Judging by the pictures below, can anyone tell me what the value is on this unit? rough idea? 4000 hours 4x4. Runs good and hydraulics were "just rebuilt". Also, I can't locate another 1550 with this style of outriggers. Is this something that was special order back then? Thanks.
It is impossible for me to put a value on anything sight unseen. There are just too many variables to consider when putting a value on a piece of equipment. It is very important if you have a dealer nearby that can get parts for that JCB. It looks like it will need some. The side shift backhoe is quite common on JCB's. I would not want one because of the stabilizers on it. They are a nuisance it they are used around trees and rocks.
I get that I was looking for an idea or a range in price. I guess I was curious if anyone would pay 20k or 15k or no more than 15k if everything met their expectations.
pretty hard to find much of a backhoe for under $10K these days, but that looks a little rough, JCB has terrible resale in the US, "rebuilt" hydraulics could be a minefield. I'd find recent sales of Ford, NH, Terex, **, whatever that's not Cat, Case or Deere, and compare those conditions and price.
That sideshift backhoe is not common in the usa. Very common in other parts of the world though. But that machine is very old. I would not be paying 15 to 20 for that. You could get a lot newer machine for the money.
yea, they want 18k and I'm like I don't feel comfortable paying that for something this old, but I also need a machine to start working on my property for building and having a hard time trying to find something. I guess I wanted to see what everyone else thoughts were.
Go here and see what the market is doing. Keep in mind they are asking prices in the listings. https://www.machinerytrader.com/
I checked bigiron, just because it's easier to search. Similar age/condition Cases SOLD $6-16K most 2wd and standard hoe, three Super L's 4x4 extendahoe were 20,24 and $27. problem is that's a time span, and span of states that you're not going to be able to ship from, especially if you want it NOW. If you want it now and close, you're not likely to find a deal.
Get one here https://www.ironplanet.com/jsp/s/search.ips Type 'backhoe' and search. You can also see how much machines have been selling for.
That old of a machine, and being a JCB (no disrespect) probably only 10K-12K. I would spend the money on something newer or with better parts availability.
Well I have never seen a 4x4 for 10 to 12k local or in auctions (unless major problems) but I have an idea what to do.. I guess I'll let him sit on it and see what happens after a while.. I been watching equipment facts and proxibid for a couple months and after fees and shipping I know its going to cost me over 20k for something I can't even see in person. So its a gamble either way.. Local I have guys asking 12 to 15k for 2wd sometimes 20k..
They'll be more deals Feb 22, if not, then Feb 23. Nothing wrong with a JCB if you can run this one and it all works good. The parts and dealer support is you. Unless you have proven otherwise, assume all parts come by ship from UK, NO DEALER anywhere, and hydraulic hose places will not have the fittings to make a hose. If that can work for you, then I won't argue with it. Lots of people on here with homeowner machines that don't have a great service factor. JCB is the most common backhoe worldwide, I believe. Parts are available, maybe not local, maybe not now, but they are not an oddball, or greymarket, or orphan machine.
Your location is a mystery so I can't find anything near you. But, there is a webpage that searches everything in the US that is on Craigslist. https://search-craigslist.org/
Ontrack in Florida sells JCB part's.
I think that's simply wrong. I've owned (by happenstance) a 1550B for probably 20 years now. I'm just "Joe Homeowner who has a big toy to play about the property". One reality, I've had VERY VERY little go wrong with it. What has gone wrong, I've been able to fix myself AND simply call my "local" dealer (7 hours away HA!) and they simply ship my needs to me. Fortunate for me I've not needed an entire boom replaced lol, but I have never had any issue thus far getting anything needed for it. Dealer parts via phone call & credit card. Hoses with the British Metric fittings, I just go to my hydraulic shop. Rebuild cylinders, I used to take them off & to the shop, now I just do them myself. My experience for 20+ years is nothing like you describe......nothing.
This is from many years ago, but JCB is not known much for improvements in engineering. They were one step up from a Fermec. Really oddball electrical system, lots of problems in the 4X4 engagement mechanism. Torque converters that had color matching marks to fit them to the engines and lots of leaking cylinders were profit drivers when I worked for that particular dealer. Drive trains seemed to work fine except for the 4X4 components. 4X4 backhoes in general that are operational and more that about eight years old basement out at between $12K and $15K. Add a cab with AC and all the glass intact and $20K can be pretty common.
That's a little harsh. Jcb must be doing something right, since they're the world's best selling backhoe. You can critique any brand as it ages. But personally I wouldn't buy any brand of backhoe that is that old, unless you like wrenching!
