Teen Built "Best Buy" Backhoe From "Do-It-Yourself Plans

Teen Built "Best Buy" Backhoe From "Do-It-Yourself Plans MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 26-1-15 FARM SHOW first featured an innovative backhoe built by John Mikulas nine years ago (Vol. 17, No. 1). The Virginia-based engineer started a company called CAD Plans, selling detailed blueprints for do-it-yourselfers who want to build their own backhoes. He advertises regularly in Popular Mechanics and other magazines. A number of readers have asked us: How good are the plans? So we recently got in touch with Jason Hellickson, a 17-year-old farm boy from Brooten, Minn., who used a set of CAD Plans to build his own backhoe. It's equipped with an 18-in. bucket. He says the plans were good and he followed them closely until about half way through the building process. "The plans called for an 11 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. However, I couldn't justify the $750 cost of a new engine so I substituted a small 4-cyl. diesel engine out of a 1982 Toyota B2000 pickup, which I bought from a local junk yard. I paid $150 for it," says Hellickson. The Toyota engine has about 60 hp which allows Hellickson to tackle a lot of tough jobs. "I've used it to dig out a lot of trees. In one scoop, I can take out a tree that's 5 in. in diameter and 10 ft. tall. I've even used it to dig out 40-ft. tall trees that were 12 in. in diameter. On average, it takes only about 5 minutes to take out a single tree. "I've also used it to dig trenches for a local electrician who laid in electric lines. I made a small 8 in. bucket for that job. And I've used it to dig holes for burying dead cattle." Hellickson removed the transmission from the engine, then mounted it on the backhoe frame behind the seat using homemade engine mounts. The engine belt-drives a 12-gal. hydraulic pump. "The CAD plans called for a 6-gal. pump, but I used a 12-gal. pump so it wouldn't have to work as hard when digging in our heavy clay soil. I run the pump at 1,400 to 1,500 rpm's, which is just above idling," says Hellickson. The Toyota engine was more than twice as big as the Briggs & Stratton, so Hellickson had to extend the backhoe frame and also beef it up with 4-in. sq. tubing. He also used 10-ga. steel to make his own 13-gal. fuel tank and his own oil tank. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jason Hellickson, 31507 443 Ave., Brooten, Minn. 56316 (ph 320 254-3479; E-mail: hellsfamily5@willmar.com). For CAD plans contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Mikulas, Box 606, Dept. C, Daleville, Va. 24083 (ph 800 817-5267 or 800 211-425; Website: www.CADplans.com).

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