truck-hoe / backhoe ?

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corax

corax

10 Year 15 Year
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Dig-It truck-hoe / backhoe ?

does anyone have any experience with one of these?
backhoe.jpe

Pug, Inc. - Dig-It

It's a 2700lb towable backhoe (4runner towable), self propelled, 102" digging depth w/ 12" bucket and 2400 lb digging force

I have a bit of landscape/driveway work coming up before construction can begin on the property and I found one with a blown engine for ~$1500 (18hp Kohler 2 cyl, no biggie to replace). I'd like to save some $$, excavate/level the driveway + dig some trench and come out of it with a new toy that I can use later, but I'm not sure if this little guy is up to the task. Footings, etc. will all be subcontract, so I'm not looking to do anything huge. My other option is to rent something bigger or just pay to have someone come in after the trees are cleared.


Any opinions or experience? Is this thing just a toy for planting trees and installing sprinklers?
 
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Thanks for the replies :D

I'm thinking if the auction doesn't go too high I may still pick this beast up for future projects, but I'm starting to notice missing parts as I scrutinize the pics. Things like, oh, I dunno, the hydraulic pump that runs everything . . . 8 days to make up my mind yet
 
Saw a powerline crew running one across the street from my office the other day. Very large powerlines on metal poles in an commercial area. It was a very tight spot, which might explain why they were using it vs a normal excavator/backhoe.
 
CruisinGA said:
Saw a powerline crew running one across the street from my office the other day. Very large powerlines on metal poles in an commercial area. It was a very tight spot, which might explain why they were using it vs a normal excavator/backhoe.
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did it look like it was taking them forever with it? what kind of work . . . . just hole digging for the poles?
 
They were digging around poles, not for the poles themselves. It was a precarious tight spot, which is why I think they were using it. They had it hooked to a winch line to keep it from falling off the side of the hill.
 
sounds something like this pic I found while researching the one I'm looking at (different make/model)

17437d1068002165-truckhoe-towable-backhoe-335473-kaiser-climbing-down.jpg


not a spot I'd want to be - every time the bucket pulls a scoop out it tugs on the winch lines (even with the outriggers down)
 
Turns out it wasn't seized, had it running in < 1 hour but the maintenance guy that helped me get it hitched up said it backfires. I'll have to wait till I get the exhaust together to see how well it runs (don't like running it with a manifold). I got 2 partial tube manifolds together so I can piece a header system together (nice mandrel bends)

It's amazing how much interchange there is on these engines - I was junkyarding yesterday and snagged the airfilter box and front shroud off a B&S Vanguard figuring I could hack it up and make it work. I don't even have to cut anything, most of the bolt holes already line up :D

*update*
shroud won't work, airfilter box was modded to work, header is made - now I need to fab a 2-1 collector and find 2 nice 90 degree mandrel bends in small diameter tube
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my roomie is donating this muffler from his Formula SAE kart (originally from a CBR 929 - I want to make a stack out of it and put a flapper on the top :rolleyes:)
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inthewall said:
It might work for trees and sprinklers. Your ground would have to be pretty soft. I would rent a backhoe or mini excavator with a blade.
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x2. Hope you've got nothing but top soil. I've even got experience on those and if you've got the time and patients then have at it. Best in type C soil type B soils you better get momma to make up some lemonade and cancel the date night.
 
I had it out yesterday in WV to dig out a bunch of stumps, the soil was anything but clean - plenty of bowling ball and smaller sized rocks - and it did rather well. Hell of a lot better than digging by hand (which wouldn't have been fun because of the rocks anyway), and as long as I could get under the roots I could break them without much stress to the machine (also moved some rocks about the size of a 10 year old kid). My biggest problem was getting the machine around the property, it would occasionally get stuck and I had to use the bucket to drag my ass one way or the other (didn't think about airing down the tires until I was on my way home), but I was also working on damp ground with plenty of leaf cover and those hydro motors don't exactly spin fast. Anyway, on one of those stucks, my day ended abruptly when I backed up and the one rear caster snapped off - when I looked closer I found the pivot pin had either been undercut or started to crack a long time ago . . .

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The fix is pretty simple though - drill the caster and weld a new 1 3/16" pin in place so I should be bck up and running in a few days . . . now to figure out who make an M/T tire small enough to fit this machine . . .
 
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my ex-wife is a truck-ho(e)

Those Dig-It's are popular with homeowner/light contractor equipment rental shops; well regarded for capability, durability (for that market segment) and serviceability. They are an industry standard, which is intended in a complimentary way.

They can be beaten up pretty badly over time but they are generally a good machine and parts should be fairly easy to track down.

Great score.
 
4XLT said:
. . parts should be fairly easy to track down.

Great score.
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I'm finding that the parts really are pretty darn simple to find even though this company is out of business - for example, the giant pin that snapped on the caster is just a 1.25" CAT 3 3 point hitch pin that I was able to find at Tractor Supply Co for $6. All I have to do is drill the old pin out of the caster and replace it (gonna make it a slight interference fit and with the pin I have I should only have to put a few tacks on it since it's only rotational and not load bearing)
 
repaired and running again for a total investment of $10 (and a little help from my roomie with his lathe and milling machine :D - I was impressed, dude punched/machined a perfect circle through the caster bracket using an end mill bit) - also took the up/down slop out of the caster pins which allowed it to break in the first place (bending vs. shear forces on the pins)
 
corax,

For traction on the truckhoe put your boom out and hover the bucket a few inches off the ground. Do this with the bucket in the fill position and it will skid over the ground. I take mine into sloppy crap and the tires will get tons better traction that way. I rarely get stuck doing it this way and I do a bunch of river bottom digging with mine.

mark
 
almost forgot........if it is a "Truckhoe" the original company sold off this portion and it is still being built. I believe their website is thetruckhoe.com .
 
Mochaman said:
corax,

For traction on the truckhoe put your boom out and hover the bucket a few inches off the ground. Do this with the bucket in the fill position and it will skid over the ground. I take mine into sloppy crap and the tires will get tons better traction that way. I rarely get stuck doing it this way and I do a bunch of river bottom digging with mine.

mark
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Good to know, thanks for the tip! I guess it works by shifting the weight distribution to the drive wheels more.

I was also trying to find a somewhat knobby tire in a trailer tire size, but haven't had much luck with that yet
 
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