Hello friends, Looking at a backhoe to clear 3 acres and help as a farm hand. This will be our first backhoe so hoping to get some opinions and direction since I’m looking at used 70’s-80’s models. What do you think about the attached Case 580K? Not sure if the smoke and sound coming from the engine is normal? Welcome thoughts from the more seasoned backhoe riders out there. Video Link Thank you, Dave
I would try and find an L series with 4x4, an extendahoe and a cab. That one in the video is a D. something like this https://www.machinerytrader.com/listing/for-sale/220718395/1996-case-580l-loader-backhoes
Welcome to the Forums d21. Glad to have you. Is this a machine you are actually looking at or just part of your YT channel?
Will do. Is there anything wrong with the one in the video you noted? Just since these aren’t too easy to find.
Toooo much smoke. Can‘t determine from a video if it is an injector pump problem or if the piston rings are wore out. An enclosed ROPS would be mandatory judging from how you are dressed. Do you have the mechanical skills to fix what needs fixing .
Thank you, the smoke looked off. That’s not me. It’s up in WV with the current owners. I’d have it in SC in the warm weather.
It’s a machine I’m looking at. Wondering if that much smoke should be concerning.
It would be if I was looking to purchase one. Was the engine warm when you made the video ? Does it smell like unturned fuel or have an oily odor ?
Think you should look at 4x4 dependping on mud. The machine looked pretty good, reasonably tight, smoke looked black but needs to be warmed up. Make sure whatever you look at, check warm and pushing power when warm. Main money pits are drivetrain issues, everything else, add oil or drop bucket to stop. lol Unless you are rich, either do a lot of research or pay someone reputable to look at with or for you. A lot of people, even on here buy a 25 to 40 year old machine, only to find out when it gets warm it doesn’t move. I bought a 580Se that smoked blue like hell when I got it, then after working it for a month, it cleaned up and has very little blow by. Bought a Ford 9n about 20 years ago that owner let sit and couldn’t get it in gear and needed split. I ran it into a tree, coming off trailer and fixed it. lol
If I was looking at backhoes in that price range, I would not want 4x4 or extenda hoe. Cab or no cab makes little difference unless you have AC, and AC will be more trouble than it's worth to keep working. A 2wd backhoe will be useless for loader work in soft greasy conditions, but it will work fine if you can wait for dry conditions. I'd suggest going for 80s-90s, better designs, but still no electronic controls. The smoke might have looked worse than it is, being cold and it looked like the sun was low in the sky so the smoke showed up more. That muffler wasn't doing any favors blowing the smoke back at the cab, usually an exhaust will be straight up or at most a 45. Definitely look at something like that in person, make sure it's cold before it starts, see how it starts and runs right away when it's cold, and what the blow by looks like when it warms up, as well as any oil leakage. A smooth starting and running engine without excess blowby or oil leakage is hard to discount just because it smokes.
Also look for grease on all pivot points on the loader and hoe. It's a sign the machine at least had some maintenance. Check how much slop it has. What do you need to clear? Bigger tree's and stumps or rocks are hard on tires. I agree with Delmer, a 4x4 and/or extend-a-hoe is nice but for the same money a well maintained 2WD is better than a clapped out 4x4 or worn out extend-a-hoe. That's way too much smoke in the video and the engine sounded a little off. It was running long enough it shouldn't have had a huge plume of smoke when he reved it up to drive it in forward and reverse. Maybe it was just cold but could be a bigger issue. Would need to see how it started after sitting overnight and if it cleared up after 5 or 10 minutes. Rest of the machine looks pretty good.