I have been living on the side of a mountain for the last seven years and paying a small fortune for backhoe work...and it got to the point my contractor was leaving his backhoe in my yard for extended periods, and I was maintaining it for him. I am used to heavy equipment, being trained as a truck/bus mechanic some 35 years go, then got into engineering (a BSME and MSE, Industrial) down the pike. I even did a summer as a intern doing hydraulic design. Now I am specialized in industrial engineering support a certain type of manufacturing industry. But retirement is coming up and I have 30 acres of mountain side to turn into a private park. Backhoe/loader duties will be gravel and pioneer road maintenance, including ditches and grading, including culverts, some through wetland, some up mountains, underground utility installation, water, electric, communication, sewage and such. And of course digging foundations and foundation trenches. I have a root cellar that has been stalled for years. And my sister in law wants to build on adjoining property. I have operated ag tractors, front loaders, fork lifts, but never a backhoe, so that will be a learning experience. Due to the nature of the soil, lots of black 4" drainage tile needs to go in or else the soil never drains...and of course trees and stumps everywhere! Now it is time to invest in a used machine, I am thinking about the $25k mark, probably a 60-90 hp machine, at about 15k lbs. And due to the wetness of my terrain, 4x4 is necessary. I have dug out more than one quicksand hole by hand, to drain and refilled with native rock. I am restricting my selection to a "name" brand which in this area would be a Cat, Deere, Case or New Holland. A little maintenance doesn't scare me, I have a 20 ton press, a big air impact wrench and a buddy who works in a shop that makes custom hydraulic hoses. So the cost of replacement hoses is minimal, and I am helping him get parts for a frame swap on his Tacoma pickup. (dealer does all the labor and will install new front struts, tie rod ends, ball joints, belts, ujoints, rear shocks with the new frame if parts are supplied). I am looking at things like Case 580 series, Cat 420 series, Deere 310 and such. While I don't need much depth beyond 8' feet or so, good breakout for stumps would be nice. I have been attending local auctions, looked at Craigslist and Machinery Trader and roughly know what is out there and how much. Now my questions are: Best value in a tractor: How old before parts become an issue: And what are the lemons out there to avoid, like a Dynohoe that lacks parts support, or a JCB that needs parts shipped from England or the L - series Kubota that look awfully nice at the dealership, but might not do well digging large stumps. Thanks in advance for the assistance...and if I can help with my experience let me know...however, the IH branded school busses and medium trucks I was trained on way back when are kind of scare, but if you need a IH 304 or 345 gas motor rebuilt, I am your man. Howard
IMO one of the first things to think about when looking at which brands to consider (or to exclude for that matter) is the quality of parts & service support in your area. From your post it's likely you won't need to bother the service department too much, but I guarantee that you will need parts from time to time .....
The local construction folks here like Cat, Case and Deere and there are sales/parts/service organizations for all three within 30 miles of the house, but with my habits, I will be getting the common stuff from discount fleet supply, rock auto, amazon and they using specialty vendors for bearings, seals, and dealer only stuff, via internet/mail order. I also restore old dodge trucks and BMW motorcycles Thanks for the feedback...parts are always something to worry about...about how old can I go with good parts support? I see many used tractors in use back to the mid-60's. Howard
Best bang for the buck around $25K would be a 580SL or 590SL, might even be able to find a 580M, 580SM, 590M, or 590SM around that mark as well if you have dealership support locally. Not usually any problems getting L parts pretty quickly, M's are pretty abundant for parts stock. Looks like this is probably the closest dealership to you: http://www.westhillstractor.com/
WestHills tractor is under 30 minutes away, which isn't bad since the nearest grocery store is 12 miles away. Thank you for the excellent and detailed advice on models and parts availability. Now I can restrict my search to the Case model most applicable. The K models I understand had the big upgrade to them, while the 590 is simply the 580 on steroids. And the S means super with more power and 4wd...Now I get it. Today's task is to find a rebuilt kit for the LSD rear meatball on a 08 Jeep Wrangler Sahara...the rear end grease came out dirty with a chip on the drain plug. And I keep saying that I am retired from wrenching work. Howard
I had jd310 which was a good machine but I think any of the choices will do what you want, I traded it for an Kubota L45 backhoe that I really like. I rented a L59 before I traded and it is a really good machine, so do not rule it out unless money is a hard stop. Once I am done with all my ground work and sell all my equipment, I will buy a new L59 as my small farm maintenance tractor.
There's a 580m with a 4 in 1 bucket on EBay right now, 8,000 hours, currently at $25K. Machine is in New Jersey
Thank you, but I am waiting for a expected influx of money to purchase AND there are some good auctions coming up in December and January. But a M model with 8k hours does sound like a reasonable deal. I am expecting to put pin and bushing plus hoses into anything I buy. I have a 20 ton press and a selection of sledge hammers from 4 to 16lbs at the ready. I should probably get a set of the crawfoot line wrenches also... Howard
have you considered an excavator? you may even be able to get an ex and tractor for more versatility. My machines cost me 27, but the tractor was brand new. I built a dump trailer for the tractor, makes things much easier and way more flexible then being tied to 1 machine.
I have...and then I found this last night: http://tricities.craigslist.org/hvo/5304984884.html and this is 20 miles away, and I can hauling done with a phone call by a local heavy equipment contractor. A Deere 455 crawler loader with backhoe, for 20k. The cost of undercarriage repair just scares me! But it is about the only way to work some of the un-drained soft, hilly soil up here. A neighbor went to do some logging and the skidder kept getting stuck, so he had to skid the logs with his dozer and that made a mess, and put an extra few hundred hours on his dozer, working in mud, roots, rocks and grit. Took a job once while I was between college and a two year engineering internship in Texas, fixing heavy equipment, brakes jobs on low boys, outside in the snow, walking beam bushings on worn out dumps, and other such terrible work...and they had a welder pulling new cleats on dozer track, while the tracks were still ON the dozer, and between the 1/4" rod, heavy amperage, lack of preheat, he spent more time welding cracks out then putting bar on. I can see me in my shop at night bushing dozer track for new pins while welding on new cleat material... Off today from my day job so shop work it is...first is throttle cables and springs on a BMW R75/5, a 71 toaster tank model, ridden by my lovely wife. Howard
If you're really on a hillside, a tracked hoe like you found on CL is the way to go. Rubber tired hoes don't like sloped ground, even with 4wd. They are waaayyyy top heavy and so easy to get up on two wheels, and then on their side. I'm on a hilltop and only go straight up or down the slopes, and that is hardly ever. I had a '71 R50 with the toaster tank. Replaced it with a Daytona Orange R90s. Buy a tracked hoe....
Most of the tracked hoes I've seen are JCB
We now ride modern GS Aventures, but we also have a couple of R80s including a R80ST, a airhead GS, a Rockster and have been into BMW motorcycles going on 30 years. I will call the guy with the Deere 455G in the morning and see if he wants my 62 Dodge M37 Military Power Wagon in trade. A R90S in Daytona Orange is a very desirable machine...do you still have it?
It's still in the garage when I looked an hour ago....Owned it 31 years. Had a friend in the '60s that was into M37s. He said drive axles were the weak point and always had a couple of spares. Buy the tracked hoe.