On Sun, 15 Oct 2017 17:00:23 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:


You are probably right. My thought was that swinging the boom does not take as much power as digging with the bucket or lifting the dirt. So ought to be able to use a smaller diameter cylinder or use foot power. But using foot power might leave too much work in using the backhoe. I think all the mini backhoes use the same size cylinder for everything. And the swing speed is going to be different depending on which way you are swinging. The rod means the piston goes different speeds depending on if it is extending or retracting.

That's why virtually ALL real backhoes use 2 cyls for the swing.

When I was back in Washington my neighbor had a backhoe which I used on a couple of occasions. If I build a mini it will not be near as cool, but will beat the shovel I have been using.

Dan