Hi Y'all. I have a case 580B CK backhoe which works great allbeit a bit cumbersome. I have other tracked excavators so don't really need the backhoe BUT it is a great front loader. Mostly just move stuff around the farm and small building jobs so it doesn't get used really and is just sitting there...Shame. My idea is to remove the boom and bucket/arm etc. and leave the jacks etc. (for the weight) and just use it as a front loader. Removal from the kingpin and join the hoses flow to return, this would make it way more useable. Anyone got any ideas why this won't work. Anyone else done it. Wouldn't take much to fit it back on if I needed it. See picture and tell me what you think. Cheers Pete
You may (probably) need to add some weight to the rear after removing the bh.
It looks like it wouldn't be too hard to make a weight box that hooked on the side shift frame with the boom removed.
You'll need to add a lot of weight to make it useful as a loader.
1000lbs. would be plenty. There were some tractors without a backhoe but had a 3pt. hitch. You could leave the backhoe hyd's. hooked up and just cap the lines that aren't being used. There might be instances where you want to use the stabilizers like fixing a tire or putting chains on etc.
Liquid ballast in the tires is a good option. IMHO. Lees weight would be need to hang on the rear. Suitcase weights like ag tractors use would be easy to mount on it.
My experience with no backhoe on a 580B was 0 breaking on hills.
If you stay mostly flat and mostly firm, you'll never miss the weight, even plowing snow. If you have hills or go on soft ground you'll want the weight.
I know nothing of hills or snow, but I have a lot of experience with a 580D and a Ford 4500 without hoes. Case says a 580 D without a hoe should carry a 5000 lb counterweight and I can tell you one with only 1000 lbs is nearly useless as a loader. A 4500 with only 2000lbs isn't much better. Keep in mind how far behind the front wheels the weight of a hoe is, compared to a compact counterweight.
Yes, but he's talking about amputating at the kingpin, so there will be some weight left.
There used to be lots of industrial tractors with only loaders and the loader was exactly the same as models with a backhoe. You have to exercise some caution when lifting something considered extra heavy. Dirt and gravel wouldn't be a problem. 1000 to 1500lbs. on the back plus fluid in the tires no problems at all.
My CK580 had the entire backhoe removed and the lines had a coupler to bypass everything. With the backhoe removed, someone made a block that mated to the factory mounting points, it was 8 or 10 plates of steel, 2 inch thick and 2 feet square, I think each plate weighed around 350 pounds. You should also load the tires to add another few hundred pounds to each side.
A lot of the weight boxes you saw on the back of old loaders with missing backhoes didn't look that big, but the case came from the factory empty, and they were supposed to be filled with steel punchings, so 300lb/cu ft or so, and if you took the weight off, then tried to lift it with the loader, the rear wheels would come off the ground.
If you could get ironworker punchings, they are very heavy. Should be pretty cheap if you can find a steel fabricator with an ironworker. Some pieces of heavy wall drill stem would work too. I worked at a place that made a couple crane counterweight using used drill stem. I had the job of cutting it. It was at least 2" wall thickness pipe and about 6" diameter. I was wearing overalls and a leather jacket in about 90F heat. I was sweating so much I probably lost 5 or 10lbs. LoL
I took the block off my CK580 and I could not drive up the slight climb in the driveway to back up to the hoe. Pushed it back with the loader bucket before figuring that at max lift height there was a lot more weight on the rear wheels