New to the forum with a (new to me) Ford 4500

Hi all been following on the outskirts for a while. And it seems this is the place for me to be. Just bought a Ford 4500 & seeking advise. Bought it from Craig's list, asking price delivered (Hudson Valley NY) the gas one in Accord. Has 2835 hours on it & I have not seen it however spoke with the seller at length & I feel comfortable with him. Says it is very tight & as far as he can tell the hours are correct. No Leaks any where and very strong hydrolucs & he just changed all the backhoe hoses put a new rear tire on & a new battery. The cab is beat up but I think that is par for a 45 year old Machine. Going to be delivered this week. He has been using it but before I do I would like to do a front to back service. Question is I have never had a Backhoe before & really don't know where to start. I am guessing the fluids & filters would be first but really could use any advise you might have.
Thanks In Advance
Danny :p
 
Let me just clarify. When I said I just bought a Ford 4500, what I should have said was that although I have not seen it in person the seller wants me to look at it and run it before I pay him. If I don,t like it or the way it runs I do not have to buy it which I thought was more then fair. So I guess what I should have ask is what should I be looking for when I go to see and operate it. Like I said it is a 4 speed shuttle shift gas machine.

Thanks
Danny
 
I would ask him to not run it before you get there so you can see how easily (or not) the engine starts when cold. Also check the forward/reverse shuttle (sounds like the 4x4 torque converter power reversing transmission) both when it first starts cold and later after it warms up to make sure that it works well without any considerable delays switching in either direction hot or cold. Check the loader arms and backhoe boom and dipper for any repair welds. A few small welds would be acceptable because that was an early model and the Ford engineers designed it with a bit more power than the metal could handle, but lots of, or very large, repair welds indicate that it may have been abused at some point, not necessarily by the current owner (unless you can tell that the welds are fresh). A few small cracks that haven't ever been welded would be acceptable as well, but take the cost of having them welded into account when deciding on a final price if you don't do your own welding.
 
The clutches are about the only weak point on those transmissions (great for loader work). If they feel like they grip good enough to push into a pile of dirt they probably are OK. There is a fill hole on top where you can look in and see if the fluid is milky (water gets in through the shift boot if left outside). A new filter can work wonders. Loader and hoe frame may have cracks or patches in them because they have killer digging power; too strong for the frame. The main hydraulic filter setup stinks. When the fluid is cold it has a tendency to bypass the filter and clog the lower screen requiring removal to clean it. There is a fix for that.
 
The issue is that when the fluid is cold and thick it wants to bypass the filter (which is spring loaded). The worst part is that the
bypass "door", port or whatever you want to call it, is right in line with the return hose fitting/port so debris is aimed right at
the filter bypass. I riveted a deflector to the top of the filter bracket to reflect the fluid to the side of the filter and
tightened the relief spring by (IIRC) making a new spring stop hole in the filter hold down bolt.
 

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