Tractor Woes

Alright, I bought a Case 530 CK 1969 from a guy who needed money for a back surgery (turns out he needed a foot surgery as well) Anyway, at the time he was showing the CK to me there were no signs of issues. It ran fine, bucket and backhoe worked. I didn't see anything wrong with it. I asked him questions about leaks and recent repairs he said there were none and that it should last "forever" if I took care of it... So I bought it for $5000 (less than the going price for several others for the same model around here in Utah). I have two acres and bought it thinking it would be cheaper to rent. So thats the long story.

It's been three weeks and I've never been more frustrated . It takes a bit of luck getting it started, I don't mind because I finally figured out the secret combination of starting it. Then it started leaking what looks like hydraulic fluid from the backhoe controller box, now the backhoe's main arm won't lift so it's stuck where it is now. I'm mad as hell. Not because I feel like I lost $5k but mad at myself because I trusted this guy and didn't go with my instinct to not buy it.

Lesson learned and the Christian in me is keeping me from suing him, he was obviously desperate for the cash. Like I said, it isn't about the money, it was the lack of integrity I'm upset about.

Anyway, I'm not a mechanic and won't pretend to be. I'm not here to ask anyone to hold my hands to figure out how to get this thing working again. I'm here to ask who can I hire to patch this thing to work for a few more months? If I can get it to work for a few months I'll be perfectly happy as it would still save me money from renting a machine. I'm in the Utah Valley area and don't know where to start in finding a tractor mechanic. I've already called around and many auto mechanics don't know anything about tractors. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

If any of you with some experience are willing to help me out (for a fee of course) that would be awesome too.

Lance

You didn't lose the money - you have the machine. Just fix the leak, check and top off the fluids (that should be part of the requirement to take care of it). It is probably quite low on fluid. Good grief. Old machines leak and break down and no one could seriously believe anything would run forever.

(quoted from post at 18:03:46 09/16/14) You didn't lose the money - you have the machine. Just fix the leak, check and top off the fluids (that should be part of the requirement to take care of it). It is probably quite low on fluid. Good grief. Old machines leak and break down and no one could seriously believe anything would run forever.

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Thanks for the reply, I didn't expect it to last. I just didn't expect it to leak so much and find a towel underneath the backhoe controls to soak the leak for a few days before becoming visible it was an obvious cover up. Great learning experience though. Anyway, I guess I can try and figure out where the hydronic fluids go and fill it up to start with.

You should've taken a good mechanic along before buying it. Hal
PS: I would bet the former owner never had any surgery done.

if you are not mechanically inclined, seek out a couple local farmers in your area and stop in and ask them if they know a decent mechanic. more often than not, somebody in the area works on machinery on the side. or see if there is a local antique tractor club near you.

Welcome to the world of tractors!


OOOOPPPPPSSSSS... Better NOT put "hydronic fluid" in it"!

In addition to getting a factory operator's manual and shop manual for it, since you are a "newbie" to this sort of thing, there's two EXCELLENT series of books published by John Deere (that apply to all brands)... "Fundamentals of Machine Operation", and "Fundamentals of Service" you might want to consider.

They're NOT cheap, but very thorough.

You can order them through the DEERE bookstore, or likely find some used ones on ebay or Amazon.
Bookstore

Whoops, must have been the iPhone auto-correct. Thanks for the tips guys. I had a thought and called a local Case dealer a couple of towns away and they seem to know someone that can help, just waiting for the call back from their service manager. Here's to hoping!

But yeah this is my first purchase of this kind. I really should have tagged a mechanic along for this. I was really excited to get something and wanted to get to work on my land. I told my wife that this thing might make a mechanic out of me. definitely learned my lesson but the more I'm reading on this and getting closer to finding help the more calm I'm becoming. Sorry for the rant!