Towable Backhoe Harbor Freight Broken after 2 weeks…..
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- After using my Towable backhoe from Harbor a freight it broke on Week 2. As impressed as I am by the machine the hydraulics are stronger than the build quality and welds.
" I could weld it back myself... but my harbor freight welder is broke too"......that would have been funny
harbor freight welder is actually very good.. had my flux core 6 years and i weld non stop on floor pans, frames, and even 3/16th leaf spring mounts and so forth..
@@jeepsblackpowderandlights4305 I had thought about buying one...for small stuff around the house
@@leewebb7 deff a good welder.. i have the 90a flux. I think its called 120a flux now.. but its still just 90. Easily restored my classic car with it.. floors. Frame. Everything.
The wire speeds on it are wrong though.. it says fastest for thick metal.. but i found around 4 wire speed for thicker metal is better
That's funny 😂
their welders are fantastic for small jobs. I wouldn't wanna use it for everyday industrial jobs
I haven't seen one of this style since 1973! When Brisbane Australia went from septic to sewerage, the weekend plumbers were doing change overs all week for their bosses and weekends for extra money for themselves. Such a handy item! Yes not hercules, but beats digging by hand! I actually made a heap of $$$$ following them up filling trenches for them after school for cash money! I was fit ,did a good job, and was paid handsomely! 😊😊😊😊😊😊
Mine broke at the same place. The bucket fell off leaving the part connected to the dipper. Mine wasn't weldable, so ordered 2 new buckets. Took one to the weld shop to have reinforced- worked great no problems after that. The other bucket I cut off the teeth for a smooth lipped bucket for digging smooth bottom trenches in topsoil/sand ground. It worked great for that. It is a very strong machine.
It may be worth taking the bucket to a welding shop and letting them reinforce the welds. You could be a year waiting on the replacement bucket
I have it at a shop being welded now. Still have not received the replacement….. Almost 6 weeks now 🤦♂️
If you are digging hard with it order spare pivot pins there are only 3 different pivot pins in the entire machine (excluding the swing cylinder pins since those rarely fail) get at least 2 spares for the 2 different mast and boom pins and a single spare mast swing pin (the one under the valve body) also at least a full spare set of teeth and teeth keeper pins) those are the common failures and if the main mast swing pin breaks it will destroy the pin bores for the swing cylinder pins
Back in the late 80's it was called a toehoe. Great machine for very narrow work. The thing got sold one day never to be seen again.
At least now you'll have a spare bucket when you weld it up! I modified mine with extra cutting toothed edge on the sides of my bucket for cutting roots easier!
I bent the 22" bucket on my case 580C This weekend digging up a 6 inch pine tree. Now the bucket was built in 1977, and is a bit thin. We are rebuilding it with AR 400 bits and pieces plates (dropping from a Co that builds mining equipment)
Your hoses need to be rerouted.. from the control valve assembly, the hoses should through the center towards the boom and not wrapped around the center piece as you have them. The way you have them, it could cause some of the lines to pull too tight as you swing the boom to the left. Also, as someone already mentioned about your bucket cylinder lines, they should be run through center of the boom arm where the cylinders connect. As you have them, there is a risk of your bucket cylinder lines getting hung on something because they're flopping around. Good info on the bucket failure. I haven't seen where anyone else has had that issue, but it makes me want to go beef up the welds on my bucket. There are several other welds on the machine which also need to be beefed up, so give a good looking over and beef up those needed areas before you have issues. One main area others have had an issue with is the outriggers. Those welds on the outriggers definitely need to be beefed up and gussets should be added to all the angled welds on the outriggers.
It is an awesome machine for the money.. it just needs some extra beefing in many areas.
You have not heard of this bucket failing before because nobody in their right mind would start digging out proper trees including all their rooting with this flimsy thing 😂
I believe the first thing I would do is built a shield around those hoses. I wouldn’t be comfortable with so many hydro lines that close between my legs.
Edit: and I’d probably add a small swingable thumb as well.
