Back Hoe Reinstalling

[William1]

BX25D
No problem removing the BH last fall. Easier than I thought it would be.

I imagine it will be a little more difficult to put it back on in a week or two. I was wondering.... does anyone apply a little grease to the bottom pins the BH hooks on to the sub frame? I put a little white lithium lube on the pins on top to ensure they slide out easy and that was a good idea (did the same to the FEL pins). But the bottom hooks. I know that the BH will not 'rust to the sub frame' but I was thinking it might cut down on rusting however, grease attracts and holds on to dirt and grit, potentially making the grease into a lapidary compound and therefore clean and dry is the way to go.

Any thoughts? Extra hints to make my first reattachment easier?

 

[85Hokie]

aint nothing wrong with a "little" dab of grease - or any other covering - shoot even the ol' WD40 would be a good choice for that.

 

[SLIMSHADIE]

I dab a little grease on the frame by the bottom pins. Wipe off and re-apply when installing. Its so tight on there it has rubbed the paint off, maybe it would help from rusting. Also thought it might help slide it on since I have a hell of a time putting it back on.

 

[bxray]

And putting it back on is just a little harder than taking it off.
As long as it is parallel it is not to bad.
May have to jiggle it in.
I have mine on a dolly to help.
Ray

 

[RonBoyBX25D]

Good call on the grease for the hooks, just put my BH back on & didn't even think of it. I did grease up the pins as they are so tight.

I have put it on & off many times last summer after watching the YouTube videos which really help, last fall I picked up the dolly from BXpanded. The dolly really makes it easy on & off, guess it cut the time in half or maybe more. Now I don't mind taking it odd to mow or to put on the 3pt.

 

[William1]

Thanks for the confirmation.

I'd love to have the dolly as I imagine it makes it a real easy job but I have to store my BH outside on a few slats of wood above ground. I'll be backing the tractor up to it and struggling.

 

[meackerman]

on my 2910 my 3pt BH is the implement that takes the longest to attach. Usually takes two of us about 30 minutes. All my other implements I can do by myself in under 10 minutes, usually under 5 minutes.

 

[William1]

Reinstalled it this morning it went without a 'hitch' (bad pun).
Hardest part was I had to move my back blade, which I put back on the 3pt and put in the driveway.
Then I had to remove the 3pt. That was real easy. Wiped the grease off mostly and bagged the parts till next fall (need a few more hair clips, they sure make it even easier).
Backing up to and lined up to the BH. Two attempts to get it right. Hard part is being old and twisting in the seat and looking down. But it was really not a big deal.
I do not have the luxury of having been able to store the BH on a nice level garage floor. It sat for six months on a few pressure treated planks sitting on top of a few cement blocks. I had strapped the stabilizers in the up position but (apparently) I did not have the bucket in a position where it would not move. So I was a little concerned about pressures in the hoses. I connected them, no issues.
Fired up the tractor, slowly put the stabilizers down until the main pins the BH hangs on were up high enough to slip in the hooks. Backed up and I felt/heard a slight 'clank'. Hopped off, saw I was in and slowly raised the stabilizers and the pins fell into the slots. Used the buck to align the upper pins and with a little tweaking ('twerking' for the younger set), slipped them in.
Done deal. Except I now had to move the rear blade from my drive way and put it where the BH had been stored. This was the hardest part. Chaining it and lifting and not dropping or having it swing too much.
But all told, it took me by myself about an hour. Over half the time was spent dealing with the blade. Ten minutes removing the 3pt, cleaning and bagging. Twenty minutes installing the BH (maybe not even that long).
All ready for some more digging (Still working on that stream project. Have to get four tons of riprap to protect a stream side 'wall'.)

 

[100 td]

Just for fun drop it off again then back up to it and put it on again, if it's anything like the B21 hoe, once you have done it a couple of times you'll have it down to a few minutes I expect.