:thThumbsU Very nice set-up!

Sure wish I had the FEL and backhoe for my 990. How long have you had the tractor? Where'd you find it, and what kind of price did you have to give for it?

Even with a 9" bucket, you can move a lot more dirt than with a #2 shovel.

:thanku: for sharing the pics with us!

Rich

 

That is such a cool rig. You definitely are getting your money's worth out of it.

 

Great pics and really neat rig you got there, defintley saves some back work for sure :fing32:.

 

SammyRye, I got the whole setup last Saturday for $3,500, I found it on Craigslist ot of Woodstock VA. I added some info in my garage, and I'll update that as I have the time. The FEL/Backhoe was made by Kwik-Way http://www.kwmanufacturing.com/, they still have a brochure for a White GT1855 tractor, which is the same frame as my Yardman. While researching my tractor (to see if the price was reasonable), I saw the FEL/Backhoe cost about $5,000 new, and are hard to find used. I really only "needed" the FEL, but the least expensive tractor with just a FEL (compact, subcompact, or GT) was $8,500 (a Kubota) so this one won hands down. There are alot of 8Ns, 9Ns, Jubilees; the whole famiy, for cheaper, but they are too long for what I want.

Of course now that I have it, I think I did need the backhoe after all.

 

***, now I really need a backhoe attachment, that looks really useful.

My 990 is already 10.5 feet from the back of teh 3pt hitch to the front of the FEL. How long is that beast ?

 

How is the backhoe attached to the tractor? Is it conected to the 3PH? If so it should be easy to disconnect,

 

Kwik-way Backhoe Frame The Kiwk-way Backhoe cost about $6,200 was Going to Buy one when I bought MY GT2055 back in 99 only ever Bought the Loader and should Have Bought one when I had my JD425 Problem was you needed the Kwik-way Loader Subframe to use it on the Deere as well and I had a Deere 40loader:thThumbsU

 

A bargain at twice the price! That's the coolest MTD I've ever seen!

 

I've never seen a backhoe for a GT.
That setup is incredible.
I'm almost speechless....:eck21:

 

I did not have time to continue on the stump yesterday, due to my kids soccer, and hockey game. I decided I would use the FEL to get some dirt to fill the ruts in my driveway.
The first picture is dark, because it was 6:30 in the morning, just as the sun was starting to come up.
I am impressed at the lifting height this little tractor has.

One shortcoming, the loader will not reach into the bed to pull the dirt back out. But the backhoe solved that issue. I would have got some pictures of that, and me grading the driveway with the bucket, but I was running out of time, before I had to leave.

 

To answer the question on how long it is, it is about 14' long total. I have included some pictures of most of the mount points. It connects in six places, it bolts to the FEL subframe at the front (last picture, the bolt under the hydraulic hoses), then slides over the pins where the drawbars connect to the tractor (the second picture, it slides on and off). It goes to where the top link for the three point attaches on the frame. The last (I don't have a picture of) is it bolts to the receiver hole for pulling wagons. I just found out about that one yesterday.

I removed the backhoe for the winter. It was very easy. It took about 15 to 20 minutes. I do not believe the thing has been off before. The previous owner said it was not made to come off at all. I will take some pictures today when the sun comes up of the subframe. I think when I put it back on in the spring, I will install quick disconnects for the hydraulics. While it is off I need to do maintenance to it. I found it is missing a bolt, some pins, and a lot of bolts are loose. The loose bolts have caused some stress cracks to the rear of the tractor. It looks like the rear plate on the tractor is replaceable. I am not sure if it is bad enough to need replaced yet, but will keep an eye out for one, I guess.

I am going to try to find wheel weights, chains and the parts for the three point and some rear ballast to help with snow clearing this winter. Next spring I am going to look for some garden implements (if I can find the parts for the 3 point).

 

That's a lot of stump for a machine that size ! Even if you go slowly and dig completely around it as you are doing , I think you will need the pickup with a chain to be able to pull that stump to where your going to dispose of it .

I m not talking about its height , that's a good way to have enough leverage to pull it free ,It's the weight of the stump minus the trunk

 

Yeah, the stump was big. I dug all around it with the backhoe down about 5 or 6 feet, then straped my truck to a tree, and winched it down. Then I backfilled behind it, and pulled it back the other way, backfilled again, and pulled it onto flat ground. The first picture is the stump. It is almost as tall as I am.

The rest are of the attachment points on the backhoe. The bolts on the front attach to the loader subframe, the last picture is under the tractor, of where it goes through under the foot rest. I have a picture on this post of the same place with the hydraulic hoses, and that bolt in place.

 

Great looking and working backhoe. I am thinking about getting a Kwik way back hoe for my newly acquired Gravely 9000. or would you go for a Terramite? A 2005 T7 with 900 hrs is for sale in Va for $8K Any suggestions?
:thanku:

 

Well done ! good job on the back filling idea !

 

Thanks for the pictures on the backhoe.

 

Now I am thinking I may need a backhoe .... should not be to hard to make, but the big expense will be in the 6 cylinders and valves.

I still have some work to do on my FEL and I just brought home a new for me Ford LGT today that was going to be for parts, but turned out to be to nice to sufer that fate...

 

It was great, but I found I kept pushing it to and beyond its capability. I had over a dozen stumps that size to dig up. I ended up selling it for something bigger. The 9000 is a bigger tractor, but it will be hard tracking down a backhoe for it, if Kwik-way made one (their sub frames are tractor specific. I know they (or someone) made one for 2 wheeled Gravelys though). Since it looks like the Gravely 9000 has a Cat 1 hitch, you could always get a three point backhoe. Personally I like the security of a sub frame though.

I would get the termite over getting a backhoe for the Gravely. Then you would not have to deal with taking the backhoe off when you need to use the three point hitch. The Kwik-Way was not hard to remove, but it was far from how quick newer sub compacts are.

If it were me, (and my situation justified it) I would buy a Ditch Witch with a backhoe for about $5,000 to $6,000, then get a loader for the Gravely. I would do that for three reasons;
1. you do not have to move the backhoe to move the dirt, and have the option of having a helper move the dirt.
2. you would have a trencher, using a backhoe for trenching is time consuming.
3. I found myself needing to remove the backhoe to fit (maneuver) in some places I needed to use the loader. On both the Yard-man, and its replacement, I only put the backhoe on when I need it.

Personally, I can only justify one tractor, so I ended up just getting a sub compact utility tractor with a backhoe and loader.