I have seen people leaving these anchored to the tow vehicle and breaking different parts because they can tear themselves apart if not unhitched. I switched to DR buckets and ripper that are a little heavier duty.
I've used mine to remove 30 or more tree stumps, digging post holes, trenching, and at about 20 tree stumps same thing for me, the bucket failed. Welded it up and reinforced it. Stronger than new and still going.
Had HF hoe for about 5 years now !!! Great little machine... I tore teeth off bucket 3 years ago,, Cut and Welded them back on with extra steel... still going good, just ripped out a 6" dia. 25' tall (dying tree) blue spruce for my neighbor... made short work of that !!!
How are you going about digging post holes with this? I'd assume just digging straight down? Figured it would be too wide.
Thanks for the video and information. I've been been watching videos on these machines for a few weeks and I would buy one today if it was in my budget.
I've had my little backhoe for a bit over 2 years.
It has enough power to rip the bucket in half. I have welded my bucket back together and reinforced it.
It can also rip the welds on the "leg extensions"
And it can break the pins at any pivot point.
Breaking the pins at some points can cause the "stick" flanges to spread from each other, making it impossible to put the cotter pin in to hold the replacement pin.
Replace the cotter pins with Hitch Pins (harbor freight sell a kit of hitch pins, but only the largest are correct) These will get broken... never. The cotter pins will break regularly. You can also use a framing nail and bend it at both ends. A framing nail is easier to cut than a hitch pin but still stronger than the cotter pin.
Curling the bucket under high load can destroy the stick-out cylinder by the load suddenly bending the shaft. I did that on a tree root the size you described. Get a sawzall and cut big roots.
Really, they need the relif valve adusted for LESS pressure. There are youtube videos of people increasing the pressure. Don't do it. This does not make it move faster. There is a video of what pump to get to increase speed. (still need lower pressure on the relief)
While curling, bump the crowding (stick out/in for the section near the bucket) lever to relive pressure in that cylinder. That will prevent the hydraulic lock from breaking things.
When the control levers are centered, the affected cylinder has no relief valve. Putting a relief on each cylinder is possible but expensive.
What's the pin size on these things? If it's 1" you might try the stuff Nothern tool sells for their towable digger. I bought the $159 ripper tooth for my Kubota backhoe (it fits..) and am 100% happy with that. They sell a 10" bucket for $250.
Thanks for the info Brandon. I’ve always wondered about the little trencher
Any time!
Have mine 5 years.... Great machine.... !! P.S. ( If you spend $80,000 for a backhoe it will be better)
I would just weld it back up myself. Honestly, the bucket that comes may not be any better.
Maybe lower the hydraulic relief valve setting. Then it would by-pass before breaking stuff. Would serve as a safety net while getting the knack of running the thing too.
Thank you for the heads up on a possible failure point.
Man you must have been lifting that thing off the ground for that to happen and you didn't stop either!
Now you know!😢
how comfortable is this thing to run if you"re on it for a couple of hours ? does it kill your back? seen another video with the bucket failure so you"re not the only one.
I have one and it’s extremely comfortable
I put in a pin to lock the seet and stop it swiveling.
You CAN get your left foot in a pinch point. I have an artificial left foot, got it in there and ot crushed the carbon fibre foot. A real foot, you'll likely feel it go in the little space and pull it out....
@@fhuber7507 better be careful with that.
When I first bought mine I almost catapulted myself across the yard. I still amazes people how capable these are. It's not fast but it gets er done.
Haha 100% agree
😂😂😂😂😂😂
I work at HF we refund and replace anything, not the best stuff but hard to beat the return policy
I've seen much larger dug out. It is How you do what you do that makes the difference between success and failure.
Had one like that in the 90's called "mantis" 5 hp motor , it had an articulated set of large teeth at the back to anchor to the ground ; The only issue is that you can't drive around and move dirt and rocks , But a good little machine .
Pretty much a log splitter turned into an excavator.
I bought one about 5 years ago. love the thing. only issue i have had is the bypass valve sticks periodically. im assuming there's a small piece of debris in the resiviour i have not got out .
