My husband buys ham hocks in his Pennsylvania hometown, to make his ham and bean soup (he doesn’t like the ones he gets here in Maryland supermarkets, they’re too puny).
It’s always very good; but I’m not crazy about potatoes in the soup - I think it would be better with the potatoes left out, and more carrots - and you can use potato flakes to thicken things up...
I don’t ever use potatoes in ham and bean soup. We also like just plain ham and beans - navy or great northern with a big slice of cornbread and butter, and a slice of onion.