Not sure how big you're planning on... but there were several youtube videos for the HF version last I looked. It was a couple years ago, I found them interesting. I wouldn't want to go any smaller than those for a home brew.
A few tips from a fellow backhoe enthusiast here. Just what I can think of spontaneously:
- Try to design your backhoe to have smooth curves without sharp corners. T aper any reinforcement plates to make a diamond shape and use a tail-out on your welds. This helps to reduce stress concentrations and fatigue crackin g, which is a big problem on backhoes. Like this:
- You will not regret having power slew, even on a really small machine. Th ere is so much inertia in an extended backhoe that it takes a lot of torque to get the backhoe moving. I just checked the manual for my 7-ton backhoe loader and it gives the slew mechanism torque: 4860 ft/lb.
- Think about how comfortable the machine is going to be. Get a two-lever v alve block if you can (these are available second hand). Make sure the sitt ing position is comfortable. And make sure you can see down into the trench clearly, because that's a problem on a fair number of machines.
I've got a lot of backhoe information if you need it. Just let me know. And do show us the finished machine!
Chris
A hydraulic jack-hammer "stinger" in place of the bucket makes short work of hardpan if ripper jaws won't do the job. Auful hard on equipment though!!!
Likewize. I think all CKs had the shuttle shift.
They didn't. My friend's CK oes not. The shuttle shift is weird. There is a torque converter as well as a clutch in the tractor. So to change gears requires stepping on the clutch but forward to reverse and back is just done by moving the lever. I have only the vaguest idea how it all works inside but I love it. I had never even sat on a backhoe when I bought mine. Took some learning to run it passably well. But man, is it ever fun. Eric
You don't have a backhoe. You never did. You don't even have one available to borrow. If you did, you'd have used it to fix your septic system, or to earn a decent living. You're an incompetent liar.
... remains an unlicensed yard ornament. You remain a liar for claiming you had the money to license it, and for saying you'd "happily" post the registration.
I think I remember reading in the manual that some didn't. And the trans on mine indicates a reverse position that doesn't seem to exist. I presume that's there for models without the shuttle. Anyway, I can tell you it's a pain to replace that shuttle gear assembly. Not terribly difficult, just a pain. Sure is nice to have it back working though. How bad are your brakes? Mine look good inside, but are barely adequate to keep the machine from rolling backwards on a 10% grade. I keep the bucket flipped and low in case of emergency. :)
Shuttle, but no TC on mine. The service manual covers both arrangments. Found both operator and service manuals free online.
I am figuring on about the same size as the Harbor Freight mini backhoe. Smaller would be about as expensive and less capable. And I really do not need one, much less a bigger one. I have most of the steel already from sc rounging at the local scrap yard. I have some cut offs of 1 inch dia stain less steel. I might go a bit bigger for the boom swivel. I looked at what was available at Fassio's ( a local steel distributor ). And can get hol low bar there. The plans I have use 1 " for the boom swivel, but that see ms small. So may spring for some larger material for the boom swivel.
I am not worried about the ground being too hard as it is clay and easy to dig with a shovel ( except the clay sticks to the shovel. )
Dan
The brakes are great. No problem locking up the wheels. How can the shuttle shift work without a torque converter? When my CK gets low on transmission fluid it takes forever for it to warm up enough to move. I need to fill it way above the full mark on the dipstick for it to move as soon as I start it. I think it may have the wrong dipstick. Also weird is that the engine NEVER gets low on oil. And it's not gas leaking past the rings keeping the oil level up. It must be a leak between the engine and the transmission unit that is filling the engine very slowly with transmission fluid. I have been having trouble getting the carb adjustment right. Found out why. There is about 1/16" play in the throttle shaft where it goes through the back side of the carb. This winter the carb is coming off so I can rebuild it. Eric
Are they bands on drums, with a cam assist to a flat plate?
Clutch.
No trans fluid. Just gear oil in the torque tube and trans.
Bummer.
Yeah, I crudely bushed mine and added some o rings to take up space. Runs decent but not perfect, hard to know if it was ever much better. Hand throttle was terrible until I fixed a seized cross shaft linkage for the foot throttle. Took a whole afternoon including some lathe work, but was worth it to have a foot throttle.
