Willie B
Senior Member
I just read a magazine article about how far TLBs have come in the seventy years since they were first marketed. I'd have said nearer 50 years. The guy writing the article probably needed a proofreader to point out that just because it's painted yellow, doesn't make it a bulldozer. I think he's a writer, not an operator. He goes on about 22.5' digging depth. Has anyone ever dug 22.5' deep with a backhoe? I've got to think you'd end up with the tractor in the hole if you tried.
The deepest I've ever had occasion to dig is 7'. Even then, angle of repose had me sweating. I dug my cellar hole with a backhoe in the dead of winter. The frozen ground three feet deep that winter gave much needed stability to the loose rock soil. In a backhoe I care about cycle times, extended reach, smoothness, and breakout force. Loader capacity is important, and transmission system are critical. Breakout force is important on natural gravel banks. I like to dig 15 ' of ditch without moving the tractor, place sand, and backfill a length of conduit. Reach matters, digging depth does not.
Just my opinion.
Willie
The deepest I've ever had occasion to dig is 7'. Even then, angle of repose had me sweating. I dug my cellar hole with a backhoe in the dead of winter. The frozen ground three feet deep that winter gave much needed stability to the loose rock soil. In a backhoe I care about cycle times, extended reach, smoothness, and breakout force. Loader capacity is important, and transmission system are critical. Breakout force is important on natural gravel banks. I like to dig 15 ' of ditch without moving the tractor, place sand, and backfill a length of conduit. Reach matters, digging depth does not.
Just my opinion.
Willie