Ford construction and earthmoving machinery What can you tell me about this prestigious earthmoving brand? I believe they listed excavators in some old brochure. They only produced wheeled crawler excavators, some wheel loaders, and some skid loaders. I don't think they produced anything else. Why haven't they broken into the American market? Perhaps Caterpillar and John Deere are stronger in the sector. Thanks. What's the history of this brand and its most significant models? Crawler bulldozers, tractors, and tracked loaders? Scraper graders? Tunneling equipment? Ford H-48 https://www.lectura-specs.fr/fr/modele/machines-de-chantier/excavatrice-sur-chenilles-ford/h-48-11759287
Ford had gotten out of alot of the construction equipment business and what was left turned into new holland and owned by cnh or fiat
Ford had excavators for only a couple years if I recall around 1973/1974. They also had some decent wheel loaders, A62, A64 and A66 in the late 70's to mid/late 80's. Ford was most known for backhoe loaders and industrial loader tractors. Producing them starting in the early/mid 60's. They were some of the best on the market especially in the 80's. The 555 Ford was a very productive and well liked machine. The last Ford labeled backhoes that became New Holland models were nowhere near as well built as the original Ford backhoes. The front end loaders on the backhoes were built much cheaper and simpler almost like an after thought. New Holland really blew a chance to compete with other name brand backhoes. Ford backhoes were very comparable to other major brands like JD, Case, JCB, etc. I know a guy who worked for a public works dept. that preferred the original Ford backhoes over JD or Case. The last Ford branded machines he didn't like nearly as much. Ford had skid steer loaders but they were made by other companies. The last versions in the 80's were made by Thomas in Canada but with Shibaru engines instead of Kubota engines. Kubota was a major competitor of agricultural tractors. Getting parts for Shibaru engines is difficult or impossible.
I photographed this pair of loaders 3 years ago, shortly before they went to the scrapper down the road.
No pictures but in the 90’s I had an older Ford backhoe that was a beast and very dependable.
Didn't chevy build a backhoe, some ss model?
TS-think of 60's Napco made a line of 4x4 backhoe people mix with 1950s GMC Napco conversions & call em a GM tractor.
Ford 345D landscape tractor Engine Cylinders: 4 Fuel type: Diesel Transmission Torque Converter 8F - 8R Chassis Differential lock Operators station OROPS Features Loader Bucket Ford 18-072 Bucket leveler Width: 83" Box blade Width: 85" Cutting edge: Rear Tires Front: 11L-16 Rear: 16.9-24
We had a 550, 655 and 2 555's. all good machines. The 655 was a great machine with lots of power.. They were all very dependable with almost zero breakdowns. The 550 and 555's could have used a bit more horsepower for pushing with the front bucket.
If I understand correctly, the Ford construction equipment sector was acquired by New Holland. However, in my opinion, Ford is still a prestigious brand, and the old Ford backhoes still do their hard work, perhaps not on construction sites but to help farmers in the countryside with the most demanding jobs... Am I wrong? Were the Ford Richier excavators built in a joint venture? The wheel loaders looked like Dresser International in terms of line? Am I wrong? I'm not familiar with skid loaders; I see very common loader tractors, especially those with rear-box attachments.
The excavators were likely a joint venture but I think the wheel loaders were all Ford designs. Not positive but a couple Skid steer models like the older CL40 might have been Ford designed.
Driving in farm land here in the US see a lot of old odd brand/rebranded skid steers. Some Ford's were made by Erickson til New Holland Fords late 70s
Canada Ford used Thomas skid steers as the base.
Erickson made skid steers for a lot of brands. The Thomas built machines in the 80's weren't bad machines. Most components on a Thomas are off the shelf. The biggest issue with the Ford branded models is the Shibaru engines. Have heard they are a nightmare to get parts for. The Thomas of the same period all ran Kubota engines which are no problem for parts. I don't recall actual Ford engines being used but maybe some models had them.
Ford made an Air-O-Plane at one time as well.......
Ford Trimotor plane 1925-1933 funny FORD Found on runway died. Think Ford/Sherman was 1 of the earliest U.S small hydraulic tractor hoes late 40s next to Hopto. By the 80s still only using half a backhoe frame bolted to engine obsolete Ford couldn't compete to a Deere or Case.
Probably have to drag the bucket on the ground so you're not doing wheelies every time you have to move. Used to have a 1949 8N that was bought new by the gov't. Good tractor but didn't have a live PTO and a little under powered to run a 6' flail mower. It had a neat pipe ROPS but never thought to take any pics. of it.
Ford--tried making body panels from soy/plastics in early 40's. 2002 the Blackwood-shelved.
my very first piece of equipment was a 755 ford tlb...loved it.
The Ford 755 was a very similar loader design to a Massey Ferguson MF70. Pretty big machines.
that's crazy! especially the loader.
i got into the biz in 80 after dad retired. it was crazy going from my 755 4 stick...to friends case that had 3 stick and pedal swing...to another friend who had deere with joysticks....to modern day excavators where hoist and crowd are opposite of deere. learning curve
MF70's were fairly popular. I always wondered if Ford and Massey Ferguson had some kind agreement to share loader designs. My former neighbour had a couple MF70's and I've seen several others. He said the lifting power of the loader was incredible, more than a 2yd track loader! Massey Ferguson also had an even bigger MF80 that looked identical but was about 100 HP. and had a 6500lb. loader rating vs 5500lbs. for the MF70. There's an old video online where they showed how strong the MF70 and a rollbar were. They rolled it over on a hill and it tumbled over a few times. Worst damage was a front wheel assembly got broken off. It was a violent rollover.