Have you seen this?
Oops, just realized I've been talking 530 and you guys 580. That explains why you have brakes, and I have brake simulators. :)
Every CK we had on the lot back when I worked on industrial equipment had the shuttle so I ASS U MEd it was standard equip
Do you step on the clutch to use shuttle shift? Mine is just a lever on the steering column. My brakes are the shoe/disc combination. Where the shoe stops one disc from rotating which causes the balls to climb the ramp which presses on the disc. I guess it's a good way to amplify foot pressure in a purely mechanical way. But they are prone to locking up. Eric
Yes. It has a neutral position which I had to use the other day because the transmission won't go into neutral or 1st. I think one of the shift forks has come out of its groove. Couldn't have happened unless something's wrong with the shifter, which wouldn't surprise me. Shuttle cover looks like this
On mine the forward reverse shuttle is a mechanical shifter on the top of the torque tube. Here's a parts breakdown of the entire assembly.
Sounds like mine is the same arrangement.
Ed, if you're reading this, please give your opinion on the arrangement. The plate 35 presses against the inside of the housing. It seems to me that the cam/ball/disc thing can only be effective IF the band is effective, which makes it a dubious idea. Ever known anything else that uses such a system?
Wphew, you're really asking the wrong guy. It looks to me like the balls ride on ramps, and the drum would have to be clutched to a stop (by the band), or nearly so, for the balls to ride up the ramps and put pressure on the discs, right? It looks like the balls are part of a freewheeling clutch.
If I'm reading it right, then I agree: I can't see any other way you could apply pressure to the discs.
Transmissions like this are outside of my realm of experience. However, that balls-riding-up-ramp thing, if that's what it is, is a type of freesheeling/overrunning clutch that has been used in machinery for decades -- maybe 100 years. Saab had one in their original 2-stroke-engine cars, but the balls were arranged around the outside of a cam and pressed against the inside of a wheel, IIRC. Also, if my memory is working, I think that Harleys have a face-ramp type somewhere in their power train.
Such freewheeling clutches are known to be problems when they get worn. But, again, I'm making some guesses based on that vague illustration.
Exactly. I suppose it's supposed to multiply the effect of the band. Except that the band is wimpy, and unless it's gripping sufficiently, there isn't much pressure on the balls and the plate.
It's a very primitive manual brake system. One housing outboard on each side of the transmission. Here are some pics
guts
In this one, you can see the left brake housing just ahead of the rear axle housing. The disc pushes against the outboard face of the housing.
Here's one that's a little more true to life. :)
thru the hollow trans mainshaft .
I have about the same tools as you do. Well not a real mill, just a drill mill. And I will probably make a wood model or two. I do have plans but am not sure how good they are. And do have a real backhoe not too far away that I can look at. Your front end loader convinced me that it was possible for me to build a mini backhoe.
Dan ===========================
My loader would have been significantly more expensive if I didn't have a lathe to modify cheap second-hand parts.
Working on a custom (not mine) snowplow mount this afternoon reminded me that it would be very nice to have a long shank reamer that cuts on the pull to align holes in the two welded side plates of a fork connection, or in this case increase the mounting pin clearance.
-jsw
f spontaneously:
Taper any reinforcement plates to make a diamond shape and use a tail-out on your welds. This helps to reduce stress concentrations and fatigue crack ing, which is a big problem on backhoes.
That is one of the things I do not like about the plans I have. Some place s look like they would be big stress concentrators.
I am convinced. If you have a hydraulic pump, tank ,and filter, might as well have power everything.
Get a two-lever valve block if you can (these are available second hand.)
Not sure I understand what you are saying. There are four hydraulic cylind ers so one needs four valves. Are you saying use two two lever valve block s instead of a 4 valve block?
I was thinking about a 3 valve block for the three cylinders used in diggin g and a 1 valve block for the boom swivel. So the one valve block could be mounted so it is actuated left and right rather than forward and aft. Eve n better might be a swivel valve that is operated by one's feet. Have no t got my head around how to do that.
Dan
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