Any backhoes to stay away from?

thartiga

Member
Been looking at used backhoes for the farm. Any particular model to stay away from? Seems to be mostly older fords, cases, and deeres.

Tim
 
I've got one of each (of brands you mentioned)
plus a few others. Deere 300B, Ford 4000
Industrial and a Case 580CK. Also an IH 3414 and
a Pettibone-Multihoe LDA.

The Deere 300B is by far the nicest to operate and
drive. Also uses the most proprietary parts,
although I've never had any trouble getting any.
It is a little "Cadillac" compared to the rest.

The Case 580CK is very rugged but I hate the
torque-converter drive, and never liked the foot-
pedal swing on the hoe.

The Ford 4000 Industrial is crude but rugged hoe.
Mine has the Sherman over-and-under aux.
transmission. If it did NOT have that, I would
like it a lot less.

The Pettibone is a big ugly monster but uses more
generic truck parts then any of the others. Has
a torque converter drive with a power-shift trans,
Detroit Diesel 3-53 engine, and air-over-hydraulic
truck brakes.

The IH 3414 is basically a beefed up British farm
tractor. Very rugged, crude gear-reverser, odd-
ball two-pump hydraulics with a rack-and-pinion
hoe swing. Parts are mostly British and not
always easy to find in the US.
 
I guess I didn't really answer your question. I
would stay away from any hoe that uses a unitized
barrel swing cylinder (found in several AC, Deere,
MF backhoes and maybe a few others).
 
JCB, that's the one I would stay away from. Hard to get parts for the older ones and you don't find dealers in a lot of areas. I got mine because it was a great deal. Easy to operate and runs well "engine is getting a little tired" but it still work well.

Rick
 
How old are you talking about? 1950's? 60's? 70's? 80's?
4500 and 555 Fords are very good.
580 Cases are everywhere cheap. A 580C or up would be a good choice.
410 Deere is good.
Check on parts support before you buy.
 

The models don't seem to always have the year included. I'm guessing most are from the 70's. 580 cases, 300 or 400 series Deere. The ford models seem to be all over the map.

Less than 10k in good shape seems to be hard to find.

Tim
 
(quoted from post at 06:02:47 09/22/13)
The models don't seem to always have the year included. I'm guessing most are from the 70's. 580 cases, 300 or 400 series Deere. The ford models seem to be all over the map.

Less than 10k in good shape seems to be hard to find.

Tim

The less than 10K is going to get you a much older TLB that is apt to be in poorer condition :( . Lot of folks with them know that they will be getting rid of it long before they do so they start scrimping on maintenance or they get rid of it while it's still running, just running :x . Looks like the Exxon Valdes :shock: ! Gotta call the EPA before starting :? . What may seem like a deal may be a problem in the long run.

Rick
 
I had 2 old cases a straight CK and a B . The CK was the best all around , it had a gas engine with a shuttle shift easy to operate and a good digger. The B was diesel but had a weak torque and had to be broken in half to fix it. So look for a C OR newer or an old CK .
 
only difference between a "CK" and a "B" series is the backhoe and tinwork, also a "CK" ad a oil bath air cleaner and the "B" has a dry type both could be had with a shuttle shift or a power shuttle as well as your choice of a gas or dsl engine
cnt
 
(quoted from post at 13:02:47 09/22/13)
The models don't seem to always have the year included. I'm guessing most are from the 70's. 580 cases, 300 or 400 series Deere. The ford models seem to be all over the map.

Less than 10k in good shape seems to be hard to find.

Tim
If you're patient you can find a good hoe for under 10K. I was in the market 2 (or was it 3) years ago.
In a 2 or 3 month period I found 3 good hoes under 10K within 25 miles of my home. One was a Ford 555 about 1980 vintage. It was a diesel, gear trans,cab with heat, standard hoe, good tires. Don't recall the hours. Overall good condition. It was advertised at $8900 and sold quickly.
The second was a 1978ish Case 580C, diesel, shuttle,open ROPS, std hoe. 4500 or so hours. This machine had a very easy life. It was used for loading fertilizer into trucks. The rear tires were pretty worn. Otherwise it was in excellent condition. It sold at auction for $8100.
The one I ended up buying was a 1980 Ford 555, diesel, shuttle,3600 hours, cab with heat, extendable hoe, new rear tires, and a set of forks. Very good condition. I paid $7400.
 
There was a Case model that had trans. problems.
Can't remember which model though. I think 580B or C
but not sure which. Before you buy anything, you
should post it on here. Lot's of models to probably
stay away from but impossible to remember all of
them off the top of your head. There were some very
good machines in the day but are almost impossible
to find parts for today.
 
not sure what you are talking about I sold hundreds of 580CK/580B and 580C units all were very good machines yes the power shuttle could be torn up out here in the oilfield they could tear up a anvil with a rubber hammer LOL you may be referring to ease of service? the 580CK and 580B tractors need to be split the repair the shuttle the "C" and later were "component" built and each part can be removed separately and are easier/better in that way
cnt
 
I just bought a 1968 MF 3165 basically a beefier 165 to handle the hoe and loader, it has a perkins 203 diesel(4500 hours), shuttle shift overall in good shape...paid 3500...It does have the barrel type swing cylinder mechanism and works fine, parts may be hard to find for it if it goes
 
forgot to add photo
TMPa129642_sml.jpg
 
nice find bugaloo.

My hoe is a 3165 those little 203 perkins sip fuel. mines kind of rough now but ive had for 20 years
 
we sold 580CK's/580B's and 580C's and always several 680/680B/680C each year and the last which was my fav was a 680E loved those "E"'s never sold a 480 of any kind as the 580 was always the perfect oilfield hoe around here 350/450 crawlers and W-14 loaders and of course we sold quite a few Uni-Loaders as well my fav in them was the 1740 I know the 1845 has Hydro's and took less maintenance but those 1740's were so well balanced and had the power I really liked sorry for the ramble
cnt
 

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