YouTube Was Right About My Harbor Freight Backhoe!

I have absolutely zero use for one of these. So, how do I convince my wife that I need one? lol

May not be faster but 2 grand and you own it. Win win.

The beauty of the situation is that you came in without unreasonable expectations and the patience to let the machine show you what it is capable of. Win win all around.

I've had mine for about 6 years now. I've dug water lines, removed overgrown fence rows and tree stumps. I did break a tooth off while trying to leverage out a stump. Do yourself a favor and replace those Bent Pins that go to the outriggers and axels. They tend to wallow out the holes from the motion. I went to our local Tractor Supply and got swivel handle hitch pins with a definite shoulder that sit level above the holes. I also got tired of getting stabbed and snagged on the ends of all the cotter pins and replaced all those with linchpins. A grease gun is your friend too. Great work!

Common sense says it's not as good as a full-size backhoe or excavator, but it's better than doing it by hand with a shovel

It beats the hell out of a pick/shovel and wheelbarrel !!!

Impressed you read the owner's manual and followed the suggested break-in. 👍

Beats using a shovel!!

I love mine. I have had comments about it's speed but my reply is always "It is mine, and it is a lot better than a shovel" lol

one thing to know about the first oil change is that its not going to look used but it might have some metal shaving from the manufacturer.

I recently redid a septic field by hand, partly because I'm cheap and partly because I find manual labor cathartic (I don't do much of it in my day-to-day work). But no question, if I had to do it again I would be using one of those! For the price, it doesn't seem like there's a valid criticism to be made.

It's always faster than a pick, shovel and a wheelbarrow

I have owned one of these for about 4 years. I have done an INSANE amount of work on it. I have replaced so much stuff on it. It’s still running. I’m still digging on my 5+ acre property. Still taking down trees, digging up roots, moving stuff. It’s actually incredible the amount of work this thing has done. Only down said is that its a little slow and maneuvering is not the easiest either. But like you said there are some places where it works even better than traditional excavator.

I think it has paid for itself already. We'll done.

That machine punches above its weight class for sure.

Why in the world would you be convinced that you shouldn't idle it up after you've changed out the break-in oil? My god it's a predator engine, rev the shit out of it. Unless you outright neglect those things it's gonna take whatever you can throw at it. Worst case scenario you're out 250 bucks for a brand new engine. The faster you turn that pump the faster and stronger it's gonna dig.

Harbor Freight has impressed me the last few years. There really are some tools with quality and value. I also like the changes you've made to your video production. You'e getting it down.

Great video Thank you for not adding music while you were talking or using the equipment

People need to understand the limitations of these kind of machines, and that the work will simply take longer. Faster/easier than digging by hand, but MUCH slower than a full size machine. People seem to think all machines are the same- I mean, they make different size machines for a reason LOL ALWAYS throttle up machines while working. Movements will be smoother, and work will take less effort. It grinds my gears when I watch people operating, and they didn't throttle up the machine...

I bought an old towable backhoe (a Badger, seems to be made by Honda but so old can't get a lot of info). I replaced the leaky Hydraulics/some old lines, put on Predator engine, replaced pump... and so so so worth having. I almost bought the HF one but covid hit and it went on backorder. I am certain I'd be happy with the HF, the overhauled old digger is heavier (can use bigger buckets on it) and overall with repairs cost a little more but these towable diggers work and for ditch digging (what I mainly use it for, have dug over 700 feet of ditches) it is great. Has saved me many thousands at this point.