Woods Backhoe Advice

[BAP]

Does anybody have experience using a Woods BH750 backhoe on their Kubota? I have seen one for sale that is self contained with its own hydraulic pump in great shape. I have a B2920 and wonder if it is suited for it. This is a 3pt hitch mount. I know the sub-frame mount is better, but I won't be using it hard. Mainly digging holes for transplanting shrubs and other plants that we need to move from our old house to our new one. I was wondering if these work well, or not. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Big Kahuna]

My brother has a Woods 750 on his B8200 for over 20 years, great hoe, he uses it around his house, problem free.


Big Kahuna

 

[rparkinson]

I wanted to do the same thing with my L3200. Everyone told me DON'T DO IT. I since have done alot of digging, and I will tell you I have seen a lot of pic of some nice machines with broken axle housings... even a new Holland that was basically broken in half. I would not do it.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Ya know its all in how the end user treats the hoe and how hard they use it wheather or not you break something. Alot of people can find a way to break an anvil if given a chance. I can't figure out how axle housing gets trashed from a 3pth mounted hoe, seems to me you'd wreck the hitch itself first before an axle housing snaps.

Your novice operator has no clue how to accurately operate a hoe to begin with. When you plant the out riggers on the ground its done to just stiffen up the rear of the tractor, if the out riggers are down so far that the tires are up in the air then you're doing it wrong.

Too many people make jerky fast moves with the controls and get the tractor bucking and jumping like its a bull in the rodeo.

 

[BadDog]

Ya know its all in how the end user treats the hoe and how hard they use it wheather or not you break something. Alot of people can find a way to break an anvil if given a chance.

My 2150 came with a sub-frame mounted hoe, and IT was broken. There are 2 3/4" thick pieces of carbon steel "feet" attaching the bottom of the sub-frame to the rear trans axle housing. Both were broken, fractured like cast iron! And the right side "wing" with the top/bottom hooks was bent a full 1" out of line. Just straightened it last weekend by borrowing a little time on a friend's sweet 500T C frame press (over 20" travel, he works on commercial mining equipment). That frame was way to big to fit my 50T press, which is no slouch itself. And I have to say, after I saw how difficult it is to bend back that springy carbon steel wing, someone was really serious about bending it to accomplish that feat! It took nearly 1" over bend with spring back to take out the 1" bend. Looks like some of the mount brackets on the hoe itself are also slightly tweaked, but they will fit my 50T press when I get around to working on the hoe itself. At least now I can reassemble most of the hoe frame once I refabricate the main 3/4" thick bottom tie brackets. And this is an "LD" (assume "light duty"?) 6' hoe! I can't imagine what they would have done with a 3 pt mounted hoe...

 

[BAP]

The reason I am considering this used Woods over buying a Kubota backhoe is the price. I have quite a few small projects which having a backhoe would make it a lot easier. None of them are deep holes or ditches. I have a few shallow pipes to put in in my woods road for culverts, holes to dig for for some shrubs and trees. My soil has a lot of small rocks which make digging with a shovel hard. I have run Case and John Deere backhoes before and done quite a bit of digging. You are right about some guys being able to break anything. I have seen operators who run the machines, "Balls to the Wall" and have constant break downs. The best operator I know runs his machine at about 2/3 to 3/4 throttle, can run a grade to 1/2 inch by eyesight alone, and can fish a pebble out of a wheel barrow without damaging it. So it is definitely how you run a piece of machinery as to wether or not it will hold up to the job you are doing.

 

[Underdawg]

I don't have the BH750 , but I have the BH6000. The dealer told me that Woods, actually makes the Kubota BH's.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

BAP I for one think you should be fine with a 3pt hoe, the chores you descible can be done with a shovel and a pick but its a helluva lot faster with a hoe. And it does sound like you know what you are doing with equipment.

 

[Tarmy]

I have an L2800...and was trying to determine if the 3pt. was OK or whether I should go to the frame mount...the comments steered me to the frame mount...and it is great advice. I have found way more "projects" than I ever thought of...and the backhoe is the tool most often used. I would strongly recommend the frame mount of whatever unit you buy. There is no way that the 3pt. would have survived my projects...and the security of not even worrying about the potential damage to the 3pt. assembly is worth the additional money.

In fact, after I started seeing how many different things I could accomplish with my backhoe...I added a rear valve set and added a hydraulic thumb. that setup is the greatest way to maximize the backhoes' usefulness...I build all kinds of rock walls, clean up and loading dropped trees/debris...and just finessing drain line and other items with the thumb/backhoe make the extra $ worth getting a strong reliable setup from the start.

Unless you have a hard stop on $...get the sub-frame setup...you won't regret it...plus it is easier to switch implements and "drop" the backhoe.

 

[BAP]

Thanks for all the advice. I went down to the dealer today to see if they had any used backhoes. They had a 750 woods that had no sub-frame or hydraulic pump. The salesman I bought the tractor from, told me that with my B2920, he would not put a 3pt hitch mount backhoe on because he feels the hitch on the tractor would not take it. The sub-frame from woods which includes the hydraulic hookup kit for the tractor is $1800. They sell both the Woods and Kubota backhoes and have actually sold the Woods ones for longer than Kubota has been selling them. He said a new Woods is now actually more than a Kubota. The Kubota priced out at about $7900. So I guess for now I probably will stick to the shovel until I can better afford a backhoe. Also I might rent a small excavator for a weekend to get some of the larger projects done. The rental rate is not to bad for a weekend.