Home-Built Backhoe Tows Behind ATV

Home-Built Backhoe Tows Behind ATV ATV'S ATV'S 32-5-27 When Thomas Gerrier wanted to dig a foundation for his house, he had to get creative to get the job done. "We couldn't get in with a big machine, so I priced a commercial backhoe attachment and then decided to build my own," he says. "I used mostly scrap metal so the material cost worked out to less than $500." The backhoe rides on a pair of 12-in. wheels and tows behind Gerrier's ATV. Power is supplied by a 5 hp Honda gas engine with an 11 gpm pump. The backhoe operates off four stacked valves powered by the pump. A metal implement seat mounts on the unit for the operator. The 12-in. wide bucket can reach 4 1/2 ft. down and out 10 ft. The boom was built out of 4 by 6-in. tubing. The bucket is built from 3/16-in. plate reinforced with 1/2-in. thick plate. The unit operates with four hydraulic cylinders - one to raise and lower the boom, one to extend the boom, one to tilt the bucket, and one to rotate the operator's platform. It's equipped with a pair of outriggers. "Commercial backhoes for 4-wheelers are available, but they're not very big or rugged. The hardest part was in the engineering design. I had to make wood templates to get the correct angles and cylinder strokes for the backhoe and loader. "I use my Honda 400 4-wheeler to pull it. I found that picking up big 400 to 500-lb. rocks caused the ATV's back end to raise up, so I mounted a 30-gal. plastic barrel filled with water on back of the ATV as a counterweight. "I got a lot of the components from my neighbors, including the axle and wheels. The axle had a broken spindle so I bought a new one for $75. I paid $350 for the four valve banks." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Thomas J. Gerrier, Box 90, W. Farmington, Maine 04992 (ph 207 778-4344).

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