That best selling backhoe is a claim and I've never heard it proved as a fact. I know for a fact that it is far from a major player in the US and as I was a service manager for the dealer those many years ago, that the brand had the most complaints on new machine sales of any of the lines that dealership carried. I will have to say that there weren't many sold and most would have at least one major problem before they got out of the warranty period. I'm only speaking from experience.
How long ago are we talking here?
Bbbbut, how many hours a year do put on it ?
How many hours? The truth is, I don't know. It's certainly not a full time thing (it doesn't earn its keep). I'm usually on it most every weekend during warmer months and couple times/month during colder months. I've got a regular full time job so this is my helper getting things done around the farm AND it's a bit of my mental vacation, as is simply cutting the fields on my tractor.
I've never worked on a JCB. There are none around here. I've only read the horror stories on here, mostly about incompetent dealer support. How many dealers are there in the US? It sounds like you are exactly what I describe, a homeowner with a machine that you don't mind waiting on parts to be shipped. I don't know what fittings your machine has, but if you ever need a hose on a Saturday, in most of the country, you're much better off if the machine is NOT British.
In 2020 JCB built it's 750,000 backhoe having started production in 1954. I wouldn't doubt that JCB is the worlds largest manufacturer of backhoes. They are manufactured in the UK, India, Brazil and the USA and a large number of old machines are still working globally. It helps that older machines are simpler to maintain and repair than current computerised machines. In Australia they're very common as are other jCB machines. They're not perfect, as few machines are, but with reasonable maintenance and operation they'll run as long as or longer than comparable machines from other manufacturers. With such a large manufactured base parts are generally readily available. In Australia at least, the large installed base of JCB machines means there are secondary suppliers outside the official JCB channel. These secondary suppliers are competitive in pricing, have good stock levels and knowledge and can airfreight items globally if necessary to get you back to work. The JCB parts supplier I use also dismantles a lot of machines and has a large range of used parts I don't have the most popular JCB models, my three are 1CX compact backhoes from 1994 to 2017, however I've never had a parts problem so far and I've worked the machines hard with good maintenance. I do most of the repairs and maintenance myself which makes me careful not to break my equipment! The hydraulic fittings are common all over Australia so hoses are not a problem. I think in the USA there may be a parts or service issue as they haven't been as common as they have been in other countries over the past 20 years. However a quick look online did show some alternative JCB parts suppliers in the USA.
I'll admit I've not gone there to "own them up to it" but my local NAPA dealer said they can make hoses for this machine when I specifically asked them. (did they fully understand my comment when I said it had those metric fittings??? I don't know) So right now, all I have to go on is their comment.
British Standard is not metric. I am not sure what JCB uses for fittings but if they truly are BSP or BSPP I am sure finding a shop with them in stock will be tough. If there is a contractor or company near you that has JCB equipment you may ask them where they get hoses.
I've never had an issue getting a hose made for me HOWEVER.... 1. I'm just a simple home owner so nothing I do is critical to be done "today" 2. I live roughly 10 miles out of town that as best I know, only has a place like NAPA or O'Reileys that MIGHT have the hoses but, no idea of the fittings. Therefore... 3. I'll wait until work-week, drive into Knoxville and have them made... reinstall them the following weekend. If this were on the payroll then immediate parts access would likely be a higher importance to me.
For the 2 cents it's worth.... maybe 20'ish years ago, the dipperstick cylinder needed redone. Grunted and got it off the machine. Took it to the dealer. Went to pick it up and the bill was OVER $1,000. I about croaked. To their credit, they DID give it an overspray of sticky yellow paint to make it look more pretty than it was. (this kind of irritated me as now it clashed with rest of machine, but I digress) Anyway, I (to use too strong of comment) challenged the cost and they lowered it to about $900. That was the last time I have ever been back to them......ever. I have done literally everything myself since then. I don't know what it should have cost AND I know it was a dealer so I get that much. My thinking was if these are hard to get parts then I know it's going to be done correctly by them. To that end, I've rebuilt the same cylinder ON the machine (so I didn't have to break my back carrying it to the truck) That motivated me to just dive in (I'm pretty fearless on taking something apart and admit putting back together can sometimes be challenging!) Since then, I've rebuilt both stablizers, boom cylinder, dipperstick, trunions and loader. In addition, I rebuilt the backhoe 'control box' (not sure of official name) with the spools in it. None of this is difficult, just have to pay attention and keep things clean. It amazed me how sharp the edges of the spools are (if that is the correct name for the correct part)