Two Types of Equipment Buyers Drive Backhoe Design
Two very different kinds of backhoe-loader buyers dominate sales of full-sized machines (dig depths of 14 feet and larger), and their very different expectations may have polarized the hydraulic-system designs in this most popular of true earthmovers. The relatively small group of volume buyers from government agencies and large rental fleets are looking for a bombproof machine and tend to be price sensitive. Owner/operators and small-business buyers, while certainly motivated by value, are willing to pay a little extra for proven production-improving features.
In order to take market share in this relatively high-dollar, high-volume machine category, manufacturers must appeal to both groups. They’ve done so admirably with technologies that can be added to machines as standard equipment. For example, the most recent new backhoe designs (from Caterpillar equipment, New Holland and JCB) have replaced foot controls for extending sticks and auxiliary hydraulics with switches mounted on control levers. They employ finger and thumb dexterity to improve control and clear the floor for more comfortable footing.
Pilot hydraulic controls represent another kind of challenge to backhoe OEMs. These circuits are plumbed in between control levers and the valves on the backhoe’s main operating circuits. When move a joystick in the cab, it activates a pilot hydraulic circuit, which in turn moves a spool on the main-pressure valve. Pilot hydraulics require less lever effort to manipulate the backhoe.
Main pressures in backhoes have climbed to a point where lever effort can influence productivity. Eight of the 35 backhoe models 14-foot and larger have hydraulic-system pressures of 3,500 psi or higher. All eight are available with pilot hydraulic controls, mostly as an option.
Why not make pilot hydraulics standard equipment? One reason is operator preference. Backhoe-loaders have been controlled by levers linked to main valves since their invention, and lots of operators claim they can feel pressure spikes in the hydraulic system when a bucket hits a hard object, like a natural-gas line. Some say pilot hydraulics insulate the control levers to that feedback from the bucket.
Another reason for keeping pilot hydraulics optional is their cost. Nevertheless, most manufacturers (Cat, Deere, JCB, Komatsu, Terex and Volvo equipment) sell at least some of their machines with standard pilot-operated hydraulic controls.
“The inclusion of pilot controls has had the biggest impact on the industry in the last 24 months,” with John Deere. “Operator comfort becomes increasingly more important as businesses try to keep their best operators. With pilot controls, operators are less fatigued at the end of the day, and more productive as a result.”
