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I bought what i think is an Oliver 550 backhoe, Is It?

S

Shawn MacAnanny

Member
I just picked this backhoe up this weekend and im really impressed with how well it's built. It's got alot of new parts, hasnt been started for 6 months and most all of the cylinders leak but i'm not too worried about that just yet.

I was told it was an Oliver 550 with a 40hp Waukesha diesel but has the Stanadyne/Roosa master injection pump. It also has a foot throttle, hand throttle, a 2 speed shuttle shift it feels like. Its also got a plate on it with serial number that says its a Parson 113 Uni Hoe and some serial numbers but i have no idea how to determine exactly what it is. The hydraulic cylinder heads are female threaded 'caps',

It also has a hydraulic pump driven on the front of the crankshaft with maybe a 3/4" steel rod driving the pump with a chain and sproket. The backhoe looks like it say Koehring as well. It has two intake air heaters, no glow plugs, looks like direct injection it's a 4 cylinder. it also has two small hydraulic cylinders as power assist steering. The front cross member is a giant piece of 1 - 1/4" steel. Its painted crappy yellow over the real industrial yellow which is painted over green.

Could it be a White 2-44? I dont really know anything about these tractors.

It wont let me post pictures yet for some reason.... i have some on facebook dot com / shawnmacananny
 
Sounds like it. On the tractor's center section by the clutch petal there should be either an Oliver or A White Contractor's division serial number tag. Does it have a generator or alternator? Also where eithe one of them is mounted see if there is a number stamped there. If there is that is the engine serial number. Also there are 3 casting numbers by the starter. what are they? start there. More questions, just ask away. J.
 

I dont see any markings around any of the pedals i pressure washed and degreased the whole tractor to the best of my abilities so everything is pretty clean unless it's an engraved number i dont think there is one.

The front of the timing cover says

106159A
191945-
0

above the starter

1590024
1802201
4266 (could be 1266)

Thanks!
 
Also it definitely is 1 speed forward of neutral and 1 speed reverse of neutral and just forward and reverse on the shuttle shifter or whatever it is. Does that sound right? I haven't heard of a 2 speed transmission. How do these transmissions even work? Is there an actual dry disk clutch like a manual?
 
That's the shuttle shift! The main shifter is over on the side. It'll be 2 gear in front of neutral and two gears behind neutral. So you can get 4 forward gears and 4 reverse gears depending on how yo select the shuttle. That is IF this is a 550 (or 2-44). Have you looked for serial & model tin plate at your left ankle? By clutch pedal?
 
I cant seem to find any plate with a serial number on the tractor on either side. It has a throttle pedal and two brake pedals on the right side. On the left side is has a clutch pedal. In the middle front of the body there is a shifter, forward and reverse shuttle i believe. Seated futher back (in your crotch) there is another shifter which doglegs to the left so it is right by your left thigh.. It goes forward then to neutral one click, then it can be moved left or right then be moved backward. I cant seem to detect any difference in other gears, just those 3. There doesn't seem to be different gears buy pushing the shifter left or right in neutral and forward or backward.

Also i cant seem to find any numbers on the hydraulic cylinders, do they look like anything special? Can i just take it apart, take some measurements and try to order them from Hercules? I've never rebuilt one but been understand how to. I think i can just use a pipe wrench on them as they are very thick metal and female threaded caps. Is that a threaded seal inside of the cap as well?

Are there any other serial numbers i can look for or any other place they could be on this tractor? Maybe it's not even an Oliver and im completely wrong? I have a 3 days weekend this weekend so i will get it started and see what the transmission does exactly if it works. Is it a dry clutch or how does this transmission work? Also how far should the transmission be filled up? What fluid? I have a cap but dont see a dipstick or anything for it.

I also dont see any provisions for a pto or 3pt under the backhoe on the axle so i think it was manufactured to be a backhoe.

I'm uploading a few high resolution pics to my facebook so hopefully it will let me post them here.
 
here's the trans tag.
Jam lever over to left ahead of neutral to get 1st and 2nd back & forth (work gears)
and rear of neutral, jam it over to get 3rd and 4th (road gears)
118.jpg
 
An Operator's Manual off eBay or from Floyd County Museum in Charles City, Iowa will answer most of your questions (ask for a 550 Diesel one)

http://www.olivertractormanuals.org/olivertractormanuals-2.html
(641) 228-1099 May-Anne is great!

