Ford 555 TLB

Looking for opinions on a 555 TLB I looked at today. Over the phone the seller kept telling me how great the machine is. I realize it's a 30 year old machine but because the seller bragged it up so much my expectations were pretty high.
The good:
Price...in the $8K range. I think he'd come off that a tad.
Overall good condition considering it's age.
Cab.
Working heater.
New rear tires.
Extra-vator (extendahoe).
New cutting edge on loader.
Extra hydraulic pump. He says its new but I didn't see it. A neighbor gave the pump to him after selling his 555.
Several new hoses.
Shuttle trans.
Didn't appear to have any blow by.
Comes with factory shop manual.
Comes with a set of forks that attach to brackets on top of the bucket.

The not so good:
Back glass is gone and has a piece of Plexiglas bolted in its place.
Cab door is bent and glass is broken....needs new door.
Loose pins at bucket/loader arm pivot. Not terrible, but certainly noticeable.
Loose pin where the arms attach to the hoe bucket. Again, not terrible but very noticeable.
Right front wheel bearing has allot of play. Probably needs to be replaced.
RF tie rod end needs to be replaced.
Transport lock on hoe is inoperable.
Ex-hoe extends VERY slowly. Retracted a little quicker but still slow.
Seller had outriggers chained up. He says they drop if left up.
Leaks hydraulic/trans fluid. Doesn't appear to be a major leak....yet.
Boom on extendable dipper is cracked on both sides next to the factory welds at the top where the bracket for the cylinder attaches.
All the controls are stiff because it only gets used rarely. I suspect they'll loosen up with use and some lube.

I see TLB's advertised for much more money, but most TLB's this size and age sell in the 7000-8500 range in my area. If the seller hadn't told me what great shape it was in I'd probably jump on it. It has several minor problems. None of them by themselves would turn me off, but lump them all together and I'm less than excited about the machine.
My biggest concern is the Ex-hoe working so slowly. Any ideas on what would cause this?
Any idea what a cab door would cost at a bone yard?

I passed up a Case 580C with a third fewer hours, no cab, and in excellent condition at an auction for 7300 last week. If I hadn't already made the appointment to see the Ford I would have bought the Case.

There's another 555 close by for about a grand more. Similar hours, 6X4 trans, no ex-hoe. Haven't looked at it yet so I don't know about condition.

I don't mind making a few repairs but I don't want a "project" either. I'm thinking the new rubber outweighs some of the minor faults. Your thoughts?

Sounds to me like it's in decent condition for its age. My 655A is a 1985 if I remember right. The rear fold out window is missing. I have worked on the door, and replaced glass in it and in other places on the cab. The X-hoe goes out slowly. The transport lock was gone. I have replaced the king pins and done other work on the steering.
Here in central NY I wouldn't have a backhoe without a cab. With a working heater I can get along without the back window. They are as rare as hen's teeth. The limitation I have is I cannot sit facing a cold wind digging.
We had an IH 3444 here for well over ten years. It was a great old machine, but it was time for something bigger. I really enjoy the torque converter drive. And I need every bit of the longer arm on the 655 plus the X-hoe to reach some of the ditches I have to maintain. I did some ditch cleaning today (in the drizzle) with the four foot bucket I bought for it.

Biggest thing I'd check on those old buggers is the engine. Make sure there's no water getting into the oil and make sure it starts clean and crisp on a cool morning.
The rest sounds fairly repairable. Price is on the upper side I think... for a 30 year old 2wd, 60 hp hoe. I do believe I'd take this one over the other with the 6x4 tranny tho. This is a modular component machine. The 6x4 is likely still a modofied farm tractor... with a unitized frame.
Much harder to work on.

