Looking at getting an older 80s JD 855 track loader. Has anyone been around these machines enough to know much about them? Need to get it turned 90 degrees and loaded onto a detach lowboy. Can I pull the planetary covers off the back and get the machine to freewheel enough to turn 90 degrees and pull onto a trailer? This loader has been sitting at least 5 years. What size machine do I need to try to move this with? Wreckers are expensive so trying to do this cheaper than what I was quoted. Would a large 4wd tractor do it? Or do I need another tracked machine like a track loader, dozer, or excavator?
Welcome to HEF CJ ! I would avoid purchasing one of those. You could end up spending a fortune getting it going, if you can get parts, many of which are now obsolete.
Hard to pass up a deal that the old lady just wants it out of her yard. Engine parts are available yet, and that’s the first step. Just want some opinions on best way to move it. I’ve never messed with a machine this heavy before.
The towing procedure below is in the Operstors manual. You may have to put the neutral lock lever (on the front of the left console) in the run position. .
Yes I am familiar with this procedure, however I am worried about the chances of the brakes not “pumping” up, being that the machine has sat for a considerable amount of time, and possibility of not having any fluid there to prime that pump. It’s something I’m going to try, but if it fails I think my next step is to pull the planetaries. What are the chances the tracks are siezed? Will they want to roll being that have sat that long or will it be a fight the first few times around?
The planetary cover is also the mount for the track sprockets. Screenshot below. The chances that the tracks will be seized is very high. .
So it’s not possible to pull the planetaries without also pulling the sprockets. Besides the park release, are there any other east options for freewheeling the machine? Doesn’t appear to me that there is but I haven’t been around any of these machines
You could pressurize the park brakes. Remove the 12” square rear plate at the very back of the machine. Just below the opening should be 1/2 “ tube with a tee to connect the 2 final drive park brakes. Plumb in some fittings , 200 psi should be plenty.
If I do this do I need to run constant pressure, or can I remove the T and make a closed line with a valve running to both the park brakes, so I could pressure up with a tractor or possibly a porta-power
Honestly, if she just wants it out of there I would take a cutting torch and a skid loader. Start making trips to the scrap yard. From my experience with those machines you would be money ahead in the long run. I'm not trying to be a "Debbie Downer" and I'm all about getting a machine up and running that has been sitting. That all being said, if you are dead set on getting it to free wheel I would prob try using a porta power to release the brakes.
As bam1968 suggested a porta power would work . Screenshot of park brake pressure tube and hose layout from parts catalog below. .
So it looks like best way would to unhook the #1 hoses and put a T in with the third end hooked to the porta-power. Those hoses should be easily accessible in the back cover of the machine you talked about earlier? Once the brakes are released and it freewheels, what kind of machine do you think I would need to move it? Would a large 4wd tractor do it and turn it 90 degrees? Or would I need a large tracked machine like another track loader or dozer or excavator?
Wonder why it was setting in the first place sounds like a money pit
As far as what you would need to move it, a big 4wd should get the job done if it is all pretty level ground. It might struggle if it has to be pulled up hill. I would be concerned with how you are going to get it on a lowboy. It would be nice to get the bucket a couple feet off the ground. Otherwise putting it in float should at least take the pressure off if you are pulling it on detach from the rear of the machine. Whatever you do, don't dump a bunch of money in this machine. You can get upside down real fast even if it was given to you for removing it from the property.
Bucket is already up on the machine, will have to let it down some just to get to move it. Once I get it moving I think I should be able to just pull it onto the detach. Might take a little bit going from side to side of the trailer to keep it straight, but that is the easy part in my opinion. And yes I understand the situation about this being a money pit, shouldn’t take much to get the engine going. Once it’s running again I will do a general service with fresh hydraulic and filters, and try it out. If it doesn’t work then it’s headed to the scrap yard or the salvage.
Trouble is when a person gets going on something its hard to quit because you feel like you've failed its in your yard and there's no Cat guys wanting the parts! If it was a great machine like a 977 preferably with the SALT tracks & split link, it would be different . What about getting it going in her yard? I feel bad saying get it in writing (what's the harm). Cousin stops by its running...
What about barring the engine over or put in fresh batteries. If it doesn't spin...
