Hi friends. I am from Trivandrum, Kerala, working in ISRO. This is a video of my homemade backhoe/excavator project. An old Daewoo matiz car was converted to the backhoe. I have used double acting hydraulic cylinders with 63mm bore diameter & 36mm rod diameter. Hydraulic gear pump is used for generating hydraulic pressure. Gear pump maximum pressure is 160 bar and flowrate is 23 lpm at 1440 rpm. Gear pump is driven by the engine through chain sprocket. The pressurized oil flow is diverted to cylinders using directional control valves, Walvoil make, 40 lpm & 315 bar capacity. The valve is of parallel circuit, open centre type. All framework of arm and boom are made with structural steel 100mm x 50mm x 3.2mm thick. Grease nipples are given at all moving joints for lubrication. The bucket tearout force is 2 tonnes. Piston force is around 6 tonnes at 160 bar. I have used 150 micron suction strainer and 25 micron return line filter. This project has turned out to be much better than I initially thought. The enormous power of the backhoe simply amazes me. You can watch all these in the video. Please do like and share video. This gives me motivation to make more of such interesting projects and share with you… Thank you..
Thank you.
That is absolutely brilliant; I'm very impressed indeed; well done and full credit to you. What kind of welder did you use and how did you cut the metal. If only more would do such projects instead of kicking a ball around.
Thank you sir for those supporting words. I am using an IBELL make 250Amps stick welder with Arc force and Hot start control. For cutting metal, I am using a chop saw and an angle grinder (820W black & decker make) . I have attached the photos herewith.
iBELL Heavy Duty Inverter ARC Welding Machine (IGBT) 250A with Hot Start, Anti-Stick Functions, Arc Force Control - 2 Year Warranty: Amazon.in: Industrial & Scientific
Many thanks for posting the pictures and for the information. I'm always very interested in unusual engineering projects. What you've shown is that it doesn't take lots of expensive kit to create something so useful; I'm sure you're delighted with the backhoe and will be putting it to good use. Have you considered adding stabilizers to save wear and tear on the cars suspension?
Your welder and chop saw look new; have you just started doing such work and if so you've done a brilliant job.
Indeed sir, I am very thrilled in using my homemade backhoe. Right from my childhood days, I was so fascinated by seeing the backhoes at work, with their display of sheer strength. I always wanted to make a powerful backhoe, when I grow up. Now that became a reality I am planning to make use of the backhoe by doing some farming and cultivating vegetables, sir. Also I am planning to dig a fish pond as well. Will share with you the photos once I complete these.
I have almost completed making stabilizers for the backhoe sir. Now I keep blocks underneath, to stabilize the backhoe. But I know sir, it is not a proper way and is very inconvenient. Will share with you the pictures of the stabilizer, once I weld them to the backhoe.
As you have rightly observed, I have just started doing such work. This was my first major project, sir. Now, my next project is related to harnessing renewable energy. I am planning to make a wind turbine with around 18 feet diameter and generate electricity to power my home.
My underlying objective is to motivate youngsters and children and instill in them the interest towards science.
Thank you once again sir, for your support and kind words.
Please call me Colin; I too have always been fascinated by big machinery from my childhood so we have a lot in common. What you've accomplished is even more impressive it being your first major project and I look forward to seeing your future projects which sound very interesting indeed. Your wind turbine project once completed will have been worth the time and effort; good luck with it.
Out of interest I had a look at how much your Chop Saw cost converting to our UK currency; it would be similar price here but in India is it considered expensive and it only comes with a 6 month guarantee whereas here such items come with at least 12 months guarantee many even having 36 months guarantee. It looks like a very useful machine taking up little space.
This is my metal cutting bandsaw but it takes up quite a bit of workshop space. It's single phase 240V.
I have both 4" and 9" angle grinders and my arc welder is a Pickhill Bantam 180A single or 3 phase industrial oil cooled but unlike your welder I can't lift the Bantam it's so heavy.
Materials tend to cost a lot of money here in the UK with all the tax added; even softwood is quite expensive but hardwood is so highly priced only few can afford to buy it in a home workshop. Is timber expensive in India?
