Hi, First of all sorry about my limited knowledge in this area What stats would you care about if you were to buy a new backhoe and a tractor/loader to attach it to? If I were buying a new car I would probably look at the price, fuel consumption, number of seats and acceleration/top speed. What should I care about if I were buying a backhoe (or heavy equipment in general)? Size of the digging bucket, arm length, engine size or something completely different? Thanks, Bryan
1. what are you going to be using it for? 2. what is your budget? 3. how much work do you have for it? 4. do you have experience running Heavy Equipment? 5. new or used?
I guess that to answer your question that we need to know what your intended use for the machine would be, are you going to move an occasional dirt pile , keep the drive in shape, or start a consruction company. You mentioned a add on hoe and loader to a tractor so I assume that you are looking for a small homeowner weekend warrior setup. If so Kubota makes such combinations as do all the major manufacturers and a few others, They offer removable loaders and hoes and can be equipped with mowers for lawn work, but are tradeoffs. They are ok but people tend to use them for heavier work than they were intended. I would avoid like the plague the chinese units as sold by cataloge outfits. If you are looking for a full size unit you will find that they are not add ons to a existing tractor but dedicated units built as complete and ready to work out of the factory. My preference would be Case as I have worked all my life for one of their dealers and they have been at the forefront of the industry. That having been said however, a local dealer that is strong in support for their product would be more important than brand to a newcomer. Look at what the major contractors are useing in your area, ask some questions, talk to a salesman. A good one will know how to match you to the machine that meets your needs. Find out labor rates at the dealer shop, trucking rates for repair if you need dealer hauling, etc. There is a lot of knowledge here on this forum, lets see what others say. Mel
words of experience If you are still considering this option, let me know, I'll tell you what I have encountered, as I bought a NEW John Deere 110 TLB, got ALL the attachments, and have used the **&* out of it. I have to go set a culvert today, or I'd give you a long drawn out story about the pros and cons.. or send me an email, and I'll reply back that way..
Looking to purchase as well Hello, I am new here and I have to post three replies before I can start a thread. I do not mean to high jack this thread. Now to my question I am looking to purchase a backhoe for my personal use and my budget is $28,000.00 ~ $36,000.00. I have read through the information on this site on the models and manufactures and boy thier is a lot of choices... I am looking at the Case and Cat manufactures. Before I go on my limitation of knowledge of what to look for when buying a unit? I had looked at a site called Iorn Planet and some of the units come with a description check list which I thought was very good. I have a few photos to share on a couple of units and I hope someone can elighten me on what I need to check on these particular models. 2002 Case 580 M Turbo 2860hrs enclosed cab. ext hoe two buckets 4x4 for $36,000.00 decent shape I wish I could attached a few pictures. 2000 Cat 426c Turbo 4,800hrs enclosed cab. ext hoe one bucket has clam loader bucket 4x4. $33,900.00 I had test drove this unit everything to seem to be tight but again some areas there where no grease over run in the areas which tend to squirt out, so if dry then it would be tight untill greased? There where some fluid leaks under the motor and trans... This may be typical but again nothing squirting out.. The Backhoe had been runnning for 45 min so it had given some time for the hyd fluid to thin out. The seals around the cyl looked good but again some residue. The cyl shaft shown some signs of pitting but overall chrome look good. The other is "Blow by" I had checked this by pulling the dipstick out and feeling any pressure flow from the tube, this may not be the best method since I am sure some where there is a bypass valve or positive crank case vent with this year and model. The only thing is that no place to actually try out with a load!!! I drove it around 4x4 engages and that did work shifting worked all electrical gauges work. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, NBO
Welcome Nightowlbird . I can't give you the advice you need, except with one point you brought up. "The only thing is that no place to actually try out with a load!!!" Lots of problems can be hidden without being able to work it for at least a few hours. Good thing to seek lots of advice when spending that amount of money.Phil
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums Nightowlbird! :drinkup
Thank you Phil Hello Phil, Thank you for responding to my message. I just signed up to the site and hope I will get to post a thread of my own. It does make it tough when you can not use the unit under load and I have to agree that things do come up when it is actually used for some time. Would you know if thier is any services that a company can offer to do an inspection? The only way to put a load would be using some type of inline or hydraulic load tool. But that would require for me to hire a dealer or manufacture service rep to inspect the unit. Thank you, NOB
Thank you Countryboy for the warm welcome Hello Countryboy, Thanks for the welcome and this site seems to have a a lot of good folks by reading some of the information here on some of the models and manufacture. I am not a contractor more less a weekend backhoe warrior..LOL I just want to find out from the experience folks to help to determine a fairly expensive item but can not justify to purchase new. I currently have an old 1971 ford backhoe I think its a 4500 model made in england. I have a good understanding in the mechanical portion but limited on test equipment for diesel engines such as a compression tester fuel injector fuel pressure gauges and etc... In my first previous post I am looking at a couple of units and hopefuly some one could point out maybe potential problems with either one, or to look for specific known problems.. Thank you, NOB
Nightowlbird, I'm a GM of a dealership. We have a branch in Cinci and have a few machines of various brands in your price range. Shoot me an email when you get a chance and we can find something for you or at least help you decide from among the machines you've found yourself. Most of our locations have an area to demo machines in the dirt and under load. Additionally, we provide all machines with at least a limited warranty to protect the buyer. Shoot me an email sometime [email protected]
Some dealers do offer machine inspection services, at a price, probably more important on an excavator where hydraulic systems are expensive to repair. You need to post this as a separate topic. Another thing to consider is finding someone very knowledgeable to take with you, pay him cash, have him try out the machine that you are ready to buy. Another point I wanted to raise is history. If you end up at a dealer, make him tell you where the machine came from. Try and talk to the previous owner or in case of a bigger business, the mechanic. Look at lots and lots of machines, every time you look at one you will be wiser. Will the owner rent it to you for a short time, with an option to buy? Phil
request to have some oil samples analyzed
Hi guys I'm new to the site and there sure is alot of good info here. I just recently bought myself a 2003 cat 420D backhoe and found that it is hard to get info on previous owners/history because alot of machines out there are not serviced at the dealers and are just bounced around from owner to owner.
In my opinion a machine that can't seem to settle down after several owners needs to be looked at pretty hard. That can be a sign of serious issues that no one wants to deal with.