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I have a Woods 650 mounted on a John Deere 750 compact diesel. I have had it for several years, and I have used it HARD! I live in Maine, and the digging can get pretty rugged, with pin gravel, rocks, shale and blue clay. I've dug in ground so hard I've had to chain the tractor to an immovable object to keep the hoe from dragging the tractor around. I have never used a 'real' backhoe, so I have nothing to compare it to. I suspect this is where the 'chicken scratching' comparison comes in. Mine has done everything I've ever asked it too, albeit slowly at times. Like anything, there are trade-offs. On the plus side, it's compact, and can get in and out of tight spaces, and does not tear up the lawn. Tree huggers love that. I can transport it behind a regular pickup truck on a 14' trailer. I can put it on or take it off in less than 10 minutes. It has plenty of power for it's size. It does not tie up a tractor. The hydraulics are reasonably fast. On the minus side, I can only dig to a maximum of 6 and a half feet deep. If you're running a trench, 4' is a more realistic depth. The whole rig only weighs about 3000 pounds, so it won't punch through frost, it'll just jerk the tractor around. If you're digging a deep or wide trench, the limited reach of the boom means you'll soon bury yourself in spoil. You have to get off the hoe seat and climb onto the tractor seat to move the rig, and that happens about every 3' of running trench if you're digging to a depth of 4', which is common for water lines. On the other hand, a full size backhoe or trackhoe (rented one of them once, what an incredible machine!) will set you back $50,000+. I paid $4500 for my 3 point new. If I were digging for a living 40 hours a week, it'd get old REAL fast. But for 10 or 12 1 or 2 day jobs a year, and a few hundred 10 minute jobs around the ranch, you can't beat it, in my opinion.
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