B7500 Backhoe
Augustus
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 3 East Texas |
2003-01-31 48487
I manage a small community water system and most of my repairs and maintenance involve me on the working end of a shovel. I own a B7500 and I'm thinking of buying a backhoe to help me keep the water flowing. Has any one had any experience using a B7500 with a backhoe. Are they hard to attach and remove(I use the tractor a lot for other things)Am I asking too much of the tractor to dig up water lines in clay soil? (3-4 ft deep). Are there any brands better than others? Anything else I should consider? Any help is appreciated.
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B7500 Backhoe
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley |
2003-02-01 48506
I did a search on b7500 and noticed that MarkH mentioned that he got a quote on a B7500 with hoe. I imagine it was a sub-frame hoe so I guess that appropriate hoes do exist and people do use them. However, some sub-frame hoes interfere with other uses of the tractor and are a pain to put on and off. It sounds like the particulars of a sub-frame should be checked out before leaping. Newer types are pretty convenient.
With a small hoe on a small tractor, I'd think in terms of the hydraulic flow requirement of the hoe. A small tractor pump may work the hoe very slowly and a pto pump might be needed in addition to the hoe. A small hoe inexpensive hoe may have a fairly low relief valve pressure for its valve and may not dig well in clay with a very wide bucket.
I'd also think about the trenching required. A 6' hoe only digs a 2' length of trench at 6'. I get maybe 4'-5' of trench at around 4' from my 6' hoe. I spend a lot of time moving the tractor when trenching. I use a 12" bucket, which my Ford 1710 (24 pto hp/6.3 gpm hydrualics). It digs easily in our sandy soil. With my somewhat sloppy aiming, the trenches end up just wide enough for me to work in. A 9" bucket wouldn't do it for me. It might be good to know what width trenches are needed and to make sure that the 7500 can dig in the clay with a wide enough bucket.
I imagine that you know your lines pretty well, but I've got to observe that the first rule for hoe use is 'don't dig near utilities or spetic systems'. If that rule is violated, the object is to come close, but not too close, to the lines. There's usually still quite a bit of shovel work needed. We dug up our neighbour's well head for a new pump and pitless-adapter last summer. Not knowing exactly where the well head was or how deep the lines were and if they were protected turned a 1/2-day job into 1.5. We were careful and also didn't break anything but it did take time and shovels.
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B7500 Backhoe
marklugo
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 281 Tifton, GA Pics |
2003-02-02 48553
There are many backhoes that will probably work, but you have to plumb them to your tractor and they are cumbersome to remove and put on. I think that if you take a look at the Mazzotti backhoes, specifially the model 200, you will find that it is of far superior construction, with its own pump and resivoir. It hooks simply on the 3 point hitch and is made for industrial use and pump runs off the PTO. The best feature is its price at 4400 dollars. I see you are in TX. All Eicher tractor dealers in TX can sell you one. ....
Link: Mazzotti
 
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B7500 Backhoe
Canuck
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 15 Manitoba Canada |
2003-02-02 48555
Buy the hoe, Augustus! or get a younger helper. The backhoe comes right after the FEL in terms of usefulness and is well worth the hassle of taking it on and off. ....
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