Ditch Witch R40/#140 backhoe

Brandon Krites · Jul 16, 2014

I qm looking at purchasing a Ditch Witch R40 with a rear mounted 140 ditch witch backhoe and a front mounted 4 way backfill blade. machine runs its got a 4 cyl continental gas engine, hours unknown at the moment. machine looks to be in decent shape, tires 40 to 50% the swing cylinders appear to be leaking and need repacked. anyone have any experience with these machines? how stout is the hoe? and most importantly whats it worth?

Thanks Brandon

ditchwitch · Jul 16, 2014

Ive run the r40s gas and diesel trenchers back in the day. On the r40s that we had the hoe was always on the front. as far as the tractor itself the diesel was always a better tractor. Gas was ok for the hoe but for the trenching diesel was much beter.I would guess that tractor with the hoe that needs work would be close to 4k. Like i said they were good trenchers in there time but they quickly got surpassed.

Brandon Krites · Jul 16, 2014

Id always rather have a diesel but continental builds a decent engine. This machine has no trencher bar. Its set up as a rear hoe from the factory. I have contacted ditch witch and they did say that was an option. How were they to operate.Do they have decent travel speeds?

Brandon Krites · Jul 16, 2014

Id always rather have a diesel but continental builds a decent engine. This machine has no trencher bar. Its set up as a rear hoe from the factory. I have contacted ditch witch and they did say that was an option. How were they to operate.Do they have decent travel speeds?

Arnold Layne · Jul 17, 2014

I would imagine a 40 with a hoe on the rear would be near useless, it's not a real backhoe, it is an emergency measure that will usually get you by if you are trenching in cable or water line and need to dig a little hole, and you don't want to haul two machines to the jobsite, the other being a backhoe. I took the hoe off of my 40 and sold it, just wasn't worth fooling with if you have a real hoe. The blade on the front is a backfill blade, not a dozer, and it would not last very long being used as such. Petty good road speed coupled with huge maintenance, they are not designed to be driven around a lot. If I remember it right the R40 was available with A Ford diesel, a Ford gas and the Continental gas engine, IMHO the Conti would be the least desirable. An R40 with a trencher and no hoe is one of the nicest small trenchers ever made as far as I am concerned. FWIW

jennifer408 · Jul 17, 2014

we got a j20 off cl a couple years back. it was a rental, used and abused, we have fixed and replaced bearings and stuff along the way and she just keeps on going. what a stout little machine, we love her. she still needs shoes and teeth (some bucks) but i would not think of selling her, even if we thought we didn't need her anymore. big smile

Ditch Witch R40/#140 backhoe

Brandon Krites

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ditchwitch

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Brandon Krites

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Brandon Krites

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Arnold Layne

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jennifer408

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