Just aquired a backhoe for the B7100 & B8200.

[Rob]

Hi all,
I have been on the lookout for another backhoe to fit my B7100 & B8200 but until now nothing has come to light, well not at a lowish price that isn't rubbish that is.
Some of you may recall a had a KB180 that was in a somewhat poor state of repair and even more problems came up with it and even worse after i started rebuilding it, anway after doing a massive amount of work to it, to be honest, i wasnt really that impressed with it, so i sold it and just about recouped my total costs.
I have now aquired a Lewis 200 backhoe, an early model with 4 control spool setup, not the 2 way joystick version that i would have liked, but hey its was a good price , and after an initial tryout it works brilliant, far better than the KB180 .
After stripping it all down, things are looking good, only 2 bushes need replacing and they are on the slew rams mounts, so just tap out, nice and easy repair.
all the rams are in great shape, with only a small weaping seal on one stabilizer leg rams and i can get all the seals and ram parts from my local source at trade cost, so another bonus.
It will need a new seat and i am going to get the upgraded joystick spool controls from the manafacturer as they are available from stock and are very reasonbly priced.

So i will just need to upgrade it to the correct color and then jobs a good one.

Ahhhhhhh, allmost forgot , there is another smallish issue that i will need to address and that is the subframe, well the lack of one would be a better description.
The previous owners decided to hack off the subframe and use it on a 3 point setup, i prefer not to use it that way to be honest .
I have just enough of the old one to be able to take the required sizes and data from to be able to refab a new subframe to the same specs but as i want to use it on B7100 & B8200 machines i suspect i will need to fabricate an adapter plate setup so as to allow it to be fitted to both as the rearend are differing dimensions.
Anyway, i'll put up some pics as i go along for anyone else who may need to reference them for help.
pic attached.
rob

 

[Rob]

I am in the process of ordering a few new attachments for it also, these are made by lewis and are a retro fit for my unit.

Should make life a little bit easier

 

[Stumpy]

Building yourself a new subframe eh? Sounds like a quaint little afternoon project!

I like how that one is built. It's all square tube and plate. Doesn't look in bad shape either, a little paint and you ought have a nice rig. Look over those hoses carefully though, getting an unanticipated shower of hot hydraulic fluid is not a fun experience.

Most of my (few) backhoe hours are on a 4 stick and I always liked the challenge of running all four at once. The old man worked for a construction company back in the stone age and he could run a 4 stick like an extension of himself.

 

[Rob]

Making good progress with this now after putting the project on the back burner due to more pressing work.

totally stripped it down and replaced all the bushes and pins, rebuild 3 of the rams and re-fabricated some sections that were damaged on the frame work.
gave it all a nice new paint job.
so nearly there now, just waiting on some spool valve gaiters and linkages to complete the spool valve conversion setup from 4 lever control to 2 lever joystick setup.

pics are not upto date as of today as its further on now, so will add them over the weekend.

looking forward to using now on both the 7100 & 8200.

rob