Also there are 588 loader manuals (you MAY have a 578) and backhoe ( models 613, 615 or 513) manuals are covered in one manual...also available on eBay, Floyd County maybe or JennSales etc.

You can also get full 550/2-44 shop manuals but they are expensive as they cover a range of models in detail.

Post a photo here and everyone will chime in and tell you what you have.
 
Aha Photos! But you wanted to make it difficult for us yes? :lol:
You missed just about every easy to spot part of the model. Those fenders make it look more like a 1600 or 1655-based Oliver hoe but most of the other shots make it look like a 550 or 2-44 (a 2-44 is just a late industrial 550 after White bought out Oliver Corp.)
Sorry, I forgot in previous post that this was not an Oliver Hoe. Loader could be Oliver though. Any pics of that?
 

Thanks Chris! i couldnt really tell the difference standing on the side of it but sitting down i could probably feel it but theres snow and no seat haha.

Also the previous owner replaced whatever was factory installed and added a different filter i think. Is the first steel filter even necessary if i run an electric pump and aftermarket filter? He gave me all of the original stuff.

Haha also this was my first encounter with an oil bath filter. I was like WTF when i unscrewed the clamp to try to look at the filter. I was a little worried when i saw the oil then my brain kicked in and reminded me of being told about them before. Cant i just replace this with a cloth filter? I'm not a super big fan of having to replace this oil daily.

Anyone blown one of these tractors up with ether yet? I was thinking about using it when i go to try to start it. It's definitely getting fuel and the intake heaters take a load from the battery but they arent warm to the touch after 45seconds of holding.
 

I'm not even sure if the Parsons plate is right. I mean it doesnt look added but it says 9,000lb and i really think its heavier than that, it sure felt like it towing it. The plate in the pic says UH113 1122 9000

It's a very heavy duty setup. Under the radiator is just a giant piece of cast iron like an integrated counterweight for a forklift. the front frame for the wheels is a good 1 1/2" thick solid steel.
 
On the pre-heater I have the same questions for the guys on here. Its the first diesel 550 I have owned and I don't see it getting warm either.

My backhoe loader 550 is a 1969 2-44 gasser.
 
Well it is a 1964 model or later. It is either a 2- 44 or 550, but with a shuttle shift lean toward the 2-44 designation. It is not direct injection. Do change the hydraulic filter(s) make sure the boots on the gear shift handles are not torn. I could make you a list of things do to keep you busy a good day or so. J.
 

Oh it's not direct injection? Is there a combustion chamber in the head then? Yeah the hydraulic pump is in front of the radiator with the hydraulic filter and the reservoir is above the pump. i will be replacing all of the filters once i get it running. It last ran 6 months ago or so.

The why i am going to start it is throttle it about half way, pull out what looks like the choke but its on the injection pump, and crank it over. I am going to remove the intake heaters and see if they are dirty or what. I will probably ultimately remove the intake boot and give a quick shot of ether unless you guys dont recommend that for these engines.
 

Oh yeah i do see them. It seems like this tractor had the weights integrated into the undercarriage at the front.

how powerful is your backhoe? Can it really dig with the 2ft bucket or lift itself? Also how much can you loader lift?

Once i get all of the hydraulic lines fixed, and cylinders or whatever else needs to be fixed i am planning on cutting the bucket mounts and installing a bobcat quick attach plate so i can swap between the bucket and pallet forks.
 
how powerful is your backhoe? Can it really dig with the 2ft bucket or lift itself? Also how much can you loader lift? (reply to post at 01:32:36 02/23/11)
Click to expand...

VERY powerful...cannot believe it actually. Can easily lift back of machine off ground and side to side to free myself up at times.
I need more weights coz I have the biggest bucket.
120.jpg


I think the loader will lift 3,000 lbs or so but not much more. I tried to lift an OC3 crawler/loader and it was not happy! Nearly dragged a fender off my trailer!
 


HAHAHAHAHAHA Man i am glad i asked that! I noted smoke came out of the exhaust with it pushed in and with it out i noticed there was no smoke. that actually make me feel alot better because i was trying to figure out how the engine would shut off. I figured turning the electric pump off would starve the injection pump or something.

Also here are some more pictures before i picked it up and the day i picked it up. I noticed your industrial has a reinforce center section for the loader. This has a completely separate subframe around the engines cradle running the length of the tractor. I could get some better pics tomorrow int he light.