Fuel system needs work, missing some parts I have sourced already from local salvage yard. It will not run the way it is. Possible that it would at least turn over with some batteries but won’t gain me anything where it’s at. Better in my mind just move it and fix later.
I have a John Deere 450C that snuck into my place a long time ago. It's a nice machine but the dealer is quite a long ways away. Hopefully this machine was parked for a silly reason.
Yes
The engine is probably the least expensive component to repair even if it needed a complete rebuild. My former neighbor had some 855's for demo work. I know one of them sat at the JD dealer for so long they had to tell the neighbor to take it away. They were stripping parts off it to fix the other machine(s). 855's were good powerful machines when they worked but if anything went wrong with the hydrostat they were astronomically expensive to fix. If the fuel system is missing parts, who knows what all is wrong with it. I'd guess it has a bunch of hours on it for it to be needing engine/fuel system work.
I forgot it was a loader, there will be some counterweight(s) to remove to gain access to the rear square cover and the brake release hoses.
And they won't be light!
The tracks on the 855 fit the 977 if anyone is interested. I doubt a small 4 wheel drive tractor will be able to pull a 50,000lb track loader onto a lowbed. Nick
I think he mentioned a large 4 wheel drive tractor. That should move it unless it's sunk in the ground pretty good.
It has been awhile but I wanted to give an update if anyone was interested in how this deal turned out. Drove out 7 hours with my pickup loaded with all the tools and things I think I would need. Had this lady’s son spray all the injectors down for a week before I dove out. Pulled all 6 injectors and installed a used set I had from a 4650 tractor. Ripped the injection pump off and installed a used one I got from my buddy who runs an injection shop. Topped it off with used hydraulic and hydrostatic oil I had drained out of a tractor just a week prior, primed the fuel system and started cranking with some fresh batteries. All I got was white smoke, gave some ether and just knocked. After an hour I got it to hit on 3 cylinders, and heated up the block with a tiger torch for a few hours, still just got a few hits and kicking with the ether. I pulled the injectors and started dumping as much of the used Hy-Tran I had Down the cylinders and let it sit overnight. Come out the next morning and started heating the block with the torch again, and reinstalled the injectors and lines. Started cranking and after about an hour it started showing signs of life. Finally ran by itself with a little help with ether until it caught on all the cylinders. Pulled it forward an and topped off with fuel and messed around with it for about an hour. Seemed low on power, which is why I was told it was parked. Called for a low boy to head my way and we loaded it up and took it home. Pulled it into the shop and pulled the head and was planning to in frame the engine, but I saw the cam gear for the oil pump drive from above and knew the engine had to come out since the teeth were razor sharp and starting to chip off. Did a complete out of frame overhaul, used camshaft and oil pump shaft, new bearings pistons liners and rings. Head and rods were rebuilt, and crank was straightened and polished(bent 6 thou). Rebuilt pump and new injectors. But that was only the start. Had to have the splines for the splitter drive Input shaft rebuilt, and grooves for the sealing surfaces fixed. Flywheel cleaned up and machined, and re riveted the clutch disc, for some reason the rivets were popping out. Fixed a leak in the hydraulic oil cooler, installed new upper rad hose and had to fabricate my own lower rad hose. Got various pedals and controls that were sticky or frozen in stuck and working good. Drained and refilled with fresh hydraulic and hydrostatic oil. The hydrostatic system was nasty and full of milky watery oil, got as must put as I can and I filled with viscosity ultraction, it’s what we use in all our equipment and it is capable of absorbing 2% of water by volume if I remember. The oil after running for awhile seems to be staying clean. Also drained the final drive and planetary oil and replaced with fresh 80w90. Old oil was very clean so I was happy. I pulled the left main lift cylinder rod and end bell out of the body and had it resealed and fixed at the local hydraulic shop. It left a trail when I backed it into the shop, and then reinstalled into the barrel still on the machine. Thought it was much easier to do that than remove the cylinder as a complete assembly. I tested it out just playing around with a dirt pile we have by the hole out back and seems to work really good. Right brake easing working nearly at all when we loaded it but now functions just as good as the left, and both tracks seem to have good power and machine tracts good and straight. Finding some of the parts for this has been a nightmare, but that’s to be expected. None of the aftermarket companies had pistons available for the early 619 when I was ordering parts so I ended up finding NOS Deere pistons out of a warehouse, pairing those with my old pins and new rings and liners from reliance was the trick I guess. Deere wanted close to 475 for each of the liner packs, and I only have a fraction of that into these now. I need to address a leak on the hydraulic valve stack for the loader, seems to leak, but not sure how much yet since I haven’t used it much. I have one lower track roller that is shot, having a hard time finding one close to where I am at, everyone wants to charge 200 plus freight to get it to me. They are the same as a D7E or 977K cat machine, if anyone knows where to get one new or used close to Northeast Nebraska. Part number 1P9102 or 1P9100.
