Looking at a MF 202 Backhoe

I am Going to check it out on Sat. It will just be used for puttering around the yard, some landscaping, clean up, digging a foundation for a small shop. Nothing everyday commercial use.

Thanks,
~Brian

Possibly look at getting the headlights working and some warning lights on it, then they might even let me drive it on the road :)

It looked solid. The guy did some top end work on it a year or so ago, new dist. and cam (worn out gears on it, was chewing up the dist. It smoked a little bit and had some blow-by but not much, and it mostly went away once it was warm. Loader and backhoe seemed to hold up on their own well enough, no noticable droop in the 15 min or so we were poking around and talking. He has some new front tires for it, I just need to get them on the rims. The power steering worked good. No noticable drips of oil from the trans drain where the cotterpin is.

I didn't play with the 3pt or the PTO, both were hidden and boxed in with the backhoe.

The loader has 102M on it, and the backhoe was made by Davis model 185 Any idea where I can find specs for those? It looked like the loader had been repaired on one arm in the past, but looked like a solid repair.

The oil in the rear looked a little milky, he said it has in the past and he always changes it when it gets like that. So possibly a vent or a seal somewhere. We have had record rains here over the last 2 months, and even in the last 2 days it has been raining HARD with lots of good driving rain. So once that gets changed I will try and keep it covered.

The only thing that was of a big concern for me was the brakes don't work. He says that they did, then it sat for a while, and now nothing happens when you step on the pedal. The pedal moves, and you can see everything moving on the back of the drum, but no stopping power happens. He things that something must just be frozen or what not. I might pull the wheel off and see what happens.

Does anyone know where I can get (or if it is possible) to get some manuals for it? Stuff like brakes and such....

Also, can you guys tell me how/what all these leavers do. >Link

and for the 3pt hitch I guess>Link

I>Link like how simple it all is, and how easy it looks to fix.

I have a MF203 with a 200 loader and 220 backhoe. Here are the things I'd do today (after having made some mistakes).

(1) Bring a quart of Rotella 10W-30 diesal oil. Make sure the tractor is at the full mark. Start the tractor and let it idle. If the oil comes out the oil dip stick whole, it has "blow by" which is ring damage.

(2) Do stuff with the tractor, run/idle it for at least 1 hour. What happens to the oil pressure? Mine is fine until about 45 minutes then drops to near zero in pressure..... worn main bearing.

(3) Raise the front of the tractor with the bucket, raise the backhoe up in the air. Shut the tractor off. If the front falls... even if it takes 20 minutes, you have a front hydraulic leak. Hoses are easy to fix, cyclinders harder (but not impossible). The backhoe will fall slowely (never seen on on a 60's tractor that didn't!)... but should take 15-20 minutes. If it falls in 2 or 3 you'll be constanly stopping to raise it while you are moving... going to have to get that one fixed.

(4) If the backhoe is a cylinder type for rotation, make sure that is not leaking from the bottom, I've been told that is much harder to fix.

(5) Make sure there is a 'cotter pin' sticking out of the bottom of the transmission. If not... is the hole plugged? Make sure the hole is open and not dripping alot of oil (a little seepage is ok) Oil dripping means engine seal problems.

Finally, mine failed most of the engine tests and is costing m $2800 for a full engine rebuild. Bought it for $4200 (w/backhoe) so I'll be into it for $7000. Still a steal for a working backhoe! Good Luck!