Micro Back Hoe?

[daveb]

Originally Posted by twogone

Now, Boss, tell us what you plan to do with that new Tonka Toy

I think he's gonna go to Alaska and join in on that Gold show

[TomH]

Originally Posted by jage

I listened to all your sage advice, then...bought that today.

That unit is likely just strong enough that it can dig in hardpan, but with quite some strain. You have a small blade on front with which you can backfill. An optional attachment to look for is a compaction roller: you pull the bucket, put on the roller, and apply rolling down pressure with the boom to compact the backfill in the trench so settling won't be a problem later. Another attachment that can be useful on the end of the arm is a single tooth ripper; this can help rip up really hard pan as well as rip roots apart faster around a big stump. A "thumb" on the boom arm allows the bucket and thumb together to pick up and move logs. Something you likely don't need is the hydraulic "jaws of life" type cutter that can be attached to the end of the boom. If you need to move a lot of softer soil quickly, you can get a larger bucket. For a trench in which you're going to lay narrow conduit or pipe, you can get a narrower bucket and dig faster. Sometimes it pays to replace regular teeth with "Tiger Teeth" if you need a stronger bite while excavating.

An advantage of an excavator is never having to reverse the seat or jump from one seat to another (you have to do one or the other on a tractor with a backhoe). The disadvantage of the excavator is that it is a single use machine. There are many dozens of purposes for which a utility tractor can be employed. I know I have used my tractor for at least 20 other things besides backhoe work.

Good luck, and have fun!!