So what do you use a little backhoe like this for? I find it to be really
adept at digging holes for transplanting larger trees, cutting in
relatively short waterlines (for long lines, a hydraulic excavator or
trencher will cut the time substantially), digging out the broken
sewer line that got crushed earlier this spring and digging large,
deep holes for setting big, irregularly-shaped Osage orange posts
(think butt end of a 50-year-old tree’s trunk).
The 6.0 horsepower
Robin gas engine is an easy recoil-starting model that has plenty of
oomph to supply 2.6 gallons of hydraulic fluid per minute at 2500
psi – even under heavy load. At one point I hooked a piece of
limestone ledge about 3 feet down; curling the bucket dragged the
entire backhoe and Polaris Ranger toward the hole. The engine’s
governor kicked in, but it didn’t lose significant speed.
At right around $5500 (including shipping), the DR Towable
Backhoe’s cost is comparable to small tractor-mounted backhoe
attachments. This machine is perfect for folks who use ATVs, UTVs,
or garden tractors to maintain their places.
If you have a compact
(or larger) tractor and anticipate a moderate amount of backhoe
work, then it will be difficult to decide between the DR unit and a
mounted hoe. In either case, the beauty of the DR Towable
Backhoe is in its self-contained nature and ease of attaching to and
disconnecting from the anchor vehicle.
If you use your tractor as an
anchor point you may get the full digging power of the DR Towable
Backhoe to boot. Other advantages to the DR hoe include being
able to relocate at up to 45 mph, and being able to squeeze into
places that larger machines simply won’t fit. It also takes up way
less space in the shed and you can move it around with ease.
Once I was finished with the dirt work, I hooked the DR Tow-
Behind Field and Brush Mower to the Polaris Ranger. Alaina and I
had a lovely conversation while I clipped about 10 acres of pasture
that the cattle had just been moved off of. I know that such heavy
mowing isn’t really what the mower was designed for, but it
continues to work like a trooper.
Stay tuned for more reports on
DR’s remarkable products.
About Grit
Grit magazine (www.Grit.com) has celebrated rural American
lifestyles since 1882. Each bimonthly issue combines practical
articles, product reviews, do-it-yourself building plans, beautiful
photos, reader advice, humor and a healthy dose of fresh
attitude to offer a complete guide to life beyond the city limits.
The Daily Commute:
DR Towable Backhoe
Posted 6/8/2009 2:35:01 PM
by Hank Will, Editor, Grit Magazine
(reprinted with permission)
Hank Will
Editor - Grit Magazine
Last week, while my daughter Alaina was
still visiting, we went ahead and did some
chores with the DR Towable Backhoe demo unit that’s in the barn.
When DR first
offered to send a Towable Backhoe to
Kansas for testing, I was just a little
skeptical that something so seemingly
small and relatively light weight could
really perform, but I was burning with
curiosity because of the company’s history
of building awesome machines that do
what they are designed to do quite well.
When the DR Towable Backhoe first arrived, I hitched it to my
pickup and pulled it down the highway to the farm without incident.
[The DR] is equipped with fenders and lights, in addition to highway
hubs and wheels. The company recommends that you don’t
exceed 45 mph while towing. Even though the speed limit was 70
mph for much of my trip to the farm, I never came close to towing
the backhoe at that speed but I might have been a tad over 45 a
time or two. The backhoe tracked well; the drive was completely
free of any white knuckle syndrome.
Setting up the DR Towable backhoe was a piece of cake. All I
needed to do was to pour 10 gallons of hydraulic fluid into the
reservoir and fire it up. I also added premium diesel-engine-quality
motor oil to the Robin engine’s crankcase, before firing it up. It took
more time to unwrap the Towable Backhoe than it did to get it
ready to go to work.
Since our Kansas ground is hard when dry and sticky when wet,
and since there are plenty of plate-size pieces of limestone in it, I
used the Polaris Ranger as an anchor point when digging with DR’s
diminutive hoe. It is possible to dig with the DR Towable Backhoe
without attaching it to another vehicle, but the vehicle makes it
pretty easy to move the hoe around and helps keep it from moving
when you don’t want it to.
After several uses now, I find the DR
Towable Backhoe to be robust, capable and really handy for getting
into tight spots and steep places that might upset a tractor.