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Dug my first hole...

NateV

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
157
Location
Pittsburgh PA
Occupation
Excavating
Well today I actually dug my first hole with my dads backhoe. Iv been moving his stuff around for years, iv done stuff with the loader but not the hoe. The hole was 16x24 and around 4-5 deep for a water holding tank. My main problem was lining everything up to get the walls straight, other than that I was ok. I even like the 4 stick controls unlike some of you. Well here are some pics.





Oh and I just graduated high school and will be going to school to learn more about equipment and get my cdl.

Also we were only less than a mile from the shop so dad decided I should drive it back. Well I didnt realize how hard it is to keep that thing in the right lane. Dad followed me and he told me it looked like I was drunk driving it.

Lastly I will say that i gained alot of knowledge today and respect. It really isnt as easy as it looks. I would always say all you do is pull leavers all day how hard can it be, but now i know.
 
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mflah87

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
186
Location
Waltham
Occupation
owner of excavating company
Practice makes perfect. Case is a hard machine to run but once you get used to it you'll love it. To be honest with you I'd take the 4 stick over the wobble stick. I bought one case with wobble sticks and had it changed over to 4 stick. It feels like you have better control over the movement witht he 4 stick.
 

JimBruce42

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
965
Location
Pennsylvania
Occupation
operator
Looks pretty good for your first hole.:notworthy If you don't mind my asking, where are you going to school?

I was pretty proud of the first hole I dug as well. Course mine was just for practice, took two days for me to dig and between the two days we got 3" of rain, but I'm still proud of it:drinkup .
 

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Tn Bulldog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
75
Location
Millington,Tn
Occupation
Heavy equipment operator/ Truck driver
My family ran the 480c 580Super E & 580Super K Models in our excavating business thats the brand what i was raised on the 1st R.T. Backhoe i learned how to run was operating a 580 Super E When i was 13yrs old .

i love a 3 & 4 stick verus the wobble the 1st wobble stick (excluding 215 Cat excavator) i ran i was 19yrs old & it took me 3 days to get the feel of em down i was cussing my granddad's buddys John deere 410 the whole time wanting a Case 3 or 4 stick ;) :D



nice Case & nice job on your 1st time :drinkup


later

Bulldog
 
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Ford LT-9000

Banned
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
1,484
Location
B.C. Canada
Occupation
Rolling around in the dirt
The old style case controls are good you can feather the hydraulics easier than wobble sticks. You get the Case machines with the foot pedal swing that takes some time getting used to.

Wobble sticks in a backhoe is even alot different than a regular crawler excavator.

Rubber tired hoe is the hardest machine to run if you learn how to use one properly you can run anything.

As for roading backhoes down the road ya it can be a experience. When I roaded the 4x4x4 JCB I was running it gave me a scare. The first thing I learned was take the machine out of 4 wheel steer. I don't know how many miles I put on that machine.
 

CascadeScaper

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
1,162
Location
Lynnwood, WA
Occupation
2nd year Operating Engineer Apprentice
It's all about practice. I think the first backhoe I ran was when I was maybe 12 or 13. We rented a small Kubota B21 for some work and I dug a pretty decent hole with it. Well, at least I felt it was decent anyway. :cool2 Needless to say I'm much better now, but I prefer excavators to backhoes any day of the week, but that's just me. Like Ford said, if you can run a backhoe, you can run anything.
 

Tn Bulldog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
75
Location
Millington,Tn
Occupation
Heavy equipment operator/ Truck driver
The old style case controls are good you can feather the hydraulics easier than wobble sticks. You get the Case machines with the foot pedal swing that takes some time getting used to.

Wobble sticks in a backhoe is even alot different than a regular crawler excavator.