Rod

Bob,
I ran across a nice 655A late last winter for under 9K but I didn't have the money at the time.
Maybe the ex-hoe is ok, but it sure seemed slow. Fixing the cracks is more of a time than cost issue. To do it right I'll have to take the cylinder off and maybe take the extendable dipper off.
I found the rebuild kits for the outrigger cylinders on feebay. Again more of a time issue than money. I will want to find a door for it.
Rod,
I don't expect to have a cool morning around here for awhile but after the extended heat wave we've been having a cool morning would be welcome. It did fire right up today. Yeah, I think its all repairable. The price is right in line with what I've seen sell lately. 3 years ago it would have sold for 12K in a heartbeat. The recession has hit the area hard and equipment prices are way down. Looks like it will require more time than money to fix everything. I was hoping for less of a "project".
The other machine is also a 555 of the same vintage. I suspect the transmission is the only significant difference. The shuttle is allot more appealing for loader work than the 6X4.

I'm leaning towards buying it unless I find something better soon.
Thanks guys.
Pops

Did you think the seller was going to tell how awful of a machine it is? He's trying to sell it! If it has a cab, the controls shouldn't be stiff. The extend a hoe could be bent or damaged and is binding when it slides in and out. It's a nice feature to have but isn't as HD as a standard stick. Some of the minor repairs you mention, could end up being major repairs. Rubber is cheap compared to major problems. I wouldn't get real hyped about a older used machine by what the seller told me. Don't be in a hurry to buy and look at some other machines. There's lots of backhoes out there. The 555 was a good machine in its day but so were most others. Sometimes you see really good older machines with low hours that are in way better shape than the one you're looking at. Dave

Dave,
No I didn't expect him to say it was awful but in three phone conversations he made it sound like it was in perfect mechanical condition other than the door and glass. The hoe does have me concerned. I've got a couple other machines to look at.
Thanks,
Pops

I wouldn't be too worried about the hoe myself. If you run it out you should be able to eyeball it well enough to see if it's straight. You'll probably find that there's a line restrictor in it somewhere just to slow it down, or a smallish hose. I'd just see if it can push the machine in the air with the dipper straight down, and then see how well it holds. If the cylinder is bad it's either not goig to lift or won't hold very long... Any other hydraulic problems are going to show in other circuits, probably before that one.

I'd see if you can skin another grand or more off the price to help with the repairs, but otherwise it sounds decent. Do find out when the coolant was last changed... and if it wasn't recent, change it and use coolant conditioner like FleetGuard DCA4 to help prevent cavitation that causes the block pinholing in those things.

Rod

Most sellers are going to try and hype up what they're selling instead of telling what it is wrong with it. It's also a lot easier to do over the phone. In person, you can often tell right away if the seller is trying to hide something or not being honest. If a machine is that good, why wasn't it sold almost instantly? That's the point I was getting at. Dave

Rod,
Is cavitation a common problem with the Ford diesels?
Dave,
Not sure if he was BSing me over the phone, or just isn't very knowledgeable about equipment. He's certainly not real familiar with operating the machine. He didn't say a word when I pointed out the problems. Nothing sells quickly here. Our local economy is terrible.

Thanks!
Pops

Yes, cavitation was a problem with Ford engines of that vintage IF they were not cared for.
Coolant changes ever 2-3 years and the addition of a bottle of conditioner yearly will take care of it... but a lot of people don't do that.

Rod

I had one of those a few years back. They are a nice hoe with strong loader lift capacity. Mine was hyped up too,but most was true. I had to do alot of odds and ends to it as I'm fussy. Parts are expensive for them,but some of the parts are interchangable with Ford tractor parts which are reasonable.

One thing I didn't like was with that torque converter drive on the road going up hill you lost alot of power.

Well I bought it. Got the seller down to $7400. He was happy and I'm happy.
Got a set of forks, an extra hyd pump, spare teeth for the hoe, shop manual, and a bucket of hydraulic fluid with it. The hoe controls loosened up after a shot of WD40 and some use. I'm going to change all the fluids, make the needed repairs, then take it to my southern IL property in the spring and put it to work.