Harbor Freight sells a towable backhoe for only $3499

Assembler said:
Ok I looked at part of the video about 1 minute before the end where the piston rod of the cylinder I think for the bucket bent in a complete U shape under to much of a load for it.
Yep fresh hdy. fluid will not help for that.
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The engineering of the backhoe is missing in some areas. Fresh new fluid will not fix that.

Happy new year to everyone.
 

N-Lionberger said:
Yeah the horse shoe piston rod.
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I take it you are not planning on buying this brand of backhoe any time soon..............LOL.

As a different type of success story I have come across stories of small backhoes that have been used successfully for small cleanup types of jobs. This can really help keep the cost down for such small jobs. Some time a very small back hoe will only word due to the ground and access of supplies etc.
 

Johnnybravo300 said:
I do love Harbor Freight tho!
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It seems to mirror our Princess Auto up here in Canada.
They have the PowerFist line-it works, it breaks-they replace.
The cylinders from china seem to hold up on the tractors, but the barrel steel is softer than a USA brand.

As far as this digger goes-I would break it as I'm just rough on equipment it seems.
 

pepperj said:
It seems to mirror our Princess Auto up here in Canada.
They have the PowerFist line-it works, it breaks-they replace.
The cylinders from china seem to hold up on the tractors, but the barrel steel is softer than a USA brand.

As far as this digger goes-I would break it as I'm just rough on equipment it seems.
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A flow restricting (flow rate valve) valve could cut down on breaking of things and pounding the equipment parts into parts. You may not like slowing things down and not moving as much per hour though.
 

One may be better off building from plans maybe scaled to the goals of the work that is to be done.
Invest in some welding equipment is also needed.
 

I looked into building a truck mounted backhoe a few years ago. It seems you’re better off purchasing a backhoe. A local guy here built his own and was very insistent I just buy one. Sourcing the parts, the steel and working out technical details on building a unit that will handle placer materials ie large rocks in a safe manner could be quite challenging. At the mining museum in Leadville Colorado they have a salesman model of a power bucket digger that inspired me. Do build such a thing with just a welder is a pipe dream. You will need access to a machine shop.
 

N-Lionberger said:
I looked into building a truck mounted backhoe a few years ago. It seems you’re better off purchasing a backhoe. A local guy here built his own and was very insistent I just buy one. Sourcing the parts, the steel and working out technical details on building a unit that will handle placer materials ie large rocks in a safe manner could be quite challenging. At the mining museum in Leadville Colorado they have a salesman model of a power bucket digger that inspired me. Do build such a thing with just a welder is a pipe dream. You will need access to a machine shop.
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Nope there is great plans out there for engineered equipment or one can even take pictures of equipment and scale for some good ideas.
Buying used equipment at a auction can be very good for larger equipment and will save a lot of time.
Very small equipment may be the only equipment that one can get to some locations either on the ground or by air lift.
 

Assembler said:
Nope there is great plans out there for engineered equipment or one can even take pictures of equipment and scale for some good ideas.
Buying used equipment at a auction can be very good for larger equipment and will save a lot of time.
Very small equipment may be the only equipment that one can get to some locations either on the ground or by air lift.
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There really isn’t that many plans out there and the ones that are out there aren’t super comprehensive. Again I have looked into this for my own purposes. I have welding equipment and access to a machine shop. Building your own back hoe is not a viable option for a typical small operator.
 

N-Lionberger said:
There really isn’t that many plans out there and the ones that are out there aren’t super comprehensive. Again I have looked into this for my own purposes. I have welding equipment and access to a machine shop. Building your own back hoe is not a viable option for a typical small operator.
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Well what you are not comfortable in doing farm out to any shop you like.
There are comprehensive plans out there to the fraction of an inch tolerances. The ability to scale may be more important as the parts may or not be available.
 

N-Lionberger said:
Running a Vortxrex and a winch to pull the big rocks has worked well for me on small scale high bench work.
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For the money it is hard to beet the good ald winch.
 

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A zip line may work even better in moving more material.
 

N-Lionberger said:
As a machinist I worked within thousands of an inch. I have found available plans incomplete and the actual build cost being higher than purchasing an existing backhoe attachment. Then there is actually figuring out the hydraulic fluid pressures. As a self employed person I don’t have time for this level of DIY.
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Getting down to thousands of an inch is not needed in most cases.
The engineering will help prevent the horseshoe bending shown above. For safety one can reduce the fluid pressures then your parts can handle.
A pressure release valve can be a part of the safety factor.
A machine shop can speed up the fabrication process.

Yes the costs are going up each year after the plans where made. Yes one can spend a lot on equipment. Buying used can offset a lot of cost.
 

Shopping for used / new parts off of Craig's list etc. can really help lower costs.
Yes costs are going up. How much labor do you want to do out in the field is the return on your time.
 

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N-Lionberger said:
What plans are you referring to?
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Well I don't think I will say as it is not in the list of supporting venders. Try googling different very small equipment and you should get some listings.

The important thing to keep in mind is to scale as many hardware items are getting hard to find now and shipping issues.

I have bought pallets of hydraulic cylinders, flow control valves, some spool valves, hoses, some tanks and big filters (great for added cooling) complete pump with motors set ups off of Craig's listings. The total cost would make you take a double look as a lot of it was from the good old USA and not china. Some china always gets into the mix.

The savings will off set a lot of other factor costs.
 

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The fact that $3,500.00 will go a long ways on Craig's listing should be looked at. The plus factor is a lot is made here in the USA.
 

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russau said:
You get what you pay for !
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Buying made in the USA has it's advantages. Many can't afford it off of the shelf. China is the option that can have real issues.
Anyone want to play a horseshoe game........LOL.
 

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