"Built-From-Scratch" Tractor-Mounted Backhoe

"Built-From-Scratch" Tractor-Mounted Backhoe TILLAGE EUIPMENT Accessories 22-4-4 G.C. Glover and machinist friend, Don Carlton, needed a long-reach backhoe to clean out drainage ditches but couldn't justify the expense of a commercial model. So the Lenoir, N.C., inventors built their own 3-pt. mounted model which cost thou-sands less than a commercial unit and features a 12-ft. reach instead of the 8 to 10-ft. reach available on most factory-built units. The backhoe mounts on back of Glover's Case-IH 485 or Carlton's White 45 hp tractor. The boom was built out of 4 by 6-in. tubing braced with 1/2-in. thick plate. The 14-in. wide by 14-in. deep by 20-in. high bucket is built from 3/16-in. plate reinforced with 1/ 2-in. thick plate. Combined reach of the boom and bucket, which is fitted with four box blade teeth and a grader blade for the cutting edge, is 12 ft. It operates with two hydraulic cylinders - the main one, 3 in. in dia. with 24-in. stroke, and the one on the bucket, 3-in. dia. with 20-in. stroke. It's equipped with a pair of outriggers with 8-ft. reach. They're controlled by 3-in. dia. hydraulic cylinders with 20-in. stroke. It operates off six stacked valves powered by the hydraulic systems on the men's tractors. It takes only minutes to hook up simply by plugging in two hoses. "So far, I've used it primarily to straighten creek banks and clean out drainage ditches," says Glover. "It works great. I couldn't ask for anything better." Cost of hydraulic cylinders, valves, and hoses was $1,474. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, G.C. Glover, 1116 Glover Acres, Lenoir, N.C. 28645 (ph 828 728-3715).

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