So what kind of things can a guy all do with a backhoe? So far i have trenched, and made a pad, dug a practice basement and a whole ton of snow plowing So what else all is there?
Rodeo!
Snowy, I second the rodeo, we have had two and it is a blast to see those who compete against each other in the bidding process for work get together over a BBQ and Coke and laugh and fellowship and go from event to event trying their skills, it is also a time for the dealer and company to put their best foot forward as operators of all colors wil be there trying your brand. It is good to see owners or employees of competing makes do well. Ours were very sucessful.
a backhoe can do anything...driveways, foundations, septics, drainage, rough grading, loader work...you name it
swiss army knife of tractors i seen guys do thing that a you never think they could climb, dig, tare down, load, and push. They seem to be in the hands of a good operator a do all, jack of all trades if u will. In the hands of a new comer they are at best a TM machine. This is one of them thing the operator makes the machine. I love wacthing my guys run ours they look like artist.
I have done everything from digging a basement, pushing stockpiles, loading trucks, demoing houses, and fine grading yards. They can do almost anything once you get good at one. They are the closest thing to a skid steer for versatility.
clean your gutters, paint your house, decorate your trees for x-mas.Wheel barrel for wifes landscape trimmings,brush cutter,(if you have a 4-1 bucket),fire wood hauler,deer hanger,(so you can skin your deer),I can go on and on.My father used to tell people to come up to his house and jump into the lake off of his $100,000 infinitely adjustable high dive(aka back hoe).He always got good laughes on that one.He would also tell them he had a wave maker in the lake.He would stick the back bucket in and swing itback and forth.
I wanted to add putting forks on a hoe, make it very useful around a sawmill or firewood operation, moving car wrecks too. I put a platform on my forks and used it to shingle my roof. Once welded a long piece of H-beam to the side of the bucket and used it to put trusses up (19' reach). Also have filled the bucket out of a pond and watered trees. Good for transplanting small trees, and to help loosen a tire off it's rim. Phil
Moving sheetrock
a backhoe did all of this
The list of things a backhoe CANT do would be much shorter than things it can do.
Right on guys thanks for all the great replies. I knew before I bought one that they could do a whole ton of things, just never realized how many they could actually do. Like a wavemaker in a lake, priceless! Its good to know when I start looking to put mine to work to make a little extra cash, it will be able to do it.
We use ours for: snow removal truck loading craning utility trenches septic work asphalt prep loader work additions grading wheel barrow stump pulling stockpiling Any thing and everything. Endless posibilities with a good operator in the seat.
Very nice picture Dirt Digger, pleasing to the eye. I've never saw a bucket used that way Cat 420, shows how versatile that bucket really is. Making waves in a lake though...never dreamed of that one.Phil
thank you...that was actually the first driveway i ever did entirely by myself. Had to cut and fill the bank up there to get it halfway decent...it wraps up all the way around the front of the house on the left, i think the total length of the new stone driveway was around 350' + the parking area....took me 2.5 days and i could have been out of there in 2 if the top-dressing stone guys would have been able to make it the second day instead of the third.
Looking back over what i posted the other day about how my dad used to entertain my brothers and I with equipment made me smile.So many things we were able to experience growing up around equipment that other kids didnt get the privilege of having.Winter time we always had tons of truck tire tubes,we always had a nice sledding chute cut down the hill with a great jump at the bottom.When we got older the motocross track at the 'ol ranch was redesigned every day.(if there was a piece of equipment around).I have always said anyone who ownes more then five acres should have a lil backhoe around.
I use mine for excavating, grading backfilling, trenching, you name it. I hook up my forks and lift a home made 8' platform and we put 2nd floor windows soffit & fascia on my buildings, lift trusses, roof sheathing, shingles, roofing paper. Great for setting heavy windows & exterior doors on 1st & 2nd floor.
Drag race Just when you thought you'd seen it all... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9yfaTlRA7w&feature=related
That's the JCB GT. 1300hp 572 cu in Chevrolet powerplant. There will be three of them roaming the country this summer. We had them bring it to a trade show last year. No room to run it, but it drew a crowd none the less. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdybD4Wfjm0
Here's a 580D in action with a set of 4' forks lifting a maple log. They were the best $200 I have ever spent. Oh and yes, she was a little light on the back end Phil
Nice machine!