I see another even bigger problem with the obvious lack of grease points on the boom and pivots.
How else would they get you to buy their drill/tap sets and a box of zerks?
It has "needle zerks" There is a needle adapter for a grease gun There are grease points all over the thing. Ever pivot has a zerk. Center of the end on the 2 most common pins you will find what looks like a little bullseye. Push the center with the tip of a nail, it's the ball of a zerk.
@@fhuber7507
Seems you need to tell some more ppl. I had no clue, but a lot of folks here seem to think it has none.
That’s good info btw.
I would have asked if they want it back and if they said no, I would have welded that bucket back together the day after they said a new one was coming….that weld would be simple as it’s right down an existing weld.
How well does it dig? Looks awfully light, does it just lift itself up?
Digs very good, Very powerful too!!
I would imagine the replacement bucket will not be any stronger than the one that came on just my opinion
obviously bad welds as it broke where welded, weld it back up with some gussets and doublers and it will be much better than the new one, if it ever gets there good vid, THANX
Same factory. Same Chinesium.
So first thing I would have done is find out if you have to return old bucket if not I’d welded it and went back to work no way I’d be waiting on the company
I got one of these machines about 9 months ago and quickly discovered that the hydraulics are capable of producing considerably more force than the boom structure is engineered to sustain. Not especially unusual with hydraulic equipment but something to always be mindful of when operating any of this equipment. So far, other than learning the hard way that changing the zerk fittings on the main post of the boom is no joke (If you try to grease those with a standard grease nozzle it is almost assured that you will break them trying to disengage the nozzle. Mine are now both replaced with stainless steel instead of the standard brass fitting and I got an extra long, easy release nozzle for my grease gun), it has performed every task without a hitch. But you can definitely lift much more weight than the machine can counter so I can easily see that you could exceed the strength of the welds in the bucket. On the other hand, those welds look pretty messy, much worse than on my machine, and I agree with a few folks saying just take it to a good welding shop. $50-$75 later you would probably go home with a bucket many times stronger than the original.
Even with the new bucket, I would keep that old one and reinforce the crap out of it!
It would be so cool if that mini backhoe had some type of wood splitter attachment and maybe a PTO to power other things like a generator or something.
Look up some RUclips videos, people make ways to split wood with the bucket.
I use mine for digging beaver dams. And removing trees have never broken anything change seals in hydraulic cylinders a few times
Why don't you let the beavers do their own dam work?
My wife ordered this for me and read the buckets were a weak point. She ordered me an extra bucket and two showed up. Now I have 3 buckets.....
Can it be returned? Refund?
What part of 'Harbor Freight' didn't you understand?
Buy US made or Canadian made.
@notfiveo Yes, but hopefully better quality.
@@donalddumas6987
Key word: hopefully.
How much does it cost?
Great machine for the kids sandbox
Run that longest hose inside near the last pivot.
that thing reminds me of a toy I had when I was like 10...
I would weld it up and reinforce that area over getting another one that will break too ( or at least beef up the replacement bucket before destroying it ) .... do you get to keep the old bucket?... part of buying cheaper products is repairing the poor quality welds or design... sadly that is why they are so cheap... but still worth the price as you can buy the tools to fix it with the savings .of course you should already own Tools to fix anything !!
they stopped selling them so must of busted a lot of buckets
Harbour Freight: All the freight that should have been thrown into the harbour instead of unloaded! And I bet your warranty period isn’t going to be extended even though you can’t use the machine for the next few weeks or months!
That's just silly, no way a bucket should fail designed to work at a set psi.
just weld it. weld everything... may as well get yourself a HF plasma cutter whilst at it and start gouging!
no point trying to do warranty stuff on cheap junk... they ship in pallets of assemblies to sell, not spare parts. its on the slow fork on the slow dock loading the slow ship...
0:15 Why have a dog if you keep it in a cage?
Not my dog. It’s the neighbors but thanks for your concern.
