New backhoe owner says thank you.

As a new backhoe owner who just bought a Deere 310L for my farm, I'd like to thank everyone for sharing all of your expertise to help me learn how to operate, maintain and store my piece of equipment.

I especially appreciate posts about safety.

Heavy equipment and hydraulics are new to me, and the last thing I want is to either get hurt, damage anything, or hurt someone else.

I watched "Shake Hands with Danger", and that got me thinking about safety. When I was working under the tractor draining fluids and changing filters, I made sure the front loader and back arm, and stabilizers were down, and the tractor was mostly level. So if the brakes failed, the tractor wouldn't move. Should I also get a set of wheel chocks too? Getting crushed by a 15,000 pound unit does not sound like a great idea.

I know about using the front loader lock whenever working under a raised loader arm. I know about being careful about undoing hydraulics that might be under pressure.I know about not moving stabilizers, front loaders and backhoe arms from outside the cab. Know about seat belts. Know about staying with the unit if it rolls.

I know about being very careful about septic tanks, overhead stuff (especially wires), and rollover dangers. I know about keeping the front loader bucket as low as possible, and not digging off the side of the tractor with the hoe. I also know to be very careful walking around in unshored trenches.

I'd love to hear other things I should be aware of, or careful of.

Thanks.

I'd say it can't hurt to have some wheel chocks.

I don't know if it's common knowledge or even a great practice but if I get in precarious situations I lower my stabilizers. Last night as I buried a horse in a big wet field I got a bit stuck, wheels covered in mud and 4 wheel drive just spinning tires. It was time to hoe myself out of the hole. I lowered the stabilizers to about 6 inches off the ground so if I start tipping too much they'd catch me. Unfortunately, to unstick myself I had to raise the machine about a foot or so to get the big wheels out of the ruts but I figure having the stabilizers down helps a bit if things were to go poorly. I think it's also a great idea to learn to pull yourself out of trouble, with the hoe, if you haven't yet. You hear people say you can't get a backhoe stuck. I think we've seen examples showing you actually can, but I've been in some pretty deep holes or tight spots that I've got out of and I'm not that skilled. Getting stuck can be real sketchy and super rewarding to unstick from. That's also not to mention that it can be very convenient to maneuver yourself around with the hoe, rather than raise everything, spin around, and drive to a new spot.

I also watched some backhoe rodeo tricks where very skilled operators showed what these machines are really capable of. One guy I saw used the hoe to tip the machine to almost horizontal, where he was actually standing pretty much straight up, but through a side window. It was crazy but gave me a better idea of the real power of a backhoe. I won't try a trick like that but it made me a little less nervous about tipping 5 degrees one way or the other.

For what it's worth and this isn't safety as much as ease of access, I have a guy a few miles from me who I think does some gravel/rock work with a couple very big loaders and a beefy skid steer and as I drove by a couple days ago I noticed the skid steer up on about a foot worth of boards, thus raising the bottom of the machine to get under it easier. I'd never thought of that but it's a great idea to work under it without getting a nose full of oil like I tend to.

Something you didn't mention; buckle your seatbelt.
I once did something stupid. I was lifting a power trowel out of a cellar. The foundation wasn't backfilled. Tractor was a Case 580K, first of two. It had no left door.
The plan was to swing far to the side, set it on a pile of gravel. The concrete guy had asked if I'd help him later in the day get it out. I had to be away when he was coming, so I figured top of the pile would be best for him to load it in his pickup.
I had to position as far back as I dared to reach out over the wall. The earth bank of the hole spit out a bit, I slid down a little. When I swung the hoe around, I couldn't reach far enough to set it on the pile. I did what I've done hundreds of times, put the trans in gear & eeeeased the stabilizers 1/2" off the ground. As the tractor started to move it tipped. It lifted on the stabilizer until the back bucket was on the ground the whole tractor was sort of on its side, propped on one stabilizer, that wheel a few feet above the ground, the other 8' off the ground. It all happened so fast I didn't succeed in grabbing anything. I was tossed out the open door onto the ground in terror it would roll farther! It didn't, it stopped there.

Immediately, I knew I had done something stupid, but the damage was done.

@aighead , about spit out my mountain dew when I read the some people say you can't get a back hoe stuck line!
There was a giant chorus of " hold my beer" heard across the world.
Emmett, try and do your grading going forward as much as possible. It is very tempting to do a lot of backdragging and everybody that's run a backhoe does it.
You will figure out the critical bucket angles for that to work out, the forward grading. It also pays to slow down.
I figure that is a safety item because everybody that's done a lot of backblading has had plenty of close calls.

I find slow goes a long way in giving you time to think, react and notice things going bad. Thinking before doing is also a good reminder.