What would I be getting into.

flying belgian · Aug 22, 2019

Anybody ever use one of those sub-compact tractors with a back hoe? Thinking about buying a new 25 horse with front loader, 60" mower deck and backhoe. Either Yanmar or Mahindra. Time to replace Wife's all-wheel steer JD. Could sure use a little backhoe to replace the hand shovel. Thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I have my big farm tractor with front-end loader for serious work. Maybe just use the little one around yard. Wood chips around trees, maybe a bucket of gravel on the drive, black dirt here and there. But meanly wife would mow the farm yard with it. I would use the backhoe for digging rocks out of fields. Would that backhoe be able to dig up a broken field tile? I have one out in field right now and for what it would cost to hire it fixed I could almost pay for the backhoe if it would be up to the task. I have a forklift for pallet work. Any thoughts?

old · Aug 22, 2019

I'd run not walk away from a Mahindra there poorly made and dealer backing is also poor and well parts are hard to come by. Now if you had said Kabota that is different

Bruce from Can. · Aug 22, 2019

No experience with any of these rigs. Dealer told me one time, if you want a lawnmower, then buy a lawnmower. If you want a utility tractor/backhoe, then buy a utility tractor/backhoe. He said folks that buy one unit to do all things are seldom satisfied with the results or performance.

Fawteen · Aug 22, 2019

I had a John Deere 750 (re-badged Yanmar) with a Woods 650 backhoe. It was a hole diggin' sonofagun, but had two limitations:

1. Depth. While it COULD dig to 6 feet, that was with the boom pointing pretty much straight down and you could dig maybe a foot before having to move. 4 feet was a much more practical working depth.

2. Reach. Even digging a 4 foot trench (common for water lines in this area to get them below frost) you spent a lot of time repositioning as you ran out of reach and/or places to put the dirt.

As long as you planned for those limitations and weren't in a hurry, it would do a lot of work.

lenray · Aug 22, 2019

I have just the backhoe--not tractor--that digs to 17 ft. deep. Needs a big tractor to mount it on. mail is open michigan

caterpillar guy · Aug 22, 2019

I'm with Old and Bruce on this one.

Wheat47 · Aug 22, 2019

I agree with Old regarding Kubota. I have a 7510 (25 or so HP) with a loader and backhoe.
As someone mentioned, 6 ft. trench is a fun challenge, but it beats a shovel any day!!
Kubota's are tough!! Good dealer support. Usually fairly economical on fuel.
For small home projects, they're great. But if you're going in to business,
go get a big machine.
However, I do get a call from time to time to come and dig a trench in a building
or a tight spot because a big machine can't fit.

Tony in SD · Aug 23, 2019

If your going to keep the tractor til death do us part, then OK. But sometimes the manufacturers change mounting brackets. Most backhoes are NOT just a 3 point. They have other mounts to keep them solid to the tractor. Here in South Dakota they are not much good at digging in water lines 6-7 feet deep. The specifications may say as low as 6 feet but that is max depth and you will have to move your tractor after each scoop. On the up side they are handy for small jobs.

ss55 · Aug 23, 2019

Pencil out how many hours you could rent or hire a full size backhoe or a mini-hoe for the cost of buying a hoe for the compact tractor.

kcm.MN · Aug 23, 2019

(quoted from post at 17:12:07 08/22/19)Could sure use a little backhoe to replace the hand shovel.

First of all, the only experience I've had was with a re-purposed JD backhoe (probably from a JD 310?) that I used on the back of my JD 4010. It was a 3-pt hookup, but included a frame due to its original 4-pt mount, which made the unit sit farther back than normal, which made lifting it a strain on the 3-pt hydraulics. BUT.....it was a beast!

If I had it to do again, I'd just buy (or build?) a self-contained, towable backhoe. However, that depends on your needs:
1. how deep might you need to dig?
2. what kinds of soil might you run across? (heavy clay will be harder to dig)
3. how large a bucket? You can use a lighter-but-longer arm if you're willing to also use a much smaller bucket.

Northern Tool used to sell what looked like a nice little backhoe with Honda engine, but I see it has been discontinued. Do a web search for "towable backhoe" and look at the results. Some units are set up so that you can use the arm to move the unit, while other models have hydraulic motors in 2 wheels with other 2 wheels being swivel.

For small, occasional use, I'd go this route. Would also free up the tractor-loader so that two people could work at the same time, or each machine could be in different areas.

If I were to build a unit from scratch, I'd likely build 2 arms; one lighter-but-longer for digging deeper, and one short-but-stout for digging small stumps, etc.

https://images11.palcdn.com/hlr-system/WebPhotos/87/873/8737/8737678.jpg

BobReeves · Aug 23, 2019

I have a Kubota B7100, small tractor with 60" mid mount deck. With the deck on it's worthless as a tractor and really just a big lawn mower that my zero turn will run circles around. If you do buy a compact take the money you would have spent on the deck, put it towards a zero turn and leave the deck at the dealer.