@@TheGlassFamilyvlog Sneak over and let him out. 😃
Those things are junk, my former employer is a cheap bastard and bought one of those it broke on the first day and he lost his shit on me. By the time I quit it had 48 welds on it and both buckets and the slop in the pins from the bushings wearing out was absurd.
They are not for commercial use ffs…
And if you welded on it that much, you should have added some grease zerks for the pins…
@@choccolocco or buy a proper mini excavator that will pay for itself.
@@DerelictDan69
Sure thing, if you’ve got the money…
@@choccolocco callled money managment skills and self discipline.
@@DerelictDan69
A man can’t “manage” what a man doesn’t have.
Sounds to me like you’re oblivious.
Made in china...did ya think it would last longer than 10 min.???
Ied weld that one and beef it up i have one and not broke it yet
Oh Oh, I see the problem: It's a HF. there fixed.
Made for playing in a sandbox or the beach
Don't get the point of this machine at 3.5k. mini excavator from china is 6k.
Weight
Trailer, and 2.5k are two differences. I would guess that the towable has different depth and reach also a difference.....let me know if you want some more
Well, if a man doesn’t have 6K, and only has 3.5K…..
And there’s a lot more that can go wrong the mini ex…
Don't know what you expected. It's obviously $250 worth of pure junk.
Replacement bucket will be as bad as the first one probably.
You bought something from Harbor Freight and you admit it on RUclips?
Renting a stump grinder would be a pittance compared to how much this thing costs.
I see most people push these machines way past their limits. If you're breaking buckets, you're pushing things too hard. Couple that with shoddy Chinese construction, and IMO, this item is not worth investing in.
I've never had a bucket failure and I have this exact machine model only much older and yes I dig out stumps, whole 8-12inch dia trees,and boulders up to 1000lbs. With mine this looks like a case of bad operator technique causing the failure but adding some reinforcements to the bucket won't hurt... I also would not let my machine sit outta service waiting for a bucket when an hour with a flux core welder on its highest setting woulda repaired it and made it usable until the new bucket arrived (flux core welder because I would have been out in the middle of my acreage nowhere near a power bush which would result in needing to run the welder off a generator... with enough wind to render a mig welder unusable as the shielding gas gets blown away from the weld in progress which is one of the upsides of a flux core welder or stick welder)...
My friend you said a lot more about the quality than you realized. An oem piece of hydraulic equipment should not be able to brake its own major components. My bobcat and the factory grapple is free use. The bucket is also free use. So the fact the bucket on your digger had a catastrophic failure says at least the buckets are junk.
What?!?
They break their major components all the time when overworked, especially backhoes and excavators.
Pure Chinesium.
I might buy a hammer from harbor freight but a back ho im dying hear 😂😂😂😂
Your hoses are run wrong .
Good ole Chinesium, guaranteed to fail.
Plate it and weld it
In 2 weeks.. you could have built your own Bucket, lol countryBoy,,,
Not if he doesn’t have a welder….which he mentioned…
@@choccolocco ok,,,
Coming from chauhuh
Bucket made out of tin.
If you cant weld or repair it you shouldn't buy cheap junk.
Every video I see on these where something broke on it, it always has to do with someone trying to rip out trees....Hmmmm
That's just silly, no way a bucket should fail designed to work at a set psi.
@@half-breedWhat is silly is thinking anything is designed on this with trees in mind😂
@@JO-cj2dv do you really think the machine knows the difference between a tree or a big rock 🤔,
@@half-breed Do you think the people who designed it don’t know the difference between DIRT and a big rock or tree? It’s meant for digging dirt. It’s a cheap alternative to expensive machines with the purpose of digging without a shovel in hand. Nothing else. Im not sure what stupid point you’re trying to make it here.
Looks alone it is just walk away form this toy.
It's all your fault. You bought something from Harbor Freight. Not a real shocker.
Mig welds suck stick weld it
Agreed.
Broke my trailer a couple of weeks ago on the welds. When I went to stick weld it, the rod blew through the crappy wire welds like a gouge…
She’s much better now…
Not uncommon.
Your lucky you got two weeks from any Harbor Freight junk.