Is the backhoe loader a thing of the past?

[BillybobLockwood]

I'd say the main sell of a backhoe loader is that you can do away with a dumper for small jobs! Lots of American companies seem to run mini track loaders and skidsteers, do you run any?

It's funny, here we look at the standard British model of three buckets with a quick hitch, paired with a dumper and say 'how old fasioned, get a loader like they do in Europe/America!' Then you come asking us about dumpers to be all cutting edge

Mind you, I'm saying that as I prepare to load up my 3t dumper for a little job today!

I think it's because of our climate, that i'm interested in a dumper. Anywhere else in the US, I would rather have a mini excavator and a tracked skid steer. northwest Washington is VERY wet, 200+ days a year of rain. Track loaders are great, but when its that damp they ruin everything they get near, and they are very clumsy when reversing.

the main reason however is as stated above, reducing mess, why handle the material 3 times, and trash the surrounding grounds, when i could load it right into a dumper, and put it where it's going. loading into a dump truck would be not great though.

Also, a cat 259, the bog standard of track loaders here, has gotten crazy expensive, a good deal on a new one is 75 grand now. we do run one, and its EXPENSIVE.

 

[BillybobLockwood]

My old fella started out with a 3cx and that was his bread and butter machine for 10 years or so. He still had dumpers to run alongside it on a lot of jobs. Why dig it twice when you can load it straight in to the machine that can take it away. I get the fact that @doobin comes at it from a different angle, unless I'm wrong he seems to work on a day rate so his way of making more money is to have more kit he can charge a higher rate for on the job. My method is not to charge a flat day rate but tell the customer ball park figure of what job is going to cost and then do it in the most efficient and cost effective way for me to make a profit off it. To swap a £2500 3 ton dumper for a 40k loader which on the work i do would take twice as long doesn't make sense for me. Climate and terrain up here doesn't suit loaders for most of the year.

yea exactly, especially when the muck is going a long ways from the dig, Very nice to load with the backhoe, have it carried away, than go spread it out when the weather or schedule allows

 

[BillybobLockwood]

There are two types of person on here;
a) what sized digger do I need for this job, or
b) is a digger the best machine for the job?
To dismiss a loader as just a re handling machine is like fifty years ago when excavators were dismissed as just a trenching machine on a lot of jobs. Doob is making his machine work for him, so Fair play Doob. When I started out I spent most of my first year or two on 3CX’s, and while sometimes you needed a dumper, on some jobs it was just a hindrance. In the way, in the wrong place, or You’d end up with heaps tipped all over and end up having to civilise it up with the backhoe.

track loaders are dead good, at nearly everything, Especially digging and grading. and do much nicer grading than any excavator, the disadvantage here is they make a MESS of everything else you didn't want to grade.

 

[Gunners]

Just think outside the box for a moment guys. It really depends on your job and also the way you like to work but loaders have several advantages over dumpers with a few limitations of course.
A dumper shifts gear very efficiently, but it cant load itself, and it cant do anything else but carry and tip. That's it. Cheap to buy (ish) and run.
A loader can pick and carry (as @doobin says you can shift muck out and gear back in in one trip) The loader can run other attachments making it more versatile across a job or able to carry out different tasks. Of course it takes more trips to move the same material if on muck shifting alone, it takes more skill to operate, more trips = more mud and they are expensive to buy and more complex to maintain.

So it depends on your job in hand but don't rule out the mini loaders - they are more useful across the job for longer, even if they are less efficient for the muck moving part - especially so the longer the haul. Of course you could run a digger, dumper and loader on a job..... Now we're talking!

 

[Smiffy]

There is something everyone's missing.
A dumper can be driven by a neanderthal.
It's one of the few jobs left on site where you pay peanuts and still get a crowd arguing who's turn it is to play with it.
The same neanderthal on a mini loader will not only destroy the machine but everything in it's path.

 

[GazCro]

There is something everyone's missing.
A dumper can be driven by a neanderthal.
It's one of the few jobs left on site where you pay peanuts and still get a crowd arguing who's turn it is to play with it.
The same neanderthal on a mini loader will not only destroy the machine but everything in it's path.

You say that but a numpty on a dumper is as bad as a numpty on anything else. A good op on a dumper can lead all week and tip and the digger only needs to go and tidy the tip on friday. A numpty walks back from tipping their first load and tells you they are stuck and as far as I'm concerned can carry on and walk home.
Anybody can drive any item of machinery be it digger, dumper loader whatever those that can actually use them few and far between.

 

[Giles]

I think it's because of our climate, that i'm interested in a dumper. Anywhere else in the US, I would rather have a mini excavator and a tracked skid steer. northwest Washington is VERY wet, 200+ days a year of rain. Track loaders are great, but when its that damp they ruin everything they get near, and they are very clumsy when reversing.

the main reason however is as stated above, reducing mess, why handle the material 3 times, and trash the surrounding grounds, when i could load it right into a dumper, and put it where it's going. loading into a dump truck would be not great though.

Also, a cat 259, the bog standard of track loaders here, has gotten crazy expensive, a good deal on a new one is 75 grand now. we do run one, and its EXPENSIVE.

