Jcb back hoe type for general ag work

Anyone use a jcb for feeding up ? Stacking straw? Loading trailers or are they more set up for just digging? Temped to trade older telehandler in for a back hoe but think the downsides might outweigh the upsides thoughts ?
 

essexpete

Member
Location
Essex
The more modern backhoe will be streets ahead of the old JCB powertrain we used years ago but we had long loader arms fitted which gave good load height and reach. Cumbersome compared to an all wheel steer. Some of the hoes are all wheel steer but would guess the loader height and reach would be poor. OK I guess if you loading large bales with a few stacked together to gain height? The other thing, we used to find banging about on a tramlines a pain for the rear hoe.
 

Dman2

Member
Location
Durham, UK
Used a 3cx for years here.
Just have to remember to drop the back arm when going in low buildings
Made a pin and cone headstock for ours, so we could swap easily
Only moved onto a pivot steer telehandler when digger started to get a bit tired.
Wanted to rest the old girl for when digging was needed
Just resealed all the back actor rams last week on it
 
There was a guy local that had a balespike on the back actor, pretty good for placing bales in yards over the barriers.

A cousin only had a JCB 3c MK2 on their dairy farm, had a grab on the back actor for getting silage out the clamp, did all the mucking out, everything.
 

carbonfibre farmer

Member
Arable Farmer
@carbonfibre farmer uses one to load beet
Not me, mine and @robbie beet haulier 👍
Also for loaded bales, mucking out etc etc.
3cx.
20201031_125855.jpg
 
Anyone use a jcb for feeding up ? Stacking straw? Loading trailers or are they more set up for just digging? Temped to trade older telehandler in for a back hoe but think the downsides might outweigh the upsides thoughts ?
Nowhere near a telehandler on front end mind. Be a step back for you with limited forward reach and depending on what you're handler is likely a lot less lift weight wise. Admittedly if you take front bucket off a 3cx and fit an attachment carriage of some kind you will gain a bit of lift weight wise as 3cx 4 in 1 bucket must be in region of 1/2 ton.
 

Khan

Member
Location
Emerald Isle
Anyone use a jcb for feeding up ? Stacking straw? Loading trailers or are they more set up for just digging? Temped to trade older telehandler in for a back hoe but think the downsides might outweigh the upsides thoughts ?
We did buy a Fermec 860 as an additional machine 2010 but subsequently traded it in for a second forklift. Farm over three sites all 5k or more apart and the forklift was doing a lot of roadwork so bought the backhoe to handle feeding 180 cows and keep forklift at grainstore and for youngstock. Backhoe as good as forklift on the sheargrab if you don't have any tight corners and you have decent height around doorways. It did a bit of digging for posts and round yard but a wet field and backhoe are a bad combination. Sold it five years ago, cow numbers were going up and we were running a tractor as well for scraper and sawdust spreader and the forklift replaced them both. I wouldn't replace a frontline forklift with a backhoe but might make sense for a backup machine, much more capacity than a tractor loader, at least load wise.
 

fermerboy

Member
Location
Banffshire
We've always run a wheeled digger and have a New Holland 95 which is a 3cx clone more or less.

To be honest its a pain about the buildings, with the backactor folded up its over 13ft high, so have to watch doorways, plenty of lock and maneuverability though. Loader has tons of lift but the NH has dire geometry and forward reach. Fermec is better in this department.
Digger with a toe tip grain will beat the loadall loading an artic of barley no bother, its up, tipped and reversing away by the time the loadall has telescoped out a bit.

We have a Loadall as our main loader and our digger is just a back up nowadays, wouldn't go back to digger for everything, grand on an out farm or for a reserve machine.
 

Fordson1

Member
Location
Wexford, Ireland
The view out the front and sides of a wheeled digger is good when feeding etc. Nice place to be. When the back actor on our 50 HXS is folded sideways behind the cab as it would usually be when doing yard work you dont have much visibility behind. All you see is yellow. Easier to see around the folded back actor of the older HX / 50B.
Not sure how other makes compare in this regard. I suppose if used to telehandler then will be used to side mirrors.
 

fermerboy

Member
Location
Banffshire
The view out the front and sides of a wheeled digger is good when feeding etc. Nice place to be. When the back actor on our 50 HXS is folded sideways behind the cab as it would usually be when doing yard work you dont have much visibility behind. All you see is yellow. Easier to see around the folded back actor of the older HX / 50B.
Not sure how other makes compare in this regard. I suppose if used to telehandler then will be used to side mirrors.

We used to drop the dipper arm off our HXS which improved the job no end. Then we used to drop the whole back actor off, 4 pins 2 pipes and the lever linkages, and stick a block on. Had it down to under an hour.
Water pipe or a drain always needed digging up when she'd the block on though :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Still have a 60HXt with a block on back as a backup, lovely thing to drive and use.
Absolutely bombproof, hardiest thing I think I own.
 
Was the 4CX a bit handier in the yard with 4 wheel steer?

Digger would be comparable to using a tractor and loader, bit easier with a more modern version or certainly the one I have drive seemed to have a very similar gearbox/drivetrain to a loadall- forward/back no problem.

Bit 'rock and roll' on the road with weight each end. Seen plenty of folks using them with sheargrabs and muck grabs instead of loaders in the past.
 

Hard Graft

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
British Isles
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got this old girl still does about 600hr a year as she is the only loader I have and to be fair she can shift some stuff in a day (10000t in 2018) with her and between a few friends they can not believe who she stuck the pace yes she let us down this year with a head gasket where we found a bust piston ring on opening her up and later in the year she blocked the suction filter in the gear box as the clutch packs were braking down but 3k fixed here including the hire off a telehandler for a week but in the 20 years off having here and roughly 10000hrs in our ownership she’s not done to badly
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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