I'm a newbie looking for a hoe to use on my farm and to exchange the bucket for a logging grapple for loading pulp logs as an inexpensive forwarder. I've found a 6500 with rebuilt engine for $10k and a 555 with reverse not working for $7,000 What's the difference in the machines (is one industrial and one Ag based) and is the reverse a hydrostatic shuttle problem coupled to mechanical gearbox or is the tranny a full hydrostatic? I have been looking at mini excavators instead, but it seems that for my use and budget this could do the trick. I'd also want to fabricate a root rake to tear out small stumps and brush but leave the dirt behind and prep for replanting cover crops and saplings. These are available for excavators but I was wondering if you ever see them used on TLB's
The 6500 is a good bit bigger, but older. The 555 uses the exact same running gear as the 4500 did. The 6500 is a bit of a rare beastie. The 555 will most likely have a torque convertor and hydraulic reverse in front of a mechanical 4-speed. A few of them were built with a mechanical reverse with a dry clutch. For what it's worth, the clutches in the hydraulic reverse interchange with the clutches in a Ford C6 automatic transmission.
thanks Mitch504