Sherman backhoe attachment questions

MeAnthony

Member
So...found a Sherman backhoe attachment for sale. It"s in Pinckney, MI, which is about 2 hours away from me. Hasn"t been used in 15 years, gentleman is only asking $700. Ad says stick length is 7" - 8", he doesn"t know model number or anything like that. Would this be worth pursuing? Are parts available? How heavy might it be? I was thinking of trying to find an excavation company or some such in the seller"s area, maybe for a small fee they would stop by and lift it onto a trailer for me? Or is it light enough that I could do it myself with a couple Hi-Lift jacks and some timbers?

How many hp required to operate it properly? Likely it"s way too big for my 9N; I"m thinking of making it a trailer-mounted unit. I have a spare Jeep 4.0 in the barn with 307011 miles on it, seems like that could power it sufficiently at not much above idle?

Your suggestions and opinions are appreciated, thanks for taking the time to respond and share your wisdom.

Sincerely,


Anthony
a120161.jpg
 
My 93 year old father in law passed away last fall. He had a unit just like the one pictured.
He had purchased it new. I put it on CL and sold it to a man 400 mi away. He had a MF 165 tractor to mount it on. After he got it home he called and said it worked fine on that tractor after replacing a few hose. It was a little difficult to load because of finding the balance point. I did load it with a 90hp Kubota farm tractor/loader. Would be work but you could jack up each outrigger and work your trailer back under it. I think in a hour or so a guy could load it with jacks and a couple of come-alongs.
Good luck.
 
A hundred series ford, maybe more likely an 800, '01 series was a fairly popular model to have one of these on, my 850 has the 4 pt mount still on it, whereas you would set the frame into the bottom 2 arms and then tighten down down from the top, to clamp it in place, and this was part of the the Wagner loader frame, which makes it a full frame mount. An abusive operator can do some damage to a tractor like this with one of those, my loader frame was broke just after the flange connection ahead of the rear axle, and that's where the stress or fatigue point would be on that frame.

I would think it would be an inexpensive backhoe, and still a handy unit to have if it were in decent shape, there are some issues I can see from here, will mention that last. It appears that there is a hydraulic reservoir on the unit and that you would need a pto pump for the tractor, as I doubt the tractor hydraulics would be sufficient to operate this, maybe not, but it would likely be painfully slow. Someone on the forums here has one of these or similar on a hundred series, that was rebuilt, that would be the person to talk to. I would like to see a shot of the frame, I can't see how it would connect, per the above, but there was a Dearborn, factory made 4 pt full frame mount for hundred series Ford tractors, I have a photo of one that was for sale years back somewhere in my file directory, would have to find it etc.

If the pins and bushings are tight, and not sloppy, that would be a decent find, however, and I say it with a degree of respect, the owner was really foolish to store it like that. The swing cylinders appear to be heavily rusted, you can see the boom and stick cylinders have a nice "hue" of rust on them too. The hoses, being weathered could be prone to burst, well I say that but I have some really old and weathered hoses on my Wagner loader, its hard to believe none have burst in the 11 years I've owned it, and I have used it extensively for clearing, snow removal etc, but the pump may be worn or just not enough pressure, it is slow moving, but can lift more weight then should be placed on the front end of a general purpose tractor like an 850. On that note, I would have to believe you need a loader on the tractor to balance things out.

One thing is for sure, I'd want it for scrap price if the owner is not stubborn you have at least 2 cylinders that will need to be re-chromed, they may be pitted beyond repair, hard to say. The others you may be able to clean up, but they will rust very easily again, well unless the are retracted. Use it as is, the packings in the cylinders will likely get damaged, and that will make them leak. I can see some money being spent at the local hydraulic shop, and as a matter of a fact, thats where I would drop the thing off first LOL !

Given what it is, though and your interest, it may require more that it is worth, but it is of the 50's era or so, and a collector may want it or you may want a period tractor, likely a Ford, these were common on 820, 821, and maybe the same for 620, 621, as those were bare basic models, that I believe the 3 pt may have been deleted, but you still need the pto, I don't believe you could plumb this off the 2 spool loader valve, and use the reservoir from loader, and front mount pump.

Its an interesting piece and makes for a nice discussion, hopefully someone with more details can help, if were me, given my tractor is set up for one, and also been hammered by one, I'd consider it if the owner would negotiate down, shameful he left the cylinders extended like that, would be worth the money he is asking, but not so much now in my opinion.

You may find an old manual for it on ebay, Sherman Power Digger, the other parts; pins, bushings and hydraulics are not complicated and could be sourced in a variety of ways, steel or machine shop, and your local hydraulic shop. Likely a 4 stick operated hoe, that will take some skill to master, but still handy to have one regardless.

Best of luck with it !
 
First ad looks to have one on an N series, so maybe this one that looks like yours is a bit older, I think Rich, or by his handle here "Old" has one of these or did on an N series Ford, see what he says, about it being on an N. The comment about bending cylinder pistons sure seems more than plausible, early days of the backhoe, that is for sure LOL !
 
they are heavier then all get out,..had one, don't want another,...put some more money with it and buy a later model, i have a long now and really like it, i doubt you'll be happy with the one pictured,...it'll be a money pit
 

I wouldn't pay more than scrap. It would need too much to make it work. Your n would power it but auxilliary PTO pumps are a lot of money. There are plenty of used, much newer 3pt units out there that would not need much.
 
(reply to post at 13:37:13 06/28/13)
I had one on an 8N and it had front mounted pump on the engine to power it and the loader. It would dig, but couldn't compare it to a dedicated backhoe. 4 sticks and one was dual purpose for the outriggers as you had to turn a valve. Tractor was too hi geared for loader work and on mine you had to stand to operate the bh. traded it for a Jeep.
 
Please be really careful. I wanted a backhoe so badly, got one on an AC D-14 with a bucket on the front. Easy to get in vulnerable situations. Vowed to make sure that I had a tractor with more mass if I ever got another one.
 
By the time you get done moving, trailing, fabbing, etc. you can call Hertz, Cat, JD and rent one for a whole lot cheaper.

I ended up buying a Case 580SE, best thing I ever did.

My two cents.
Rick
 
All the cylinders are just about fully extended and rusty. They might all need new cylinder rods made for them. For the time and money to fix that very early technology hoe, I bet you could find a much better backhoe off a newer TLB, with a blown engine or transmission, etc., for less money. It's worth scrap unless you wanted it as a collector piece.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top