Bruce from Can. · Aug 23, 2019

No experience with any of these rigs. Dealer told me one time, if you want a lawnmower, then buy a lawnmower. If you want a utility tractor/backhoe, then buy a utility tractor/backhoe. He said folks that buy one unit to do all things are seldom satisfied with the results or performance.

olddog · Aug 23, 2019

Son bought a Mahindra. Small diesel 4x4. hoe, 60" mower, and bucket. Came over to clean out a ditch for me.
Grandson (pretty good with any much larger machinery) was on it. Some observations.
Low ground clearance. Had to drag him out once with just the bucket on. Very slowwwwww. Seems could only use one lever
at a time. (Lo volume pump?). He tried.
He was happy with the dealer support for a couple of issues. (Exhaust and 3Pt linkage.)

showcrop · Aug 23, 2019

As already said depends on what you need to do. I have had a small detachable hoe for over thirty years. For digging rocks it would work just fine. For ditches not so much. For anything very deep you are limited just as much by how far you can move the dirt away as by how deep it will go. If you do go with a dismountable spend a little extra for a PTO pump. They are AWFULLY slow on the hydraulics of a smaller tractor.

Mike M · Aug 23, 2019

You want one with a sub frame type of mounting. I had a Cub cadet compact with a loader and backhoe. It really did a fine job digging. The loader and hoe were made by Woods. I also had another Woods backhoe with it's own pump and it would really dig. It was a 3 pt mount and I could see this was not good for the tractor is was mounted on. I also found out the small ones are a pain to trench with as with such a short reach you have to keep getting off and moving.Mine were the Woods 6500 models. so 6 1/2 foot boom. These are not the best to climb on and off of easily. Hard to push them ahead and keep straight.
If you have much land I'd look for an older industrial machine with a loader and backhoe and use it for your digging projects. I've seen some Ford and Case models that reasonable priced but I never actually looked at the machines to see if they were junk or not.
Kubota attachments come off and on fairly easy and JD is likely the easiest. Either one of these would be a far better choice.

Leroy · Aug 23, 2019

Loader and backhow OK but forget the mower deck as you could not use the outfit with the loader and hoe with the deck andto take those off would be a full day of work and you would need a different loader to handle them for mounting. Loader and hoe on seperate tractor with a different outfit for mower OK, all on one tractor NOT OK. Friend has a small loader and hoe on a sub compact MF and finds more work for it around farm all the time but would not want to try to remove things to mount mower and reverse for a small loader-hoe job and back to mower. You would spend more time just changing back than ever working.

SVcummins · Aug 23, 2019

Those little tractors are handy around the place they can lift around a thousand pounds and with mfwd they move quite a bit of material . With the new quick attach loader and backhoe you can take it off and put it on about as quick as hitching up an implement
Untitled URL Link

Blackhole49 · Aug 23, 2019

I agree with the others that say trying to do all that with one machine will probably be disappointing. My neighbor has a 2601 Kubota with a loader and 60" mid mower. The loader goes on and off in minutes. The mower takes a little longer. He can do most of his homeowner loader work with the mower on. If you realy want a backhoe, you might want to consider a used mini excavator. Even a really small one does a lot of work. We rented this when my son built his garage 3 years ago and did the site work. I've operated large equipment and was very suprised at what something this small could accomplish.

GeneMO · Aug 23, 2019

I just bought the exact rig you are describing, well not the backhoe part. It is a Kubota L3301. 30 some horsepower. loader and 5' bush hog. Approx $22,000. So far so good. Sure is handy.

I got the hydrostat model, 4 WD and with Ag tires.

I think they said a back hoe attachment was around $8,000

Don't know anything about the other brands.

Gene

Pitch · Aug 23, 2019

I have a Mahindra. Old must never have been on one, it is one hell of a tough little machine. I can't speak to the backhoe as I don't have one.
I would advise against the belly mower and tell the dealer you want a pull behind instead. With the mid mount mower in place, you pretty much have a lawnmower. The belly mount has no ground clearance.
I have a bit more than 800 hrs on my Maxx25 and other than a linkage adjustment when it was new,there have been zero problems.

old · Aug 23, 2019

I had one in my shop for repairs. Parts where hard to find for it and where very high and the thing was very poorly engineered so yes I know first hand that they are not a good machine. Might be like a lot of things there okay till they break down but then your in for problems

Bob Harvey · Aug 23, 2019

Friend had one about that size (don't remember brand). Fit in a 3/4 ton PU. Handy unit. We used it to load wheelbarrows when placing drain rock for perimeter drains (beat the heck out of a shovel !). It was called 'the drink mixer'. Got used a lot for close to foundation and close in work.

jwmfarms · Aug 23, 2019

With the new MF GC series subcompacts, you can remove the backhoe in about 10 minutes by yourself, the first time. Quicker after you've done it a few times. Loader takes less time, and mower goes on fast, too!

jwmfarms · Aug 23, 2019

Old, the reason the dealers don't support them is because Mahindra's warranty is worthless. The dealer will make the repairs as needed, only to have Mahindra to deny the claim, or at the very least refuse to pay the full labor amount. Ask me how I know!

You are also correct on the quality issue. The Mahindra built units are very poorly designed and built, using pourous castings and soft steel parts. You can break them by looking at them hard. The Mitsubishi built units are overpriced, and the TYM built tracors are an electrical nightmare. Imagine a wiring system on a lightning-struck tractor, minus the lightning. Electrical gremlins everywhere! John T would set fire to it!

Kickinbull · Aug 23, 2019

BIL has a Mahindra with loader and backhoe. He buried a pony for us this winter.

What would I be getting into.

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads