2004 - Volume #28, Issue #6, Page #40
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"Made-It-Myself" Backhoe
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"I made it primarily to grub out Yucca plant roots and to do landscaping projects around our place," he says. "I've also used it to unload heavy objects from my pickup and to lift barrels of water. We had a heavy infestation of pine beetles last summer and had to remove 89 adult trees. I mounted side cutters on the bucket and used it to dig out all those stumps. I've also used it to set metal trusses on my car port. Over the years, the machine has definitely paid for itself."
Scott used standard pipe to build the sleeves and junk parts to build the swing mechanism. The wheels are off a mobile home, with the axle made from 4-in. sq. tubing. Power is supplied by a 24 hp Wisconsin VF4 gas engine with an 11 gpm pump. The bucket is 14 in. wide at the back and tapers 1/4 in. toward the front. The rig has an outreach of 13 ft. and will dig to about 6 ft. deep.
"It's a lot of fun to operate and also has a lot of power. The bucket will load full even out of hard ground," says Scott. "I've broken out - with bucket action only - about 5,000 sq. ft. of concrete slab and have even dug through about 4 in. of frost. The boom has so much leverage that I've had the back end of my 27 hp tractor lifted right off the ground, even with the outriggers out. Another advantage is that if it ever breaks down I can just go to my scrap pile and find a part there to fix it.
"The only items I bought were the hydraulic hoses and valves. I spent about $2,700 to build it. At the time, the cheapest used backhoe I could find cost about $11,000."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harry Scott, P.O. Box 1265, Walsenburg, Colo. 81089 (ph 719 738-3847; email: rockworm80@msn.com).
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