Man that is an awesome machine, would you give some info, possible pic of it in action... how about how you built it and where you got parts, just all around info. it really looks great. jerry

I bought the plans online from PF engineering about 2 years ago. It was a pretty intimidating project to start because I have no experience with hydraulics. The only experience is with the FEL that was on the tractor when I bought it about 4 years ago. I bought the tractor with the intent of using it for my backyard project and then selling it. After using it the first day I knew I was going to keep it. I spent many hours on the net just looking at WH stuff and it has snowballed from there. I really don’t need a hoe and it’s cheaper to rent one but I have more fun building the stuff than I do using it.
All of the steel was salvaged from work sites, so I was able to start without to much investment. The plans come with a bill of materials and some places they can be purchased. There were a few modifications because the steel I had was different dimensions from the plans, but was no big deal. All of the steel is ¼” or thicker although the plans call for lighter steel. The biggest modification was the addition of a tank. The plans call for a portion of the frame to serve as the tank. After taking great care to clean it, weld it so it was sealed and keep contaminates out, my grand daughter thought it would be fun to fill the little holes with sand. I had to add the tank on top of the frame and figure out a way to make it fit. The movement of the tank and vales are not part of the plans but worked out well. I just flip the seat up and sit on the back of it and move the valves closer, plus a larger reservoir to boot.
The welds in the beginning were terrible but with that much welding to do I was bound to get better. This can pretty much be built with minimal tools. Portable band saw, Bi-metal hole saws, Bench top drill press, Grinder, A welder, and the usual hand tools for the most part. Most of the welds were tacked with a small mig and then gone over with a stick welder for better penetration. I started with a portable band saw and about ½ way through, the purchase of a horizontal band saw saved a lot of time and is much more accurate. It was basically built outside on the ground and a small table. There’s not much room in the shed. It took about 2 years working on it part time but if you’re dedicated it can be accomplished in much less time. After most of the structure was built, came the expense of the hydraulics. They were purchased a little at a time so the hit was not so bad. I got most of the stuff from Surplus Center and Northern Tool online. Most of the steel can be purchased locally. I’m not sure of the total cost of the build but it’s some where around $2K.
I was impressed with the power of it. It will fill the 10” bucket most of the time and dig to a depth of about 4 ½ ft. Deeper with a bigger hole. New England has some boney soil too. No pics of it in action yet but I’ll try to get my wife, “The Wheel Horse Widow”, to shoot some. She said she had a nightmare about me buying a whole bunch of tractors and leaving her with the hillbillys I bought them from. She’s not really into this tractor stuff although when I mentioned something about going to the show in PA she seemed a little excited. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for the interest!

In an effort to keep the picture gallery clean, I moved these posts to this location.
Feel free to carry on this discussion about the backhoe!

That thing is SWEET!!!

I wanna see I wanna see

The pictures are in the photo gallery. This link should get you there. 416 backhoe picture link

SWEET!!!! I must have more info so I can build one for my 953

Love that bit!



Good Job on the back hoe.

Chris D,
here is a link to the site that the plans are from. Lots of info and pictures too.
http://www.p.f.engineering.50megs.com/