Dumpers aren’t great at not making a mess in the wet you need track dumpers for that we run 3 older ones and they are brilliant in the wet stuff but need a good op on them or same as track loaders can make a mess

 

[Furniss]

You say that but a numpty on a dumper is as bad as a numpty on anything else. A good op on a dumper can lead all week and tip and the digger only needs to go and tidy the tip on friday. A numpty walks back from tipping their first load and tells you they are stuck and as far as I'm concerned can carry on and walk home.
Anybody can drive any item of machinery be it digger, dumper loader whatever those that can actually use them few and far between.

Your heart sinks when they come up to the digger to speak after a few loads and you've already explained that you shouldn't need to make space till tonight

 

[Bri963]

There is something everyone's missing.
A dumper can be driven by a neanderthal.
It's one of the few jobs left on site where you pay peanuts and still get a crowd arguing who's turn it is to play with it.
The same neanderthal on a mini loader will not only destroy the machine but everything in it's path.

A dumper driven by a Neanderthal has quite high running costs.

 

[Left hooker]

Would say a 6 ton dumper would be best to pair to a wheel digger

 

[GazCro]

Would say a 6 ton dumper would be best to pair to a wheel digger

On good going yeah

 

[GazCro]

Dumpers aren’t great at not making a mess in the wet you need track dumpers for that we run 3 older ones and they are brilliant in the wet stuff but need a good op on them or same as track loaders can make a mess

That's not clear cut. Tracked dumpers make a mess turning and it it's wet/snotty on the top you can end up covering a lot of ground. Sometimes a pair of ruts left by a wheeled dumper is easier to tidy up than a big area. Mess isn't always visible either, a tracked dumper might not make a field look untidy after travelling all over it but you've just sealed the top 2 inch and buggered drainage.

 

[Smiffy]

A dumper driven by a Neanderthal has quite high running costs.

Not as much as a loader driven by one though.

 

[sulky]

You say that but a numpty on a dumper is as bad as a numpty on anything else. A good op on a dumper can lead all week and tip and the digger only needs to go and tidy the tip on friday. A numpty walks back from tipping their first load and tells you they are stuck and as far as I'm concerned can carry on and walk home.
Anybody can drive any item of machinery be it digger, dumper loader whatever those that can actually use them few and far betyes anybody can drive machinery but it takes a man to operate it

 

[V8Druid]

Would say a 6 ton dumper would be best to pair to a wheel digger

and swivel makes for a versatile weapon .... worked well for all my requirements

 

[Left hooker]

and swivel makes for a versatile weapon .... worked well for all my requirements

Used to love swivel ones but find them awkward to scoop out of when placing pea gravel or small amounts of hardcore with bucket on backwards prefer straight tip plus if your good on a straight tip you can keep the stockpile pushed up with one so not so much need to go over with digger to tidy up pile often

 

[GazCro]

Used to love swivel ones but find them awkward to scoop out of when placing pea gravel or small amounts of hardcore with bucket on backwards prefer straight tip plus if your good on a straight tip you can keep the stockpile pushed up with one so not so much need to go over with digger to tidy up pile often

My 3 tonner is straight tip 6 tonner is swivel. I find it handy having it that way round key thing with 3 ton straight is they fit under the chute on conc wagons, swivels and bigger dumpers don't and pumps work out expensive for most jobs I'm involved in. 6 ton swivel tips a tall pile to begin with so i find you can get a lot of spoil heaped in a corner without the need for driving up it anyway. I know what you're saying about skip shape on swivels for spooning out of but tbh i leave bucket right way round and there's not much you can't get.

 

[Giles]

That's not clear cut. Tracked dumpers make a mess turning and it it's wet/snotty on the top you can end up covering a lot of ground. Sometimes a pair of ruts left by a wheeled dumper is easier to tidy up than a big area. Mess isn't always visible either, a tracked dumper might not make a field look untidy after travelling all over it but you've just sealed the top 2 inch and buggered drainage.

I’d disagree the track dumpers tread so light they don’t compact the ground and ruin the drainage like grinding ruts in with a wheeled dumper do then need to fix 1 foot deep ruts where the dumpers been axel deep. And if turned gently not skewed on the spot they don’t churn up or run forwards then backwards so no turning or the fully rotating ones even less mess.

for 4 weeks now we’ve been running across this valley with track dumper few times a day upto the barn, it’s be in a dam sight more of a mess if using a wheeled dumper

 

[V8Druid]

I’d disagree the track dumpers tread so light they don’t compact the ground and ruin the drainage like grinding ruts in with a wheeled dumper do then need to fix 1 foot deep ruts where the dumpers been axel deep. And if turned gently not skewed on the spot they don’t churn up or run forwards then backwards so no turning or the fully rotating ones even less mess.

for 4 weeks now we’ve been running across this valley with track dumper few times a day upto the barn, it’s be in a dam sight more of a mess if using a wheeled dumper

how long did you wait for the blue sky @Giles

 

[Giles]

how long did you wait for the blue sky @Giles

First day back at work on Tuesday was glorious then it went back to s**t we’ll snow In fact on Thursday lol