180945_202981383045255_100000001832298_809911_7168751_n.jpg


180468_202981449711915_100000001832298_809912_4551804_n.jpg


183946_202981473045246_100000001832298_809913_2818352_n.jpg


183081_202981513045242_100000001832298_809914_8309535_n.jpg


184948_202981543045239_100000001832298_809915_6821291_n.jpg


184309_202981589711901_100000001832298_809916_1093340_n.jpg


180037_202981656378561_100000001832298_809918_1221964_n.jpg


184218_202981713045222_100000001832298_809919_7451457_n.jpg
 

Thats good i was worried it wouldn't be very powerful. Is yours a 40hp waukesha diesel as well? Your hoe looks almost identical to mine. I was looking at those lines for the bucket curl cylinder and how the hell do you replace them where they meet the boom? Also the main boom lift is inside of the boom that doesnt look too fun to replace.
 
You have a model 613 Oliver backhoe there! Same as mine.
And that MIGHT be a Oliver 578 loader. I will try to check....I have all the manuals.

Never seen anything like that cockpit area...you gonna try to orbit the earth with that rig :wink: MUST be stolen off a forklift, as you say.
 
boom cylinders...there's an earlier thread on changing them a few pages back...some are NOT easy. To change some hoses, you have to lay the whole backhoe out flat and slide cylinders out and for others you need your kid's tiny hands to hold a wrench INSIDE the Boom!
 

Yeah im going to start enclosing the cockpit and building solid fuel boosters from the rear stabilizer cylinders.

I would say it's identical to yours. I definitely have clearly marked original decals that say Koehring up the boom in a couple places which were partially painted over but still visible. I will try to get some pics of those tomorrow. Have you have to rebuild any of your backhoe cylinders? They match my front cylinders in style with the female screw cap, not like the case male screw cap.... cylinder head, whatever you call it.
 

Yeah those lines were the only part i was concerned about getting to. i dont mind plasma cutting the floor under the hoe seat to get to the sway cylinders. i will redesign this backhoe to be more mechanic friendly as i work in it. I know one of stabilizer cylinders will need to be rebuilt but they dont look too hard to remove.

Are seal kit readily available for our hoe cylinders? Can you buy hoses or its just cheaper to have a hydraulic shop make them?

Also does your backhoe have a hydraulic pump driven off of the crank with a shaft and sproket?
 
Weird thing...my sway cylinders are behind the seat not under the machine! I will see if I have a photo. I buy hoses from my farm hydraulic guy up the road. Oliver issue ones are long out of stock. He rebuilds cylinders too, so I cannot help you there. I have not had to rebuild any cylinders on this machine.

I HAVE had to rebuild the power steering pump and the front mounted pump. BOTH leaked like crazy out the front shaft. Rebuild kits consisting of gaskets and seals ARE still available for those (Agco dealers have them). But the shafts and gears are NOT, so you will have to look for used ones if your feeler gauge tells you they are worn. I lucked out and found another power steering pump with good gears and a good shaft. Or you can buy a new pump for $500+ :x
Also the hydraulic reservoir on my 588 loader is the loader frame! The main pillars either side of the dash.
(don't have pics of the sways..will take some soon and post them - yours are not Oliver standard issue)
 
When I said behind the seat, is should have said UNDER the backhoe valve block and levers and therefore UNDER the backhoe seat and BEHIND the driver's seat...found a photo where you can JUST see one sway cylinder
121.jpg
 

I do agree that my loader looks exactly like a 578. In all of the pictures i see they are mounted to the center section "girdle". My tractor has a completely different undercarriage than any of the pictures i can find. It runs the entire length of the engine around the standard engine frame and has a counterweight under the radiator then the entire crossmember for the wheels is one solid piece of 1 1/2 steel with a center mounting/swivel point. It doesnt look like anything i've seen anywhere though.
 

Oh i see. My hoe looks like it is positioned a little differently than yours, like my tractor is taller or something. I have a battery on either side of where my seat should be, i could probably actually get to the cylinder if i removed the batteries now that i think about it.

Are those two sticks your loader control? I have a single newer loader style control, seems like a standard backhoe loader stick. Is yours a shuttle shift as well?
 
Yep exactly same trans as yours, I'd say....4F 4R and shuttle shift
Yes, those levers control loader arms and bucket. Later valves had a 'float' position too.
 

So how hard is to replace a clutch on this beast? it doesnt look like it'd be easy.

What gear oil do you run in the transmission? How high do you run it?

What hydraulic oil do you use?
 
