Backhoe

[Paul Allwood]

Just wondering, has anyone here built or had experience with the small backhoe detailed in drawings and build plans by PF Engineering ? I've seen several videos that look ok and read some good reviews.

I'm thinking about a backhoe build one day (in the distant future) and thinking that buying drawings is a pretty cheap way of saving myself a lot of time, even if I did modify it a bit.

Happy for you to contact me privately if you think it would be more appropriate.

 

[John T]

Can't help you on the PF plans but
my $0.02 is it would probably be easier to find an appropriate size backhoe attachment and then fabricate mounts or whatever necessary to mount it to your tractor...

probably be cheaper in the long run especially with the price of steel and hours of labor.


unless of course you are looking for a big project..

 

[Paul Allwood]

Can't help you on the PF plans but
my $0.02 is it would probably be easier to find an appropriate size backhoe attachment and then fabricate mounts or whatever necessary to mount it to your tractor...

probably be cheaper in the long run especially with the price of steel and hours of labor.


unless of course you are looking for a big project..

Thanks John. No doubt you're right. I bought this old tractor almost a year ago for a couple of reasons. One was to mow our grass. The second was to make things for it. We don't really need a tractor, but I no longer work due to struggles with PTSD and the things that go with it, and I find keeping busy making these things for it helps a lot.

 

[John T]

The second was to make things for it. We don't really need a tractor, but I no longer work due to struggles with PTSD, and I find making these things help.

cool. should be a fun project.... I've taken on a few projects like that in the past.

It consumes me (mentally)
I drive a truck all day and never listen to the radio......

some guys think I'm nuts but I just tell them It's a "thinking mans truck"

I try to never go with my first instinct.... think it over and the correct solution always comes.....

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I knew it

Looking forward to seeing your solution !

 

[drygulch]

It consumes me (mentally)
I drive a truck all day and never listen to the radio......

some guys think I'm nuts but I just tell them It's a "thinking mans truck"

Reminds me of the quote:

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." -Blaise Pascal

 

[drygulch]

I enjoy following your fab projects Paul. i'm sure this one will be no different.

My current list of projects are primarily the result of having moved (and being married), and not typically as fun. So thanks for sharing.

Greg

 

[Paul Allwood]

Reminds me of the quote:

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." -Blaise Pascal

Guilty as charged

 

[Paul Allwood]

I enjoy following your fab projects Paul. i'm sure this one will be no different.

My current list of projects are primarily the result of having moved (and being married), and not typically as fun. So thanks for sharing.

Greg

Thanks Greg

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Just wondering, has anyone here built or had experience with the small backhoe detailed in drawings and build plans by PF Engineering ? I've seen several videos that look ok and read some good reviews.

I looked at their plans. But in the end of the day there is no point reinventing the wheel. Kubota has plenty of backhoes. My plan was copying an existing one and downscale it to to the correct size.

And plenty of videos out there of people that have built one and want to sell you their plans.

 

[Paul Allwood]

I looked at their plans. But in the end of the day there is no point reinventing the wheel. Kubota has plenty of backhoes. My plan was copying an existing one and downscale it to to the correct size.

And plenty of videos out there of people that have built one and want to sell you their plans.

I agree about not reinventing the wheel on this one. I might be able to design it myself but it would absolutely take heaps longer than following plans that already work, and the plans are cheap. The other thing I like is that this one weighs only 400 pounds.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

One thing that crossed my mind: make sure the plans are in metric dimensions.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I can buy a new ( used 2 hrs...)BT603 ( fits BX23S) for $3200, so 'silly' to build one from scratch...

 

[Paul Allwood]

I can buy a new ( used 2 hrs...)BT603 ( fits BX23S) for $3200, so 'silly' to build one from scratch...

Thanks Jay.

I like making things. I always have. Sometimes it saves some money, sometimes not, but that's not always the only aim.

It's ok to me if some might see it as a silly waste of time to spend hours making something that I easily could buy. I'm sure that's been the case many times over the years.

To each their own ?

 

[Paul Allwood]

One thing that crossed my mind: make sure the plans are in metric dimensions.

The plans are in inches but that's ok. I was young but went through the change from imperial to metric here, so while I definitely prefer metric, I can manage with inches as well.

I remember my dad talking mostly in thousandths of an inch - we both still do, and my old lathe is all marked in imperial. Same at a small engineering factory I worked at during my holidays to pay my way through uni.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

Thanks John. No doubt you're right. I bought this old tractor almost a year ago for a couple of reasons. One was to mow our grass. The second was to make things for it. We don't really need a tractor, but I no longer work due to struggles with PTSD and the things that go with it, and I find keeping busy making these things for it helps a lot.

I am not going to report this as spam, but that is not the kind of language we are used to in a tractoin’ thread.

Wise cracks a side, I enjoy your projects / posts and think you are a craftsman and I look forward to your upcoming project. I think starting with plans already fitted is a good start point, I f nothing else to read/review and repent before you start buying / cutting materials.

 

[Paul Allwood]

I am not going to report this as spam, but that is not the kind of language we are used to in a tractoin’ thread.

Wise cracks a side, I enjoy your projects / posts and think you are a craftsman and I look forward to your upcoming project. I think starting with plans already fitted is a good start point, I f nothing else to read/review and repent before you start buying / cutting materials.

Was it the "we don't really need a tractor" comment ? If so, I humbly apologize, don't know what I was thinking.

And thanks for the words of support - I think you're exaggerating, but it is really appreciated.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

Was it the "we don't really need a tractor" comment ? If so, I humbly apologize, don't know what I was thinking.

And thanks for the words of support - it is really appreciated.

Yep, that was the blasphemy.

 

[Paul Allwood]

Yep, that was the blasphemy.

Perhaps a slight re-wording....

When we first bought it we didn't really think we needed a tractor, but after owning it for a while, we don't know how we survived without one. Every home should have one !!!

 

[AndyM]

Looking forward to your next project - I always learn something.