Backhoe loader drive system into their backhoe loaders, allowing these models to go over almost any terrain with little difficulty. Since the backhoe was invented, several companies such as Caterpillar and John Deere have changed the backhoe's back arm to be slightly curved like that of an excavator, which can allow more maneuverability. Backhoe loaders are very common and can be used for a wide variety of tasks: construction, small demolitions, light transportation of building materials, powering building equipment, digging holes/excavation, landscaping, breaking asphalt, and paving roads. Often, the backhoe bucket can also be replaced with powered attachments such as a breaker,
Backhoe filed a patent #3,249,244 for the first extendible boom. Patent #3,273,729 was filed in January 1965 by Vaino J. Holopainen for the first hydraulic thumb. Although Wain-Roy Corporation no longer exists, the Wain Roy product line of backhoe attachments and couplers is still available through the Woods Equipment Company of Rockford, Illinois, US. Because of the long-time predominance of the JCB marque in the United Kingdom and Ireland, it has become a genericized trademark there, and backhoe-equipped diggers are commonly called JCBs, while the term "backhoe" as an excavator component is almost unknown to the general public in this context.