehicle and dug a hole. That set up looked next to useless as well.
I can see the usefulness of a backhoe that can get itself down the highway at speed -- or maybe GTFO in a hurry if things are getting bad. Not needing a trailer and the time / vulnerability while loading and unloading might be nice in a hostile environment. Not saying that this is a good design - - just saying I can understand what they were after.
Yes, I think this is the idea.... We briefly owned a Unimog U900, then a U1200 square cab. The square cab was much better to drive/'quieter', turbo (120hp lol!). We used it with a multi section Schmidt snowplow for commercial contracts. It had a small dump box. In that application it was a very effective tool!
Not sure how many of those Case (and/or Freightliner models were made) fairly rare to ever see one. They were very short wheelbase, and very stiffly sprung.... We saw something similar 20 years ago Near mount Lehman Nevada (Baker). It had some kind of Schmidt rear attachment mounted. The plate seen on the front of that one is the typical 'Schmidt' mounting plate that was standard on most working Unimogs. This was how our snow plow mounted. Pictures below of the unit we saw in Baker and of our U900 (this one had a rear 3-point hitch). We put a small backhoe attachment on the 3-point. Did that ever make me appreciate our first mini-excavator!!! Also a photo of our U1200 with Schmidt snow blade (carried about 3000lbs of gravel in box to balance weight of front blade). It made a good snow plow unit. All of these machines had over 16" of ground clearance due to the portal axles and (2:1?) hub reduction gears.
Some of the old surplus military vehicles like this used the case backhoe attachment. This could have a newer case 580 backhoe attachment. Would be worth it for that. It had some features that look like it could be made by case.
It's definitely a Case backhoe with Case controls. Three lever and foot swing. Just having the backhoe doesn't make it a very usefull machine. Certainly not better than a std. backhoe. Good if you need to drive longer distances is about the only advantage it has. Think it would be very frustrating to move around when digging.
If you need a new backhoe attachment for your case, that's the way to go. The army must not if seen a Gradall lol
Yes indeed, very cumbersome to move unit when digging. Also you can't really see what is going on behind you at the backhoe as you are reversing into dig site. Our set-up was better than a pick & shovel (marginally). We did use it to dig some water line ditch for my Dad on flat open ground (use 'what you have at the time 'concept...)
Yea, but I think I read somewhere that they could travel like 60mph!