Vehicle combination weights & keeping it under the Non CDL weight

What are you needing a backhoe for? I have owned a smaller one a Kubota M59, a full size Deere 310SJ, and a Deere 35G mini excavator. The mini will run circles around the M59 and depending on what you are doing can outwork the 310. The downside is it moves super slow.

Backhoes are kind of like Swiss Army knives. They can do almost anything but aren’t the best at any of it. They are big and clumsy. My setup of choice is a tracked skid steer and a mini ex.

 

Thanks for the input Bdog. Those are some nice machines! I don't have a backhoe quite yet, I was looking at your combo of choice as well. The backhoe was just a cheaper, if less efficient, option. Honestly the 2 machine solution would probably be better. I plan on digging some (very) small ponds, some swails, ATV trail maintenance (current property is all flat), and general "farm" use. I've already got a small 38hp JD with a loader on it, I looked into a backhoe attachment for it but it's not recommended as the 3038e's farm isn't strong enough (there's been multiple reports of cracked blocks/etc). One of those multi-angle blades for a tractor would be nice for dirt road maintenance but the 3038e doesn't have remote rear hydraulics, I "make do" with a box scraper.

None of the above are a real need, I've gotten by fine thus far without it, it's more of a want and it'd give me the ability to do some of the above. Yes I could rent a machine, but my time at the property is sporadic so it'd be nice to have machinery there for when I need it. If you have any size recommendations on the skid please pass them along. That 35G looks like a really nice unit for a small place like mine.

 

The problem with skid steers is that the nice ones are pretty darn high $, and the cheap ones are ragged out or houred out.

Yes, you really need a tractor to run the bush hog, box blade, pulling small stumps, etc. A backhoe wouldn't be much use for that.

Once you get to digging ponds, a backhoe is not going to be much of a solution. Not much reach, and really not particularly good at moving quantities of dirt any distance at all. We are using an 18,000 lb excavator and a skid steer to move dirt (I own a fish farm), and that combination runs circles around a backhoe --- even if it is a very small excavator. If I needed some stock tank type ponds, and some drainage type work, I'd rent an excavator in the 30K lb range and dig one in a couple of hours -- literally. They are probably renting for under $100 an hour. Yes, there's delivery costs, but if you plan a little, you can get an awful lot done for a weeks rental.

Owning "well used" equipment just gets so expensive in repairs and unexpected downtime. You fire it up, the hydraulic lines break, you run to town to have them build a new one. "That's a really specialized fitting, we don't have that in stock". And the project you planned to work on that week is shot, it rains the next two weeks, and all of a sudden, your window to get it done has closed. And you still spent nearly $800 in hydraulic lines. Or you spend three times the time, fuel, rut things up all to heck because you're trying to "use what you've got", instead of just getting the right piece of equipment.

If it sounds like I am speaking from experience, it's because I am.

 

All fantastic advice/views, thanks! Great points too on just renting a monster for a small time for big earthworks. RE: used equipment, yeah that's what I seem to find. Either really expensive, or totally clapped out. I also know I'm not machine-savvy enough to know when I'm getting a "good deal". I can spot a heap, but don't know enough to get a "true" deal.