A Wicked Toy
...or an essential piece of Rural
Equipment???
Isn't it just pure perfection... If it had a suitable orifice I would have my
way with her...
Spare me the "Older the boys, the bigger the toys" line,
every guy that has a pulse and changes his own oil, either wants one of
these, or wants to have a bigger one...
It only took 15 or 16 years of nursing the wife along and commenting on every
single hoe we'd drive past without exception.
Oh there were dirty hoe's, greasy & oily hoe's and even some hoe's that
were abused, pounded hard with little to no lubrication and essentially loose
hoe's that showed their years.
The Hoe is a 3pt hitch attachment that is perfectly suited for my trusty
IH504 tractor.
The IH 3802B back-hoe has a reach of approx 8ft. At first it looks like a behemoth
on the little tractor, but in reality it is one of the smaller hoe attachments
on the market.
I kept an eye on the exact same hoe for over a year at a tractor dealership,
even called about it twice. The third time I called (when I was serious about
buying it) it was gone...
As luck would have it, the salesman was on the ball, and having had marked my
name down, called just before Christmas.
He was trying to swing a deal on a trade for the hoe and a tractor, the
tractor he knew he could move, but after sitting on the last hoe for a year
wanted to see if he could have it sold before committing to the trade-in.
As much as I hate debt, this was worth the visit to the bank...
I have 3 projects over the next 2 years I'd have to hire a hoe in to do that
would have totaled the purchase price of this unit.
Actually now that I finally have my own, I'm sure the job list will just keep
growing.
We've had a fairly cool January running down to -20 to -35C for days and
nights on end, so the ground is frozen solid.
I checked out all the hydraulics, and was happy to see that a number of lines
were replaced. The stabilizer cylinders also had their seals repacked and
there's lots of lift on all axis of movement.
So it's all stretched out to rest-up for the spring...
When you sit at the controls 6ft above the ground you feel like the King of
the World!!! Mind you I haven't had a chance to bust it yet or to fall out of
the seat, or skin my shins climbing in or out of the seat.
All the good times yet to come...