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I was a Deere mechanic for close to 40 years - and we sold and serviced a lot of hoes. That included our Deeres, and also many Cases and IH machines. I used to have the luxury of borrowing machines for free - but no more. At present, I own four old hoes and am now looking for a fifth. Case 580CK, Pettibone MultiHoe, Ford 4000 Idustrial, and a Deere crawler loader with an Allis Chalmers hoe on the back. The reason I have so many is - because I own several properties, and I'm doing work at all of them that requires random escavation. I gave up long ago trying to hire anyone - it's often a losing proposition. Might work OK for one big job - but if you have a situation that requires smaller jobs with no set schedule in mind -owning your own is almost a must. I've dug footers and cellars, installed three septic systems, put in driveways, etc. Even used the hoes for setting 24 foot poles by myself and installing trusses on new buildings. My experience is this. Deere makes great machines but many parts are "Deere only" and expensive. Subsequently, I don't own any Deeres hoes - although I do have a Deere crawler with an AC hoe on the back.
Deere machines are just too expensive to work on and to hard to fix. Case has some older hoes just as rugged and they use fewer "Case only" parts - but still have enough. You can't beat an older 530CK or 580CK if bought right in decent shape. They can often be found $4500 - $7500 in nice condition. Ford has many older hoes just about as good.
I have a small 1964 Industrial 4000. My neighbor bought it used in 1967 and did an incredible amount of work with it as his farm. When he sold out - I got it for $2800 and I've done a lot of work with it with no problems other than hoses breaking. It's also light enough for me to truck. My best-buy and most useful hoe ever is my Pettibone Multihoe with a Detroit Diesel 3-53. It's made 100% of easily found truck parts - nothing proprietary. Very similar to a Dynahoe. Detroit engine, Allis transmission, Eaton axles, etc. Very cheap to fix. I bought it for $1500 and spent a winter checking it over. I replaced all the filters, hoses, brakes, and installed a few new gauges, etc. Spent another $900 on it - and it's been great since. It's an 18,000 lb. machine, so I can't truck it myself. Subsequently it stays near home. I guess it all depends on what you want. You certainly can get a good machine for $5000-$7000 if you wait and look closely. I'm in New York and I'm searching for a hoe right now in Northern Michigan where I just bought land. I'd like to buy a big ugly Dynahoe if I can find one cheap - they are workshorses and easy to work on.
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