My backhoe attachment.
 

At some point after my wife’s horses are gone (they are getting pretty old.) I will probably put in geothermal HVAC. I would like to be able to dig most of it.
I have been watching for a backhoe attachment in my price range. Saturday, I drove a couple hours away to pick up one.
It needs a little work one hose is leaking and it may need a couple other things.
But I saw it in action digging so I know it works.
It is an old Woods 650 it has its own hydraulic pump that connects to the tractors PTO.

I looked at building my own backhoe attachment but I would have much more money in it than this one.

http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...1&d=1522674175

I sent Woods a message asking for a manual and within a couple hours they emailed me the manual.
Very nice, this will help me setup it up.

Nice find!

I am picking up a quick hitch from Harbor freight. with a 20% off coupon. It can handle up to 2,000 pounds.
This will help move the seat of the backhoe farther away from the back of my tractor. This is needed and it should make it simpler to get on and off the tractor.
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/attach...1&d=1522779855

The HFT Quick Hitch is on my list of "things I need someday" when I get serious about using my 3pt hitch tools. At this point, I have a single moldboard plow, and a 60" finishing mower.

If you haven't read many of the reviews for the Quick Hitch, it's in the reviews that you find the part number for the "adapter bracket" needed to match some equipment that doesn't precisely follow the standard for the top hook. There's also some comments about what lower pin sizes have less slack.

Ah. A new toy. Nothing more fun than getting the backhoe on the tractor and having a good trenching day.

The horses, in their retirement, would probably like to have a nice pond to stand beside?

Careful with that 3 point mount backhoe. They have been known to break tractors in half. Many smaller tractors arent beefy enough to take the stresses and also why many of them have large steel kits to allow a backhoe to mount and take the stress instead of the tractor.

My tractor is pretty beefy it is a Belarus 300 it weighs 4500 pounds. 36HP 29HP PTO diesel
TractorData.com Belarus 300 tractor information
I agree the sub frame mount is much better setup.

I replaced the bad hydraulic hose Northern tool Hydraulic Hose — 1/4in. x 48in.L $19. (great deal and local)
Added the quick hitch to get it away from the tractor some it was way to close.

My wife’s one horse will need put down tomorrow so I dug a very big hole. This hole is about 6' deep the picture does not look that way.

It works pretty well it could use some more power we have very hard soil packed red clay.
The linkage needs adjusted on the one lever I adjusted it some.
All in all I am happy with it especially for the price I paid for it.

https://ecorenovator.org/forum/attac...1&d=1539710104

PinbIall,

Having buried more horses than I wish - a couple of comments.

Make the hole bigger that you think. Get the horse in the hole before rigor sets in.

Pour a couple bags of charcoal briquets over carcass, then a 50lb bag of lime on that.

A tough job.


Steve

Good advice. I really having the back-hoe attachment. Yes, it takes longer to dig with a small attachment. But it is hard to find some that will drop what they are doing to come dig a big hole.

I had the horse in the hole before a ½ hour was up. I actually made the hole to long. But better error on the big side.
Good tips on the charcoal briquettes and the line I will do that next time.

The backhoe attachment was sold today. I had it just over 1 ½ years. Now that I have a tractor with a quick attach backhoe, I never use this one.

I bought it for $750 replaced the hydraulic hose for $19. It had no leaks. I sold it for $1,500.

It was on Facebook marketplace one day and I had like 25 messages on it with at least 5 buyers with money to spend.

I did not use it that much. It did show me that I really like having a backhoe around and prompted me to buy my current tractor.
https://ecorenovator.org/forum/attac...1&d=1540223179
https://ecorenovator.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6753

I will call it a success.