As a child most fathers used to be good at DIY repairing and making items from scratch mostly out of necessity the fathers working full time with wives home looking after children but these days it's all changed; I like to encourage others to have a go at repairing or making things but few seem at all interested; sport here is regarded very highly but our industry has been in decline for years; the international company I worked for making electric motors from 7 factories has all but closed down; the headquarters I worked at now employs very few staff; the motors are now made in India (Brook Motors) and shipped here to be sold in the UK. There are lots of reasons this has happened but its very sad indeed.
Over the years my wife and I have had many visitors to our home; when they see what we've done they usually say things like; you've got the skills; you've got the tools; you've got the workshop; what they never say is they can't be bothered to help themselves.
I like the way you are going about making your life better through thought and hard work; if only everyone did the same the world would be a much better place; keep up your good work and keep posting.
Hi Colin, timber is also very costly here in India. So people generally tend to work with metal for their projects. Thanks indeed for your nice and encouraging comments. Will definitely keep you posted about my future projects.
The other Colin (Retired) indicated that I should look at your work. What a brilliant piece of work, and so simple to fabricate too. One thought is that so many people in our world cannot afford full size backhoes and your design could be built by local small engineering workshops or those who are gifted with their hands like you.
Maybe you could draw up a set of plans and a parts list? Your own state of Kerala would welcome such a valuable addition to farming. I know my area in the UK would too.
Congratulations for your imagination and professional standard work.
Thank you Mr. Camallison for those encouraging words. The whole project cost me only 70,000 Indian Rupees, which is equivalent to 866 pound stirling approx. in UK currency, which I feel is quite economical.
I will surely consider making a set of plan and part list and a step by step guide of how I transformed the old matiz car to a useful backhoe.
Thank you once again for showing interest in such innovative projects. I have never come accross anybody attemping to convert an old car to a useful backhoe. That is why i thought it could be a good idea because we get a lot of old cars at very cheap prices. Thus the whole project can be completed with very minimal cost. All your motivating gestures including Mr. Colin's, encourages me to attempt and make similar interesting and innovative projects on future.
Thanks for the update on timber prices in India Ben. The reason I asked is timber supplies vary considerably around the world; it's expensive here but most things are which depresses the DIY market but my wife and I watch lots of YouTube videos showing woodworking and we're amazed by the huge sizes of timber being used in Vietnam; here's a sample video;
These guys are at the top of their trade producing absolutely wonderful results often using power and hand tools found in my home workshops; please note the sizes of timber being used; other such video's show extremely wide heavy boards; I'd like to know how their timber supply and costs work; just the single table in the video would mean a mortgage for us to buy the timber here in the UK but I doubt such sizes of timber are as readily available.
You say metal is more reasonably priced so you can use metal; here once again metal is expensive but by shopping around it's possible for a home workshop to obtain metal at around quarter of the price than buying from a model engineering supplier;
I was amazed when I first bought metal from K Steels who have a local branch nearby; there's a £25 minimum order but as I get four times as much for my money this isn't a problem so I stocked up with box and angle sections; ordering online I request the metal be cut into 4' lengths allowing me to pop over to collect it in the car.
I use Brundel's for long lengths having the order delivered to my door.
My cheapest supplier of steel is our local big scrap yard but it's a case of driving over to the top of the world on the moors and getting lucky hoping they have what I can use it being used steel; I've bought very heavy box and channel section steel from the scrap yard but then have to somehow get it home because the scrap yard doesn't deliver.
I like to visit Schofield's when the weather is dry and warm because the site is very exposed on the moors; I always take along lots of safety kit; Hi-Vis jacket; helmet; steel toe capped shoes and rigger gloves etc; I ask for permission to look around and always enjoy my visits there; anything I buy there is bought purely by weight alone; it's placed on the scales and weighed then I pop to the office with the note and pay cash over the counter; there are few scrap yards left these days.
We live on a very steep valley side Ben so couldn't use your excellent backhoe even if it was available so I do heavy jobs the hard way working on my own; I'm taught as an engineer how to move heavy objects but it's always hard work in our gardens where the main problem is to stand upright. Above is just one of the stumps I've removed this year. Here I needed 24 tons of hydraulic jack pressure to break this stump clear; it had grown embedded in a stone ledge. It took a week of intense work to get this stump out.
