Upgrading from a Shovel and WheelBarrow to a B2650

Howdy to everyone at OTT!

I have 1.5 miles of dirt road to take care of and its finally gotten to the point that my shovel and wheelbarrow isn't going to cut it any more. This last January the enormous amount of rain we got caused the creek to overflow and washed away a hundred feet of road bed and now its not fun to drive on any more. Last time I had it graded was 12 years ago so I have done surprisingly well but then wild weather happens and I need something better.

So after reading the forums and going to try them out at my dealer I put in an order for a B2650HSDC, Loader with SSQA 60" bucket, BH77 with 16" scoop and a 72" hydraulic FEL mounted snow blade. Should be a good starter tractor.

Haven't ordered any third party attachments yet but I am planning on a 60" land plane and probably a 50" SSQA grapple. The land plane/road grader looks easy to use compared to a box blade or a back blade (my neighbour has both!). The grapple should come in handy for moving around cut up Juniper trees and other brush. I should also get some light weight forks. I could have used a fork lift when unloading my 300lb wood stove from the back of the truck.

I figure once the road is basically fixed up I will be using it on a regular basis for plowing snow, planing out the washer board, digging out sand/DG from my drainage ditches and moving the occasional 400lb granite boulder that falls onto my road.

I just want to thank everyone that posts on the forums. It has been really helpful when it comes down to picking out a tractor and all the weighing all the possible options.
-Cheers!

Thanks everyone! I have been looking at tractors for the last couple of years. Amazed at all the different things you can do with them and all the different attachments.

NF6X I rented a S130 49hp bobcat loader for a week. Put over 40 hours on it and got 5 years of dirt road maintenance done in 4 days. Awesome little machine and it could lift 1300lb boulders. Wore ski mask and respirator when dumping bucket after bucket, got covered with dry decayed-granite and sand, it was a total blast. Skid steer was so easy to use and maneuverable.

I'm looking forward to the backhoe. I figure the road damage was basically caused by a large brush plant or two growing in the creek bed. This slowed down the water flow and all the DG and sand dropped out of suspension and the sand just built higher and higher until the road bed looked like a lower and better place to go. Once it got onto the road it was game-over. Gotta keep those ditches and culverts clear from brush, ounce of prevention and all that. Standing in a cold running creek with a shovel and a pick-axe taking out a rabbit-brush plant in the rain was a new low, and a great motivator to buying something that can handle a multitude of dirt moving tasks.

200mph I should get a Piranha Tooth Bar for the 60" bucket to protect its lip. I was wondering if I should get a smaller 54" bucket with some really big teeth to make digging easier. Or maybe just get a small width rock bucket for digging. Haven't figured that part out yet.

mpham said:

You'll love the size of the 2650. I can't wait to use mine for summer activities.
It worked great moving snow.

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I started out looking at the BX, then onto the smaller B and then the B2650. The best thing was trying out the different sizes on the dealer lot and imagining what it would be like to use them at my place. I liked the L5460 with its awesome cab but it was way too much machine for my uses. If I had a flat 40 I would probably get a grand L6060 or go for the M. Makes me want to give up my job and be a rancher or farmer.

TAKE THAT WHEELBARROW!!!!

Yes! I finally got the Cabhoeta and it works great.

It's a great size for my property. Not too big and not too small. I am in love with the backhoe. My back thanks me everytime I look at the orange dragon.

I was orginally going to get the B2650 without cab. There are up sides and down sides for sure so my advise is really consider what it means Cab versus no Cab.

With the B2650 the cab + hoe means keeping the nice KAB Seating (model 211) seat.
With the B2650 without cab + hoe means replacing the nice seat with one that swivels and having to deal with that when switching back and forth between digging and driving

Cab means no bushwacking through trees which is fine with me. I basically have a road machine. Cab means open close doors all the time.

I really struggled with the decision. Cab is wayyyy expensive and but it does come with:

- 4 pieces of hella expensive curved glass
- Overhead canopy
- Rear defogger on rear window, switch on dash
- Front and rear wipers with wiper spray, switch on dash
- Front work lights with option for rear work lights, switches on dash.
- Signal lights, switches on dash.
- Hazard lights, switches on dash.
- Heat, Air conditioning, 3 speed cab fans and lever for Fresh/Recirc air
- Cab air filter, cab sucks in air from rear of cab near roof.
- Radio option, comes with speakers, wiring and radio antenna either way
- Rubber mat and dust boots to help keep dust out of the cab.
- Door locks on doors and a couple of keys.

It was great dumping dirt into the wind and staying nice and clean. If I was retired and could cherry pick my days to use the tractor on only the nice days ... open station would have been good for me.

Stmar said:

I went a similar route as you; B2650HSDC, FEL and snow blade. Probably the same reason also, tired of gearing up just to plow. The cab should be great, already have used the AC, radio has to be loud to be heard above the tranny whine. Have you had any issues with adapting old implements and using the top link that came with the unit? What diesel and what additives are you using? How do you like the Hydro-static transmission? I like the maneuverability but not crazy about the noise/whine but will get accustomed to it, especially when the wind is blowing 50mph and it is 30 below zero, lol.

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The Cab is great! It probably amplifys the hydro whine but I love *NOT* getting a face full of grit dumping dirt. Its always too hot, too cold, too windy, too rainy, too snowey around here on the weekends. Only thing its not is too buggy ... hardly any bugs. So the cab is a total luxury but for me, not retired ... its worth every penny.

Im using like 80% backhoe. The ground is too hard to just dig with FEL bucket.

Heater seems to work but I am mostly in straight air or A/C mode now. Its sunny with highs of 85 and after sitting on the backhoe for 3 hours in the sun its nice getting into a cool cab. I start the AC at engine around 1400rpm as suggested in the manual and then rev it up to backhoe use speed at 2300-2400rpm. Im still in below the 50 hour break in so I dont run full 2600+ RPM so I don't know how cold the cab gets or how fast the hoe and tractor moves yet at max engine rpm.

Im just using plain Costco Ultra Low Sulfer Diesel. Haven't gone for the Ag gas yet. I removed the radio from the quote so I just have the speakers, wire and antenna. Looking at getting some BT noise cancelling headphones and a BlueTooth HD Jensen radio. Not sure what one yet. Want something that works thru glass while I am digging my hoe. Maybe I am disillusioned on the range of BlueTooth.

Shifting the hydro is a pain but when I have it in the gear I want its great for loader work. Im not a gear guy so I like the hydro.
I find the noise of the engine alone bad enough that I wear both earplugs and ear muffs, otherwise I get ringing in way too sensitive ears. Living out in the quiet country everything that makes noise seems really loud.

Don't have any old implements.

I made a snowplow dolly out of 1" plywood and 6 casters. Now I can store my snow plow out of the way in the garage and keep the hydro lines on it away from the hungry rats. SSQA Quick Attach rocks! Too bad my neighbor has a pin-on bucket, otherwise we could share!

I started out 2000-2200 rpm and did light work for the first 5 hours. Then did medium type stuff after that at 2300rpm till 25 hours. Right now at 35 hours and 2350-2400rpm, digging rock and sand.

I find that running too low engine speed for the task at hand increases the hydro whine.
Also using cruise control does it as well.

I need chains before winter!

Im considering either ...

http://www.jensenheavyduty.com/jensen-am-fm-wb-usb-ipod-iphone-siriusxm-ready-bluetooth-stereo.html

or

http://www.jensenheavyduty.com/jensen-am-fm-wb-ipod-iphone-ready-siriusxm-bluetooth-stereo.html