Does anyone have any opinions on the 560 B/C Payloaders? What were the differences between the B and C model? How about the transmissions? Did they hold up well and who made them and what would be the current parts availability? What are the specifications for height, width, & weight? I've experienced the awkward cab forward design before but I am concerned about finding a machine that can do some work and not cost a bundle as far as purchase price and upkeep.
It has been many years since I worked on those monsters and generally I was happy to forget about them. I can dredge up a few items that have caused me to leak some blood on them during the years I worked for the dealer. The machine were common as loggers back in the late seventies and early eighties because it was generally the only thirty ton log loader that lived in the sort yards of the northwest. The 988 Cats just were worse than these machines at the time. The B and C models were made by International Harvester Corporation. We always had warranty problems with them when they were new. Transmission issues were common. Broken hook rings in the clutch packs caused slippage and the pack would burn up. The transmissions used automatic transmission fluid and you could not allow them to be stalled for more than thirty seconds or you would burn out the fiber seal rings in the torque converters. The engines were the fabled 817 International inline six cylinder putting out way more horses than it was ever designed to. They ran great for awhile. Later on they switched to the Cummins K series which was a big improvement. The center hitches were another weak point when we built these machines into log loaders. I don't recall any problems with them on bucket machines. Generally you had to split the machines in half to weld and bore the centers back to standard and install new bearings. It was never less than a weeks work for two people and some heavy lift gear. The hydraulic systems and steering were simple and generally almost never gave any problems that I can remember. The brakes though were a huge pain in the backside. If they worked at all they didn't work well. I also remember broken front axles enough times to stick in my head and the back axle sat in a cradle known in the parts book as the bolster. The bolster broke on at least three machines that I remember but all were loggers. Jacking the back of those machines up with hand jacks put lots of sweat on the brow and took the better part of half a day sometimes. A couple of times I was lucky and another machine came by and lifted the machine. We had it blocked in minutes. In answer to your question then, yes there are lots of weak areas on those machines and transmission and engine parts will be very hard to come by. I would suggest you look for something a little more common and newer. Good Luck!