I'll agree with the others, good advice. My 850 Ford had one on it, I never saw it on, but I still have the mount besides the 3 pt hitch. The loader on this tractor is a 4 cylinder wagner, seperate pump and suprisingly strong, but the back end of the loader frame is combined with the backhoe mount, and at the flange connection and the first foot of frame towards the front, is where the frame was cracked and stressed, I repaired it until the day comes I pull the loader and really do a first class job of cutting out the bad sections and replace with new material, although the repair has held for years under my usage. You could tell either the previous operators/owners were hard on the tractor or the hoe was tough on it, I think the operators were not easy on it. Depending on the work you want to do, there is a limitation and the fact you need to take er easy, rocks, stumps, hard soil will take it's toll. As far as your model, you may want to do some research and see if any information turns up from the MFR. for a hoe attachment, if the rear housing is brittle as mentioned, and or the tractor itself is questionable to mount one on along the lines of what was mentioned, it's your call, but it does not sound good to me. This old ford rear and trans case seems stout enough to handle one, and many were fitted with them, even though they were just ag tractors not industrial ones, many still around. You do want to be careful with the mounting arrangment. Now on the flip side, it's a handy thing to have, and up to it's limitations, you could get a lot of work done with one, I've considered one for myself on a late model challenger tractor and or my old ford, but know it certainly is not the same as a backhoe. You'll see older backhoes available, just might have to wait until one in the right condition for the money you want to invest turns up.
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