Go BottomBackhoe as a plow
 | PaulPrince
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 35 California 
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2004-03-20 80499
I'm new to tractors and just bought a BX23. I have a 1500 ft dirt road with gravel, road base, etc. I'm trying to improve for snow and rain by digging a trench along the side. Am I over-stressing the backhoe by using it as a sort of plow (digging it in then driving the tractor along..). I'm concerned it might be putting excess stress on the arm cylinder.
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 | harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY 
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2004-03-20 80503
That is a very unhealthy thing to do. From many different stand points.
If you catch something you are apt to bend cylinder rods. Break pivot pins. Over stress bushings.
That is some of the mechanical things. We won't go into the safety issues.
Get a scraper blade, angle and tilt it that will keep the stress of ditching much lower. ....
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 | hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa 
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2004-03-20 80505
PaulPrince; believe every word harvey said, please don't do that, no backhoe was ever built to do that. Frank. ....
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| PaulPrince
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 35 California
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2004-03-20 80517
Harvey, Frank; Thanks for the advice!, sure didn't seem like a good idea...
I've got a box scraper I haven't tried yet, guess it's time to puzzle out the 3-point hitch.
Best Regards,Paul ....
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 | itsgottobegreen
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 329 Mt. Airy, MD
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2004-03-20 80533
I agree. You will rip the backhoe right off the machine if you hit something hard enought. No warrenty would cover that. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2004-03-21 80551
I think this question should be taken in several steps. I've got to note that a box scraper isn't the best for ditching but I do minor ditching with mine. Mine is a foot longer than the rear tire tracks, the 3ph has a crank side-leveler and I have a hydraulic top-link. Those things greatly simplify the work. I hope these comments aren't too basic and that you're able to read all of itif you need to.
The first step should be basic safety stuff if you haven't already been through it and I'll assume you have. Second step is the 3ph puzzling out. Some hoe mounts require removal of 3ph link arms so maybe something needs to be replaced before another 3ph implements can be used (removal of a hoe can be a subject in itself). I don't know if you've mounted a 3ph implement before but there are tricks and it does get easier with experience.
Once the box is on the 3ph you should be aware that the control lever adjusts how low the 3ph goes not how high. 3ph's aren't held down and implements rise to go over bumps etc. When you sit a box on the ground and then lower the 3ph some more you're increasing the float, which allows the box to follow an uneven ground contour more closely. With inadequate float, the box will lift if the front tire go into a dip or over a hill or when the rear tires hit a bump.
A basic idea is that a 3ph implement moves with the rear tires and opposite the front. It makes grading with a 3ph implement interesting. The implement itself will float up and over bumps and lower into dips to the point of its position setting. This is too long and maybe more later from myself or others. ....
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| Abbeywoods
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 110 New England
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2004-03-21 80580
Paul, would you use a car for a boat, use a pistol for a hammer or a chain saw to open a can of paint? Probably not because there are other things that were designed to do the intended task much better. So the answer is as the others have said; NO, No, and no. Respect your purchase by using it as it was intended and both you and the Bota will last a long time. ....
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| JimP
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 58 NY
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2004-03-21 80585
Not to beat a dead horse here, but I would think that you would NOT want to use a backhoe on a tractor that small without both stabilizers firmly planted on the ground. I have a similar sized Bolens Iseki with loader and backhoe (with subframe) and would not even think about using the backhoe without the stabilizers down. ....
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| PaulPrince
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 35 California
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2004-03-21 80593
Great advice, I sure appreciate learning the 'easy way'!
TomG: Thanks for all the good info! Maybe some weights on the box would be helpful.
Best Regards,
Paul ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2004-03-22 80686
The way I do very minor ditching with my box is first cut down any bumps where I have to drive with the rear cutter. Then, I put an extreme tilt on the box with the 3ph side-leveler, extend an outside scarifier, put the scarifier in the 'to be ditch,' lower the 3ph and give it some float and then cut away.
It takes repeated passes because the box tends to flatten out when the hitch is given much float. It's good if both sides of a drive can be worked in a loop. Otherwise the 3ph level has to be changed when the tractor is turned around (a definite case for hydraulic tilt).
Soil tends to be pulled out of the ditch and spread on the drive but a forward angled and tilted blade does it much better. A blade with offset also means a rear tire doesn't have to drive where the ditch is being cut (serious ditching is a definite case for a good blade).
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-03-22 80704
They sell ditching plows which are common on farms for making (ususally) emergency ditches to drain flooded fields.
It is easy to reproduce the same thing with a rear blade turned to an extreme angle so that it slits rather than scrapes. If it is done repeatedly in both directioons it will quickly make a suitable ditch.
Best of luck. ....
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