harbor freight trencher/backhoe

[6acres]

IT'S HERE !!!

Picked it up yesterday. The shipping bill said 1200#, I'm glad I didn't read that before I moved it. It was wrapped in bubble wrap, with loose parts and boxes inside a wooden pallet frame, amazing it didn't have any damage, the only thing is the grease caps on the wheel hubs were dented, no problem. I unpacked it in the garage and started assembling it. The instructions are not the best, one thing I could add is, thread the hydraulic lines through the frame one at a time and put the longest one on the bottom.
It will be another week before I can get it outside and finish assembly.

 

[Tibeka]

I bought a Trencherman II that is similar to this off of Craig's list a while back. I wasn't really looking for one but for $800 I picked it up.

I will say it impressed the heck outa me! It will dig as good as a small frame mount backhoe if you know how to work it. I hook mine to the drawbar on the tractor to hold the backend down and make it easier to move.

The only complaint I have with it is that it's slow. I'm guessing that's so people that don't know how to operate a backhoe (which is who mostly buys these I would guess) don't hurt themselves.

 

[6acres]

It's almost ready for the dirt. I add some protection where the lines run through the retaining ring, I noticed on my friends it was chaffing there. I added the blue cap over the hydraulic fill/vent plug to previent water from getting in, poor design. The joints all have grease fittings, but one thing I wondered about, was the pins at the end of the main boom, there is no way for the grease to get to the inner surface. So far I am impressed.

 

[seanbarr]

Very interesting! Are you still planning to try to connect it to your tractor somehow?

 

[6acres]

Probably will just use the hitch, it's light in the back end, so I need something secure. I was thinking about mounting a hitch ball on the bucket so it would be more maneuverable. One nice thing about it is, when the wheels are on the front like in the picture and the boom is at the correct angle, it balances out and you can push it around very easily. Thats how I get it in and out of a very tight garage.

 

[6acres]

Finally got it in the dirt. It is a very strong machine for it's size. The biggest drawback is it's mobility. It does crawl around pretty good, but it has to be coupled to something with mass to dig. The rearranging of the wheels, stabilizers and coupling is very time consuming when preparing to tow it. I would welcome suggestions. Some ideas I had to correct these issues were to add a hydraulic spike to the back end, also add weight, add hydraulic lift to the stabilizer arms. This would let it work independent or the tractor. If time is not an issue, this is a good working machine for the price.

 

[bandaidmd]

If you have a welder take some time some day to reinforce the bucket seams, I peeled mine open after hooking a root. The curl has a lot of power for a small machine. I agree moving it around is a pita. I will get a picture of the extra dolly wheels i put on mine.

 

[bandaidmd]

If you leave it running(keeps hyd pressure on the the boom) or use the locks you can put the backhoe bucket into your loader bucket and move it around without swapping the legs and wheels.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Sell the tinker toy and buy a real backhoe attatchment atleast. You spent money already and are not 100% happy with it and need to modify it.

 

[6acres]

I think it's an amazing machine for the price, but needs improvements, which I enjoy doing anyway. I would be interested in seeing any others modifications.
I was able to tear down a wall of an old house on the property. It punched through the wall easily and the lateral force just snapped the 2x4's like tooth picks. As for the picture - I weakened the walls and pulled the corner supports out from a distance with the tractor.
I think a couple hundred pounds of weight at the rear would free it from having to be attached to the tractor. Retractable stabilizers would be the next thing. The DR has manually operated ones and the dirt master has hydraulic. That is going to be my next project. First I need information on the valve block used on the Harbor Freight unit.

 

[bandaidmd]

It might be by design that the hitch end raises up when you overload the bucket end. These little buggers have quite a bit of power but the framework does have its limits.

 

[bandaidmd]

@Mr. McCarthy, Tinker toy? surely you jest! Try getting a tractor mounted backhoe into someones backyard thru a standard gate opening ,it wont fit. You can slide the wheels in on the trencherman and roll it down a sidewalk and into places where the other option is a pick and shovel..

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I take a section of the fence out do what I need to do and put the fence back, not a huge ordeal.

 

[Bulldog]

How narrow does it get?

 

[bandaidmd]

"How narrow does it get? "
Next time I'm close by with a tape measure I will let you know, its stored at my Moms house. If I remember correctly I had to shorten the sq tube that the wheels mount into because they butted in the middle of the tube they slide into and gained (or maybe it would be lost) a few inches of width.

 

[RBA50]

Actually, you can remove the wheels completely and slide it or use rollers (say 4" PVC) underneath to get through very narrow spaces, it's not that heavy.

 

[bandaidmd]

"Actually, you can remove the wheels completely and slide it or use rollers (say 4" PVC) underneath to get through very narrow spaces, it's not that heavy"

I have two legs with dolly wheels that come down straight off the front where the wheels slide in.

 

[6acres]

can you post some pictures?

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I try to work smater and not harder. If it gets that complicated to get a machine threw a gate then I'll go rent a little baby excavator for the day rather then beat my brains in trying to get a machine into the back yard.

http://www.kubota.com/product/U17/U17.aspx

 

[jerrell]

I bought one of these from habor freight, and i love it, greatest thing since pockets, i just dug a hole for septic tank, and field lines( really great for field lines) and i dug and buried a storm celler. it is a little slow and it takes getting used to with the 4 handles to manuaver (ms) , they make one with only two levers and wish i had gotten that one, it is very light in the backend so i usually leave it hooked up to my pickup. this also helps you back up easier if digging a streaight line, also in moving it around i sometimes just lower the bucket into my pickup bed and pull it around to where i want to use it next.