Bryan Furnace (00:00):
Today we’re here to talk about Caterpillar’s new 420 XE backhoe. And I have to say that when it comes to backhoes, I will be very simple and honest. i hate them I hate backhoes. I spent an entire year in a backhoe bouncing up and down a job site, and I was totally used to backhoes, so I never wanted to set foot in a backhoe again.
(00:28):
And then I got to the 420 XE. Now it’s still a backhoe, so if you’re thinking that backhoes have changed to the point where they’re not backhoes, I hate to inform you that it’s still a backhoe. Which means you still have a pretty bouncy ride on the road and still have many of the same large footprint issues you have with a traditional backhoe.
(00:45):
But I will say this, ride comfort has improved significantly. And I will also say that the XE comes with some awesome new features. So let’s get into it.
(01:00):
If you get into the 420 XE and have some experience in a 420 E, 420 F, anything in that line, you’ll be pretty well versed in cabin design. They haven’t changed much. Most of your buttons are generally in the same place. Most of your features are very much on par with what they were on the old machines. Now you have a touch screen here to your right instead of the old standard style screen that doesn’t really give you that much information so it’s very useful.
(01:26):
Another thing that unlocks the screen, along with the EH controls for the pilot controls, you can finally adjust the sensitivity and response time on a backhoe. And that’s great. I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for this because there are so many times when I want to rev up the machine to hoard, but when I’m going through utilities and I want to do light work, I want to be able to slow down the machine and I don’t want to have of doing it with the throttle and I don’t want to do it delicately with my controls. I want more delicacy. And with the 420 XE, you finally have that option available.
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Now we’ll get into the actual seat because that’s where the whole redesign happened. This is where the interesting stuff lies. The first thing you’ll notice is that there are no controls on the back. You only have two joysticks and they are integrated directly into your armrest. When you are facing forward using the machine in its forward forward configuration, you will notice that the left joystick is completely dead and the right joystick is the boom and bucket controls for the front bucket. Now when we turn our seat, you push a button and now all of a sudden, like a traditional backhoe, you can use them for rear controls and that’s really cool.
(02:33):
Okay Bryan, really? Did they rename it XE because they moved the joysticks to the armrests? Hang on guys, it’s getting cooler. The cool thing is that if I press a button on the left joystick when I’m in the front setting, I can now operate the rear.
(02:49):
Let’s just say the rear fence was much closer, which worries me about my rear implement. Instead of having to reach behind me and do all that, I just hold the button here and I can swing my boom to the side. So there is none.
(03:04):
That’s okay. I can actually move the swing tower and I can actually use my boom and stick to this machine while I’m facing forward. Now, he won’t let you dig. You don’t get that kind of functionality, but as most of us who have driven backhoes before know, every once in a while you’re doing level work and suddenly you’re up against a fence or building behind you. and you just have to spin that boom.
(03:32):
What really does it for me is the fact that you can now turn the seat 90 degrees if you want, and you can tilt that baby back and you can operate from that position.
(05:10):
One of my biggest beefs with backhoes is this side image right here. You can’t see the boom. You are constantly looking from side to side to see anything that is going on. Well, the great thing about the XE with the controls built into the seat is that we go to unlock and immediately my controls go off like any other backhoe. But the cool thing is when I get comfortable, and you know what, we support each other, because we really want to be comfortable, but more importantly, I want to be able to see my boom. So we get comfortable and then I hit my dual control button and guess what? My backhoe controls are live. And I can dig in this position, looking next to my boom. And, let’s face it, it’s nowhere near an excavator in visibility, but it’s a lot better than in a traditional backhoe setup. This gives you great flexibility in just your direct dig application.
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And Caterpillar has made it smart, I’ll give them full credit, they’ve allowed you to use these controls intelligently even while the seat isn’t locked in its rearmost position. And this has really given us great advantages for the view. Now I do have to put the warning. This only works in one direction, right? Because our backhoe seat does not rotate 360 degrees. So unfortunately that means you can only do this when you scroll to the left side of the machine. But it’s very convenient if you have a truck where you’re setting up, where you’re digging in a ditch and dumping into a truck next to you or something like that, to be able to turn that seat and operate where you are. perfect view of both the hole and your dump? This is huge for backhoes.
(06:56):
Now, we’ve all been in this scenario because we’ve all used a backhoe, and we know that the most effective way to trench is to lift the front bucket and push forward with your back arm, then place the bottom. the bucket down. And what are we all doing as traditional operators? The handshake on floppy disk? Yes. Trying to find this control. Not more.
(07:16):
From this position, and with the dual control setup, I don’t even have to mess with anything up front. I’m going to press my button here, which puts me in the bottom mode. I’m going to lift my front bucket. My front bucket is now on the ground. Now I’m going to push forward, maybe, and now a double button again, I’ll put the bucket. All I do is release my double button and we dig back into the backhoe.
(07:43):
You don’t have to turn. You don’t have to do anything magical and you don’t have to move. It’s so convenient. We’ve finally reached a point where someone has done something better with a backhoe, because backhoes are, I mean, let’s face it, it’s old technology these days. Backhoes have been around forever. And so for someone to make an improvement that materially changes the way you use the machine is, in my opinion, a huge win.
(08:13):
Now, one of my small beefs with this machine is the trigger you have to pull for the other function to work isn’t as responsive as I’d like it to be. So I really had to mash that button and there were several times where I’d have it locked, I thought and I’d start to move and all of a sudden my finger would let go a little bit and it was enough to kick stand. it came out and my front movement started to move. So this happened with a fairly regular occurrence. Now, the one thing I will say is that this was Cat’s demo machine. I don’t know if this is from the factory, it’s not as sensitive, or if this one was just tested and stuck a little and maybe this button is starting to wear out. So don’t take me to that.
(08:55):
Now, Caterpillar has downsized the engine on this machine and I know it’s taking our breath away as operators. Why would you downgrade the engine? But I will say with confidence, this machine has phenomenal power. And the Cat has done very clever things with it. They have increased the size of the boom cylinder at the rear. So now you have other companies like John Deere and Case that have their power boost function, or power lift, or whatever fancy word you want to call it, where they would actually increase the pressure on the machine to give you a additional lift impulse. rear. Cat ended all of that and said, “No, we’ll just put a bigger cylinder on it.” And this thing has some power. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a Cat backhoe. You can lift the front of the machine with the rear arm. There’s a lot of power there.
(09:40):
And that translates to the front as well. I walked into multiple rock piles and instead of actually trying to lift and fill the bucket, I purposely buried that bucket and tried to lift half the pile just to see what I could get away with. And I wasn’t disappointed with the amount of production I was able to get out of it.
(09:58):
Now, unfortunately, this is kind of a short review because at the end of the day, a backhoe is a backhoe is a backhoe. We don’t have a bunch of crazy upgrades. As I said, if you jump into the seat of the XE, whether you’re coming from an E or F model, you’ll feel right at home in this one. So if you have new operators on the job, they should be fine working their way through all the new buttons.
(10:18 a.m.):
So it’s a backhoe, but I’m going to say check it out because the technological improvements that are coming to backhoes, they’re getting us somewhere. I don’t know if it will ever come to fruition, but some of the cool features, like the E fence we’re seeing on excavators, or the swing assist now that backhoes have gone totally EH, I don’t know. I don’t see why there couldn’t be a crossover. Which means backhoes could now have some very advanced technological features.
(10:43 a.m.):
That said, thanks for watching. I appreciate your time. Hope this helps your business. We’ll catch you on the next episode of The Dirt.