Rubber tired hoe is the hardest machine to run if you learn how to use one properly you can run anything.



yup thats why i was cussing the J.D I Learned REAL QUICK THAT WOBBLES WERE DIFFERENT THAN TRACKHOE CONTROLS


As far as the Foot pedals i like em & as far as the backhoe being the hardest machine to run your right in my book but besides a tractor & pan thats the 1st thing i learned to run was a Case Backhoe 4 stick ;)





later yall

bulldog
 
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tuney443

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
Messages
1,216
Location
Dutchess County,NY
Occupation
excavating contractor
The old style case controls are good you can feather the hydraulics easier than wobble sticks. You get the Case machines with the foot pedal swing that takes some time getting used to.

Wobble sticks in a backhoe is even alot different than a regular crawler excavator.

Rubber tired hoe is the hardest machine to run if you learn how to use one properly you can run anything.

As for roading backhoes down the road ya it can be a experience. When I roaded the 4x4x4 JCB I was running it gave me a scare. The first thing I learned was take the machine out of 4 wheel steer. I don't know how many miles I put on that machine.

One time I let my XXXwife run my old 3820 Cornbinder{huge 11 ton 4X4 hoe with rear wheel steer} down the road.She went about 1/4 mile--I think she XXXX her drawers---FUNNY
 
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dirtmerchant542

New Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2007
Messages
3
Location
Bensalem,PA
Keep up the good work! I work with all Case equipment and if I'm thrown on a Cat or any thing else I'm lost for awhile. These are some of the holes I'm use to diging working in downtown Philidelphia.
 

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gordyo

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
30
Location
Wenham, Ma
Occupation
Fleet Manager
Also we were only less than a mile from the shop so dad decided I should drive it back. Well I didnt realize how hard it is to keep that thing in the right lane. Dad followed me and he told me it looked like I was drunk driving it.

I have a ride control switch on my JD 310G that somehow puts the loader arms into a float/dampener mode and takes the bounce out while roading the machine. You can watch the loader arms just go up and down adjusting to the bumps but the machine stays nice and smooth. No bouncing out of the seat and slamming your squash into the roof anymore, the front wheels actually stay on the ground.
 
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sawerewolf

Active Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
26
Location
South Africa
Occupation
Official TLB operator and light truck driver
Lol! I dont remember which of the holes I dug was my first but I'll tell you this much... Driving a CAT 424D over a speedbump at full speed (bout 40 or 45 km/h or up to 28miles/h if I done the convertion correctly) is sure not fun.
 

JS580SL

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
558
Location
Massachuessetts
Occupation
operator
Dirtmerchant those pics are really cool. I hope to be working in the city for while in the near future.


Nate you did a nice job. Im 19 and I can remember the first time a dad let me run the backhoe, old 416B when I was 8.Now we have 2000 Super L that I run mostly.

Id run that 580 over any new machine anyday of the week. I run with the 2stick control and Case has better feel in my mind over any other backhoe. I can run a 4stick ok.
 

NateV

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
157
Location
Pittsburgh PA
Occupation
Excavating
Thanks JS580SL

I kinda liked the 4 stick controls but dad just traded it in on a new M with pilot controls. Iv only played around at the shop with it so far but im kinda on the fence still about it. They seem to touchy to me but im sure in time i will get used to them.
 

mikef87

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Messages
433
Location
waltham
Occupation
owner/operator/mechanic/laborer/truck driver
Well today I actually dug my first hole with my dads backhoe. Iv been moving his stuff around for years, iv done stuff with the loader but not the hoe. The hole was 16x24 and around 4-5 deep for a water holding tank. My main problem was lining everything up to get the walls straight, other than that I was ok. I even like the 4 stick controls unlike some of you. Well here are some pics.





Oh and I just graduated high school and will be going to school to learn more about equipment and get my cdl.

Also we were only less than a mile from the shop so dad decided I should drive it back. Well I didnt realize how hard it is to keep that thing in the right lane. Dad followed me and he told me it looked like I was drunk driving it.

Lastly I will say that i gained alot of knowledge today and respect. It really isnt as easy as it looks. I would always say all you do is pull leavers all day how hard can it be, but now i know.

I love the case 4 stick pattern. Much better than those damn wobble sticks.
 
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