backhoe

A piece of excavating equipment, either an integral subassembly or an attachment, consisting of a digging bucket or scoop on the end of an articulated arm, drawn backwards to move earth; used in excavator/digger and backhoe tractors.

Ellipsis of backhoe tractor: A specialized tractor with the backhoe subassembly. This type of tractor has been superceded by the backhoe loader and trackhoe in most roles.

Ellipsis of backhoe loader: A multi-purpose tractor with a front-mounted loading bucket and a rear-mounted digging bucket. The tractor combines a front-end loader/loader (component) and an excavator/digger (component).

Meronym: front-end loader

The backhoe is only one type of heavy equipment for rent.[…]I heard about a couple of tool-rental outfits near Chicago that were doing a brisk business renting backhoes and other heavy equipment to homeowners

To excavate using such equipment.