Advice on buying a backhoe

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Looking for an older backhoe to use on the farm. Would appreciate any advice on what models are good and which ones to stay away from. Thanks
 
You should ask on the crawler forum but give as much info as possible including how much you're looking to spend. Case and Ford are generally pretty good but there are some others worth considering.
 
There are lots of good old machines out there.Ford 3500/4500;JD 300:Case 580 are some of the most popular
 
I have a 3500 Ford that I paid $5,000 for and later put in a new hydraulic pump for a little over $900. Great farm machine and can accomplish a lot for its physical size and horsepower.
 
Used BH's are often abused and need to be looked over closely--most are not operated by the owner. My brother operated heavy construction equipment and helped me greatly. In addition to the engine condition, watch for welds, leaky cylinders, and stickly/leaking valves. I bought a smaller used Kubota BH, (L-35) which provides great flexibility on the farm.
 
Who is your closest dealer? Ford, JD, Case? If you can't get dealer support and parts, none of them are any good.
 
Case, John Deere, Cat, New Holland, Massey Ferguson, most all are good machines if they have been serviced and cared for just a little. Red flags ''minor leaks'' ''some slack in pins'' leaks are expensive and usually more extensive than they look, slop and slack in pins equals high hours, don't let anyone fool you, it takes a long time and a lot of operation to wear bucket pins much less stick and boom pins. If you are clearing land and digging stumps you will get three times as much work done in the same length of time with a trackhoe, many places a trackhoe will hold its value better as well. Two wheel drive rubber tire backhoes are for hard surface work, on the farm they are fair weather machines.
 
Case are the easiest to find used parts for as there seems to be more of them parted out. Ford is the hardest to find parts for as there are not near as many ever made. JD and Cat will be the higher priced ones.

You did not mention your price range. That makes a world of difference. If your looking for some thing in the $5000 range you are going to have to get a real old Ford or Case to find anything that cheap. If you can spend $15,000 then you have a lot more choices.

Also it makes a difference how often you are going to use it. I started out with a three point mounted Kelly. I did not think we would use one much but I soon found out we used it quite a bit after we had one. So I sold the three point one and found an older JD 410. I have had it 15 years or so. It is has MFWD and a cab. It had 2500 hours on it when I bought it. At that time there was a bunch of them around used I was able to buy it for $17,500. Just a few years after that the building trades took off and it would have cost $30,000.

So the general economy makes the value of them go up and down as building demand cycles.

I remember reading thirty years ago how they where hard to find because the used ones where getting shipped over the Kuwait after the first Gulf War.
 
david1
I had a case 530 for 30 years. Worked it fairly steady. replaced bushings and fixed leaks as needed.
I replaced the reversing gear 2 times. Camshaft gear broke and had that big mess repaired at dealer. Sold it about 7 years ago or so and bought a Cat 416. Parts are a killer. eg. plastic door latch is $100. I miss my old Case. Ed Will
 
The biggest problem with buying used backhoe is that if it was a construction used machine it is likely to be plain and simple wore out and abused. If you buy a 3 point type it is to light to do much.
That said you need to look one over real real good for loose pins and welds etc etc. Been around this stuff for years but then I also have sat on a good many of them also and spent many hours running them. A friend has a wore out Case 580B and another has a 580K both ok for farm stuff but both break down at times and guess who they call LOL
 
I bought a 4500 Ford about 9 years ago for 6 grand, replaced all hoses since, and a couple pins and bushings, so have about 7 in it. I wanted gear drive, to stay away from torque converter machines. They're fine for fast, easy moves, but I don't need that- it's not a production machine. Used 3pt run over 3 grand here, don't like the idea of tying up a tractor, and they are light. Much prefer a TLB. 580 Case has an excellent rep, would be my choice if I wanted to spend more.
 
JD what year is your hoe???? I have a JD 410 1977 very low hours--just use for my own use.

THE QUESTION Could a 1977 410 JD have 4x4
Would I be able to convert mine to 4x4????

Thankyou
 
I have a 555A Ford. Parts are just a call down to the New Holland dealer. Machine starts without any help awesome in the cold. Mine has a cab and a torque converter. I really wanted a torque converter, just makes life so much easier. I paid $9000 for it and put a new set of back tires on shortly after I got it home, it's clean and it was a friend of mine's so I'm not ashamed at what I'm into it. Just make sure if you look at case that you like 3 stick controls, I hate them and am used to wobble sticks.
 
I'm not sure where you get that notion Old. A machine is how a man makes his living. I knew a few fellas that abused their equipment, but the don't last long in business. Anyone who worked for me ALWAYS greased the complete machine and checked all the fluid levels before starting to work it, or went down the road. Every machine of mine was kept in top mechanical shape always. Those machines were how We made our living.
Grease is always cheaper than pins and bushings and oil is always cheaper than a spun bearing!!
 
