First Time With a Backhoe....It grew on me!

[CraneInnovation]

Over Thanksgiving weekend I went down to my grandfather's in NJ to fix a sinkhole in his driveway. It was one of those 1" holes in the pavement that disappeared into pure darkness. He had a drainage line in that spot, and we anticipated a replacement. I was going to rent a mini excavator due to my experience with them, but my uncle borrowed a New Holland TC40D backhoe for free. Never run one before....but the price was right (thanks to Uncle Bob and Dave, whichever Dave in northern NJ you are!)

Initially, I hated it. Controls lacked finesse....range of motion was weird...WAAAAY too much machine to move around for the amount of reach you had. All that seat switching... I was used to Cat controls and every time I wanted to zig, I zagged. Not a happy camper, but hey, I was running some iron!



We hit some boulders, but I got the trench open. Started to get the hang of it...



The second morning, the machine started fine, but started choking after a few minutes of operation. I suspected the fuel filter. Pulled it off, and it was full of algae. We got a replacement from NAPA, and I installed it after filling the filter (from OUTSIDE the membrane). At this point I was worried....New Holland alleges the TC40D has an auto-priming system. Some guys online disputed this. I decided to trust them and turned the key without bleeding anything. Started right up. Ran like a top. Ok, New Holland. I'm impressed!

Backfilling the trench. At this point, the T/L/B is growing on me. Having done a whole yard rebuild with an excavator, having the loader on the other end was mighty handy.



On Sunday I did a few odd jobs around the house for Grandpa, and by the end of it, I had a revelation that surprised me. I really liked this backhoe. I want one!

Got the job buttoned up nice in just a long weekend. Grandpa is getting the driveway repaved in the spring, so we left compacted fill.

Chalk me up as a new convert to the loader/backhoe club! Still won't say no to a Bobcat E42, though....

 

[mitch504]

Initially, I hated it. Controls lacked finesse....range of motion was weird...WAAAAY too much machine to move around for the amount of reach you had. All that seat switching...

I think you would find that most of these objections don't apply to a real tlb. That is just sort of an attachment to a homeowner grade utility tractor. It does beat the heck out of a shovel, though, doesn't it?

Just think, next year you can dig up his yard with a Gradeall!

 

[CraneInnovation]

I think you would find that most of these objections don't apply to a real tlb. That is just sort of an attachment to a homeowner grade utility tractor. It does beat the heck out of a shovel, though, doesn't it?

Just think, next year you can dig up his yard with a Gradeall!

This is true, it was not a big machine, although the geometry differences from an excavator were similar. It was initially suggested that we do the job with shovels, but I insisted on some kind of equipment. We'd still be digging the trench!

And yes, once we hit those big boulders, I was definitely thinking of that big old G3WD.

 

[oldtanker]

I dug this little stone out with a TLB. As a farmer having a TLB that I can drive on the road from field to field is great and if it's big enough it does the job. That's my nephew in the pic.

Rick

 

[Tinkerer]

In the third photo down it appears you are dumping backfill over an unprotected pipe. I would never do that until I have a lift of clean back-fill over it. A baseball size rock directly on the pipe and then covered may be a disaster as time passes. Nice looking job though.

 

[CraneInnovation]

Thanks Tinkerer. We did remove rocks from the fill as we placed it. The piles froze overnight, so I would dig a bucket, dump it, and we would pick any big rocks out. I was actually getting concerned about volume from all the buckets of rock I took down to the woods!

 

[orkrule1]

Just got to run my first backhoe today (Deere 410J)
It's like a loader tractor... but zippier... and it can't drive in a straight line in loose dirt

I'm with CraneInnovation. I want one.