So the big question is how much $$$$ do you have invested in it so far? Can't say if it was worth it without knowing how much was spent on it.
I added up all my parts and materials, lowboy trucking, and original purchase price. I’m right at $15,000 not including my time. At least around here, a comparable sized machine would be at least $25,000 in decent shape. At least this way I know I’m not afraid of the engine. I don’t believe I will have any drivetrain issues in the few amount of hours I will run this, but my thought process was I can scrap the machine, and pull the engine before I scrap it and sell it to someone with an 8630, 40, or 50 4wd tractor and at least make some money back on the engine. Or if I decide to sell when I’m finished with it I could easily get 15 out of it with all the paperwork I have proving what I fixed, and having a decent running machine. Just my thought.
It's good you could do the work yourself but only being out $15K is the exception rather than the norm for a large track machine. 90%+ of the time you'd be double of triple that amount. I forget if the undercarriage had much life left in it.
I’ll post some pictures when I get back to the shop on Monday.
Glad you put the effort and money in it to save it from being scrapped. I have only spent a few hours operating an 855 but I have spent a lot of time on a 655B and 755B. All of these machines were very powerful and I enjoyed operating them. Probably not quite as durable or reliable as a Cat hydrostatic loader but I think they were good machines if maintained well and all had plenty of power to get the job done. My dad rented an 855 that was about new for several months back in the early 80s when I was a kid. I remember watching it load trucks and perform miscellaneous grading jobs. My uncle operated it most of the time and he really liked it. I’d like to see some pictures or video of it running.
My former neighbors son said an 855 picked up a 755 that was stuck. I'm sure the increased production of the JD hydrostatic loaders was a major factor in Cat going to hydrostatic loaders. That said I think the Cat loaders generally have less problems and longer life spans than the JD loaders. JD still set the bar in hydrostatic loaders years before Cat, with dozers too.
I’m late to the party. Glad to see you got it moved. No way a 4x4 tractor was gonna move it. I own a 855 and There’s not many left. Finding parts has been my only real issue.
That's the problem with JD hydrostats even the powershift loaders. JD tends to obsolete parts much earlier than Cat. Back in the late 90's I had a 1987 JD355D and some parts were hard to find back them. I have an 86 Cat 931B and some parts are obsolete like parts for the flip over backhoe seat but all the powertrain stuff is readily available. The vane seals for the rotary swing said to check with dealer but mine were in good shape when it was rebuilt due the main shaft wearing. All the other seals were no problem at all. I don't think JD would have much of anything for their older backhoes with a rotary swing cylinder.
Theres mine. I found mine sitting, with a new engine. They rebuilt the engine and a week later it quit pulling at any rpm above idle. Sat for a few years, and he sold it to me for 4K. After adjusting some linkage at the flow controll valve it took off pulling and hasn’t missed a beat since. I’ve had to replace both front idlers and a few rollers on the bottom. As stated a d7e roller matches up perfectly. I wouldn’t want one I had to depend on making my living. But for a farm loader cleaning up trees and stuff every now and then it works pretty good. They are stout loaders.
Your tracks are too tight and the sprockets look pretty worn. My former neighbor had a few 855's after having a 755. I fid a bunch of welding on the 755. He did demolition and ran the machines into the ground. The JD dealer had to tell him to come and pick up an 855 parts machine that had been on their lot for over a year.
I’m sure you could find there’s lots of things not up to par for everyday use . Had to run tracks tight to keep em on before I put some new rollers on it.
That will make your sprockets wear faster too.
And chains, idlers etc
I mentioned sprockets because they are pretty pointed.
They have a lot left in them for it it’s used for but I appreciate the heads up. They are worn for sure. But those pictures make them look a little worse than they are.