Any of the major brands are good. Case 580, Deere 410-510, Cat or Ford. Don't buy one that just had a hyd pump replaced. Almost impossible to get the mess out of the system and will give you fits for a long time. Check all pins and bushings, boom, stick and bucket for cracks and leaky hyd cylinders.
 
back when i was running underground electric cables,(early 70s)we used case and fords. the case was a better machine in my opinion,as far as reliability goes,but as someone else said the operator is everything on these, and a really good operator can make all the difference in one thats wore way out. one thing to watch for , look at the boom from dead on, make sure its not bent off to the side. could be a warped or broken pivot mounting, or one that has been broken and not repaired correctly. it makes them harder to dig with if your actually digging a lot of deep ditch.you dont notice it so much if your not digging deep, but its something to look for.
 
Notion it is fact. You work for a company as an operator but that guy running the machine does not care if it runs or not so yep it ends up used and abused. Companies then sell them after so many years etc. Yes the get grease each and every day but they also get over worked. Seem many guy here lately mush be caught up with cabin fever as bad as it is getting here
 
Avoid ANY hoe that's spent time with a hoe ram on it. They'll trash a backhoe in short order.

I worked for years for a contractor that had dozens of back hoes. We had the best luck with Case. Cat has moved to #2 on the chart in recent years. Ford/New Holland hakes a decent hoe. Deere does OK.

Extend-a-hoe's are great for deep digging, but the extra weight makes 'em a little vague as far as steering control on slick surfaces. (even with front bucket full of dirt)

I spent a couple days last week on a newer CAT 416. Loved it. I own a Case 580 Super M. Nothing but high praise for it too.
 
Don't know what to recommend because don't know your price range. But I will tell you my story. I ended up with this 40 acres that had been let go for quite a few years and pilled all over with junk. Decided I needed a backhoe. Already had a 3 point one. Better than nothing. Ended up at a tractor pulling buddy who had a few backhoes for sale. I was looking at a Ford (don't remember the number) It had 4 wheel drive and extend-a-hoe. And the price was right. 5000 dollars. But he said I shouldn't buy it. I should buy a 2 wheel drive Case with-out extend-a-hoe. And he didn't have any right now. Said front wheel drive were hapt to break. and might cost my original purchase price to repair. Well I found a 480E Case. Has the Cummins engine, and just weights 10000 lb. so I can haul it on my 15000 GVW trailer. Also you can find aftermarket pins and bushings here for a Case. Most of the hoses are generic Also.
 
(quoted from post at 19:00:17 01/08/13) JD what year is your hoe???? I have a JD 410 1977 very low hours--just use for my own use.

THE QUESTION Could a 1977 410 JD have 4x4
Would I be able to convert mine to 4x4????

Thankyou

Mine is a 1989 model. I don't think they offered the MFWD until the mid 1980s. Yours does not have the right frame to have had a MFWD offered on it.
 
I guess if you like hiring morons that may be true. Anyone abusing my backhoes, or any other equipment, was looking for another job soon thereafter. On one of the first machine operater jobs I had, this kid drove a d6 almost a quarter mile to get the lunchbox out of his truck. Saw him leaving a few minutes later, the boss just said "maybe he will know better on his next job", and I adopted that line of thinking when I went out on my own. I am on my fifth hoe, bought all of them used from big companies. If you buy crap machines you will have crap machines.
 
You'd be into a 'C' before you got MFWD on a Deere hoe. I think you'd also be well advised to stay in at least a 'C'... if not a 'D' series machine. Old 410's are starting to get parts obsoleted or you get relegated to A&I to find what you need. That's not an appetizing prospect.

Rod
 
You don't say what your budget is or what you want to do with the machine...
Personally if I was looking I'd not want anything older than a 'D' series Deere or a 'D' series Case... and really not much older than a 'K' series Case.
I also find it hard to stomach anything older than a 'D' series Ford, preferably a 555 or larger. 416 Cats are good too... although always beware of the brakes on the Cats. They use Ford drive components which are fine IF they use the correct oil. Most Cats seem to run the wrong oil and owners don't add the friction modifier that they should... so you see a lot of them with the brakes shot at 5000 hours. That's a big internal mess to clean up not to mention a big expense.
JCB also makes a very good hoe. That's also an area I'd stay with at least a 214 model instead of their older ones.. particularly an old one with a Leyland engine.

MFWD is a definite asset on backhoe... so I'd certainly be looking for one with mfwd; probably in the 15K+ price range.


Rod
 

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