Hi everyone!! I work in the oil field and we use a backhoe for pretty much everything we do from trenching, fine grading, we use it as a man lift, a crane heres a pic of us setting a flare stack on a burner, the stack alone weighs 2,000 pounds
Mix concrete.
what cant you do? As with a rubber duck, you are limited only by your imagination and experience :drinkup
Our 580 can fly and does so regularly. :yup
flying :notworthy nice one Lashlander, You had me for a minute as I haven't got a pic of a duck in flight. BUT I remembered seeing a c@t fly many years ago
AND---------Be able to find the skull to the youngest mastodon on the planet.My old 510B and yours truly.
Welcome to the forum Thor410G:drinkup :drinkup Man I'm really enjoying this thread. Mixing cement with a backhoe, hoe's learning to fly, and finding dinosaurs. Phil
Well,almost--a mastodon is a mammal--same as us.I do want to find a big ol T-rex someday.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Thor410G! :drinkup What kind of attacments is on that track loader AtlasRob?
There sure is alot of neat things a hoe can do! I have been asking around home here and guys use them for damn near everything. Now all I have to do is see how I can make a little money off of it!
roadheader It was a rotating rock cutter ( roadheader) for use in tunnel construction but to be honest it was not very successful. Visibility was terrible as you can imagine, as a result it was easy to jam/stall. The other problem was moving it sideways across the face, which had to be done with the tracks on the loader, :Banghead it used to kick the machine all over the place especially when it hit the layers of flint in the chalk. It wasn't in the tunnel long, they went back to mucking the face with an Hitachi exc.
Yeah, it does look kind of difficult to operate. I have seen those rock heads on excavators, but not on a track loader.
I found a new thing my back hoe can do last night. We had a porquepine in a tree out here and he wouldnt come down. I threw a shovel at him untill I got the shovel stuck in the tree! So then I decided to get the case to help me out. I set up to flick him out of the tree, that didnt work, so then I shook the tree. Three times I shook him outta the tree before he thought that was enough and took off! I wish i would have gotten pics of it.
Preppypyro, That's a good story to tell your grandchildren, very original, right up there with making waves in the lake . Were there any animal rights activists trying to climb up on a ladder and rescue Prickly from Case abuse?
Haha no animal rights guys came by. I would have tried to scoot them away with the bucket too if they did come around
Ah! Another use for a hoe bucket....never thought of that Phil
I almost forgot---hoes make a very expensive wood splitter in a pinch.Just for funin---don't want anyone to think I'm a real bonafide redneck now.
they can drive fence posts
They sure can. Just be sure that if your the guy holding it to get it started that you keep your elbow locked. I've got a nice scar on my lip from doing that job the wrong way.
They can also get stuck in mud and slide down a very small slope towards trees all day! :Banghead
Change rail road ties Throw baseballs
To sum this up, what can't a backhoe do..............:usa
A Backhoe can't do my taxes.... thats what a backhoe can't do. I can think of another thing, but thats a bit adult a subject for forum talk...lol
You guys are nuts....you need to get at least a skid and an excavator on site to double the hourly rate...if you use a backhoe you lose out..
I would prefer an excavator for the ties, but lots of times we have to carry them in with us. I can only carry 11 at a time. But I can set my backhoe on the rails and run in 4th gear, wide open with those ties. I do think a mini ex would be great at changing tie,swing the boom and get a nice straight pull on them instead of trying to push them with the swing. I also think it would be easier on the machine, but you would still have to have something to bring you the ties.(and carry the old ones out)
Scrap cars I folded my sons old firebird up till it fit on a 10 foot flatbed.
Nah, That's what I used my log truck for. , but we did use a hoe a couple of times to change them.
Thats all we use , I think we have 9 of them. The bucket that I use is 7 inches wide and my thumb is 6 inches wide. It is very hard to move matierial , unless it is solid.
Motor-home maintenance. Phil
Used the 426C to erect a small 14x60 steel building last week.
I have used a backhoe to till the garden under every spring for the last 20 years. It also works great for spreading the cow**** on it before tilling. Have dug and planted a lot of trees and shrubs. Used it like a chisel plow with the ripper tooth for burying electric and phone cable as well. Butchered cows and hogs with it for years. Haul round bales with 2 spears on the front bucket and pinch one with the hoe. Cut and drag a lot of firewood. Put tin roof on corn crib before.