Dextron ATF Type A hydraulic fluid (mine has a hyd dipstick) but a lot of other on here use hyd/trans.

80/90w gear oil in trans (fill to the square headed plug on rear of transmission - remove plug - when it starts to leak out, that's FULL)
If starting from scratch, for trans, I run it with kerosene for a bit to clean out all the crap before refilling. Filler cap is by shuttle lever.
 
I simply don't want to think about changing the clutch! Manual says it is easy to remove the backhoe unit, but I severely doubt that :evil:

Even that done, you still have to Z-split the tractor. Under Articles (left hand margin of this site), there's a great guide to changing the Oliver 550 clutch.
http://www.ytmag.com/articles/artint258.htm
 

Yeah i saw the filler cap and could see the gears in it but not really any oil. i will check rear plug. good idea with the kerosene. i will def be doing that. So what i have is a White 2-44 with a waukesha diesel with the Stanadyne/roosa master injection pump, a 613 backhoe, 578 loader, and some oddly beefed up chasis?
 

haha wow i have a 53ish harry ferguson to30 and it took me all of about 20 minutes to split the tractor, adjsut pressure plate, and put back together by myself with an engine hoist and floor jack in my yard. I guess i will figure out a way to do this one too. Possibly remove radiator and hyd pump and slide engine forward and up. i dunno my chasis and loader are going to make it more difficult i think.

I also noticed a chunk of my bellhousing is missing but doesnt look too bad. i think i make try to weld a plate over it... maybe leave it, i dont think it will fail.
 
The clutch job on a 550 isn't that bad. I'm not sure about the backhoe or loader, but the zsplit isn't that bad. I can't tell how your subframe or loader frame is attached but outside of that you can do the job pretty quickly. Just don't force it back. If its lined up correctly it goes back together very easily.
Once apart you will see the simplicity of the design. I don't think that you can put it back together wrong like some other machines.
 
Since you do not have a PTO they had an optional larger heavy duty clutch available for those units. They may be available yet. In fact I know a place that may have one. Take the backhoe off for sure and maybe the loader as well. I would take that article with a grain a salt. More questions? You do not need to remove the radiator of nor do you slide the engine ahead in the frame. Get yourself at least an I & T manual for a 550 to start with.
 

Yeah i did order a manual for the tractor, loader, and the backhoe. The backhoe doesnt really look that easy to take off. I dont know that the clutch it even bad or anything. I will have it running this weekend sometime.
 

I did get to check the transmission today and you're absolutely right chris i would have never noticed the subtle difference in the shifter and would have just though it was a 2 speed haha.

I looked at the clutch today, and the disk looks like is has atleast an 1/8" on each face so it looks pretty new i think. It's dirty but looks like it will work fine.

So this transmission requires clutch to move forward, and can stall out etc right? the reverser just changes the direction of the transmission it's not any sort of torque converter right? I will still need to push the clutch in to shift from forward to reverse right? Does it grind? I've never operated anything like this setup, i think it's really neat though.
 
J is right on the motor and radiator. You don't need to do any of that. Just a simple z split with a good floor jack and some bottle jacks.
 

I dont think i can Z split it with my chasis configuration. I dont even know that i need to do it yet anyway.

Also here are the pump numbers from my Stanadyne injection pump. Anyone know about what year this tractor might be?

DBGFC 427-IED 2000
047066


182692_203417856334941_100000001832298_812298_459151_n.jpg


183094_203417936334933_100000001832298_812299_2799238_n.jpg
 
I am sure that according to manual you don't need to de-clutch to use the reverser/shuttle, but I just do out of habit. It just seems unnatural NOT to :wink:
135.jpg
 

Haha wow yours is in such good condition. i just installed a lower radiator heater today to aid in starting it. I can get it partially firing and smoking from the exhaust but it seems like it just needs a little more. The intake heaters dont seem to be working very vell. I also drained all of the fuel and put on a different style filter to got with the electric fuel pump. I'm refusing to use starting fluid on it until ive absolutely run out of options. I also added seafoam to the new fuel so i will let it soak overnight, make sure the injectors are bled tomorrow and with the warm coolant hopefully get it started tomorrow.
 
just a thought, we just had to get our injection
pump on our diesel air compressor rebuilt. When the
shop took it apart it had gotten water in the pump
and vales were sticking and not developing full
pressure. there was sligt surface rust in it yet we
had run it and shut it off. and let it set for a
month or so. this was all due to getting some bad
fuel
 
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