I don't know how active this sub is, but I have an 855 that's been in the family for 30 years. Hasn't moved in about 10, but was parked just because we didn't use it anymore. Has 1200 hours on it, what are y'alls thoughts?? View attachment IMG_4924.jpeg
Looks to be a pretty decent machine. (As far as undercarriage looks). They are good machines when everything is right. They expensive machines when it’s not right lol. Edit…also a pain in the rear when they aren’t right.
It looks in pretty poor shape for only 1200 hours. I'd guess the hour meter gas gone around once and it has12,000 hours. The tracks also shouldn't be so loose for extremely low hours. Are you using the forum to try and sell it? If so you need to read the forum rules.
It doesn’t look too bad from what you can see in the photo. I would give it a try and see if you can get it going. Very strong, smooth operating machine if everything is working as it should. Where are you located in NC?
While the undercarriage looks to be good the bucket is showing more wear than 1200 hours. Looks to have good potential for a working machine.
A wise man once told me if the pins are held by 7018 one must run. Fast and far away. Unless your getting paid to fix it!
The hyd. hoses look in pretty poor shape too. There's no way that 855 has only 1200 hours. Maybe he was hoping to try and sell it on the forum? 855's were very powerful loaders but astronomical in price if you had to fix a major component. My former had a few for demolition but I think they all ended up being scrapped.
655/755/855 series was dead when they hit the market Komatsu/Japanese excavator made the crawler obsolete
No, they were fairly popular which was kind of their downfall. They proved the increased production of hydrostatic drive. So much so that Cat went hydrostatic drive and rear engine. Some people thought the JD's were superior to Cat's but Cat has a lot more followers and the rear engine gives much better visibility. JCB had a rear engine hydrostatic loader even earlier but they they never caught on. Not sure when Liebherr came out with a hydrostatic loader? JD was in 1976.
Cat was behind everyone no machine is new hi drive was done with farm crawlers from start it was of waste u/c like Cats 2017 D7e throw back & rear engine loaders in 50s with Hough & Eimco. Cat copy Eimco crawler loader arm design in the 60s with the 955
Lots of good info guys. That early hystat isn’t anything special on them. Now days maybe. But these old 55 series Deere cost more than they are worth to fix on the hystat side of things. My 855 will not push with my d6r and it’s got another 10k pounds on it. According to gauges everything is in spec…….. Not knocking ether one. Just stating my experience and deere does not sell but a hand full of parts at most for the 855s. while cat sells most every part I’ve ever needed for any of the old ones. I can’t even buy a dang front idler for mine or even a roller. Leibherr built the Deere track loaders from the b series untill the j or k series. ( I think). Not sure on exact series but I know they built them for Deere for many years.
Understand 55 series were prototypes rushed out for a market disappearing like Cat 863 no reason to carry on next gen. Only seen 2 clean ex Navy 855 in junk yard no dealer support long time ago.
Deere 605 was home built & the 655 up was liebherr
Late 70s/80s Komatsu was king with a 7yd 155 crawler loader
Liebherr built the "C" series crawler loader and the 950/1050 C dozer. They became a Deere machine with the "K" series. No letter designation was built in between. All the dozers 850 size and down were always Deere. Easiest way to tell is by the serial number. If it begins with "1T0", it is a Deere. If it begins with an "LU", it is a Liebherr.
As was mentioned the Deere 55 series A and B were well regarded machines when they were in good shape. If they weren't looked after and/or got high hours the cost of parts and repairs was astronomical. That really contributed to their downfall and when Cat came out with rear engine hydrostats with improved visibility and better parts support, it really put the nails in the coffin for JD loaders.
Aside from parting this machine out I don't suggest buying it. It is not feasible to consider running it. The 855 was a beast in its day but JD never made that many of them. The engine should be pretty easy to sell and the transmissions will work in an 850 or early 850b but would have to be resealed at least.
They were too heavy and hard on undercarriage components even more so than the Cat 983. Both models had a pretty short lifespan.
No not tryin to sell. Just chiming into the conversation. We have been busy, but I put a new set of batteries in it and she fired right up. Going to need to rebuild the main cylinders since she was squirting fluid as I leveled out the bucket. But she’s alive!! Here’s a still shot from the first second it cranked. I’m very surprised at how smoothly it ran for being abandoned for 20 years.