Here I'm dragging the same stump across the slope in fear of it rolling down the valley; I used a 2,500Lb winch to drag it with; it's still in the garden because it's too heavy to move further and with all the embedded stone I'm worried about using the petrol chainsaw; your backhoe would be a dream to use in this situation.
You are so right Ben; we all need to encourage others to have a go at doing something useful whilst learning new skills.
I'd like to echo my friend Colin's thoughts; your idea of using an old car like this is brilliant.
It's rather confusing having two Colin's posting so how about adding the surname initial to distinguish which Colin is posting my surname is Wood so in Future I'll sign as Colin W?
Greetings of the day to both colins!!!
Good to know that you are all putting technology and engineering to use to make our life simpler..
Like I have mentioned, I have started working on the wind turbine project. Today being Saturday, was a holiday for me and I got time for initiating the project. The first step was making wind turbine blades. I chose to make twisted blade to reduce drag. I am planning to make 8 foot long blades, out of GI sheet metal. I am planning to make a frame with Mild steel strips and the sheet metal will be bolted to the frame, which will give the twisted blade profile.
On completion It will be fairly large wind turbine with around 18 feet diameter. I feel harnessing renewable energy sources is the need of the hour. I hope this will turn out to be a success.
Meanwhile sharing some pictures of me making the wind turbine blade.
An excellent project, generating your own power, or pumping water from a borehole. Farmers in the mid-west of the USA erected similar wind turbines in the 1920s, although most bought ready made ones. The other Colin (W) lives on a hillside where they get lots of windy weather and maybe your project will give him some ideas.
This is a big ambitious project for you Ben and I wish you the very best of luck with it. I'm unfamiliar with wind turbine technology so can't do anything other than to watch your work in progress. Years ago I was told the really big wind turbine blades had to be governed regarding their speed because it was possible the blade tips could break the sound barrier? I can see the attraction for you Ben.
Thanks Colin; yes we living here on the steep valley side do indeed get plenty of wind as well as rain but it's so convenient just to throw a switch on the National Grid supply than go to the time and trouble taking on a project like a wind turbine; the same applies with heat exchangers; we've already spent the last 33 years getting our bungalow up to an high standard now we want some long awaited retirement doing what we'd like to do with our respective hobbies; next month I'll have been retired 20 years and during the 20 years its been hard graft with no holidays. Thanks for the plug though Colin; I've already got plans for winter like doing more woodturning and just enjoying pottering around in the workshop with all my toys.
A big hi to both Colin A. & Colin W.!!!..Hope you are doing great.
Meanwhile I managed to make a video of myself making the backhoe. I only had with me some pictures that I clicked while making the backhoe, with which I now made a making video of my homemade backhoe. Hope you all like it.
Thanks for the update on timber prices in India Ben. The reason I asked is timber supplies vary considerably around the world; it's expensive here but most things are which depresses the DIY market
but my wife and I watch lots of YouTube videos showing woodworking and we're amazed by the huge sizes of timber being used in Vietnam; here's a sample video;
I'd like to know how their timber supply and costs work; just the single table in the video would mean a mortgage for us to buy the timber here in the UK
We don't have trees that size here, leastways not any you'd be allowed to cut down....
There's a lovely C17 house near me http://www.swakeleys.org/ which until it fell into the hands of the current owners used to open a couple of times a year for tours, and I went on one. The ballroom had an oak floor, (possibly C18) with very long boards a good 12-18" wide, and apparently, at the time, you were only allowed to use planks that size on the understanding that if the Admiralty needed them to build a ship they could demand that you handed them over.
Years ago I was told the really big wind turbine blades had to be governed regarding their speed because it was possible the blade tips could break the sound barrier?
Obviously the longer the blades the fewer rpm needed for a given tip speed, but a diameter of ~109m gives a circumference of ~343m, so you'd need it to be spinning at over 60rpm.
Whilst that might be theoretically achievable in a strong wind, and thus would indeed require the speed to be limited, I feel that it's far more likely that the speed has to be limited because accelerative forces in the blades would become a critical concern before the tips approached Mach 1.
Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?
You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.
I am planning to make use of the backhoe by doing some farming and cultivating vegetables, sir. Also I am planning to dig a fish pond as well. Will share with you the photos once I complete these.
