Forgive me fellas, this is my third thread and my third big idea, still have not purchased a machine. That said, I really appreciate the opinions and wisdom I get from those of you on this forum. I have 40 acres of wooded land in the Michigan Upper Peninsula. It's very remote and not having luck finding people that want to come out there to work, so I'm doing it myself. I need to clear a site for a cabin, dig a walkout basement, and do the necessary digging for a septic system. I'll eventually clear a spot for an outbuilding, put some trails through the property, and the occasional road maintenance on the logging roads and 2-tracks around the property. In thinking about which machine would suit my needs I've gone back and forth between a crawler loader and a wheeled backhoe loader. I used to think my ideal machine would be a crawler loader with a 4in1 bucket on the back. I like JD equipment and have considered the 450C and the 555A. My newest idea is 455G, which is going to be a bit more spendy up front, but may be worth it in the long run. I have found 1995 JD 445G. It has what I think is the forestry package (4-1 bucket and Carco winch). Haven't looked at it yet but has 3200 hours showing and looks very good in the pictures. He's at 26k. Price seems to be comparable to other 455G's available, and like I said is very clean, low hours, with 4in1 bucket, and winch. Based on past feedback about backhoes on crawlers, I'm wondering if I should give up on the backhoe idea and just appreciate that winch. I could rent a small excavator for the septic system and do the land clearing and walk-out basement with the 4-1 bucket. I guess I'm just looking for validation here. Would I wish I had a hoe on the back? How hard would it be to add one? Anyone know if the plumbing for the winch is the same for a hoe? All feedback welcome.
The plumbing for the winch and the backhoe are not remotely the same. To plumb for a backhoe , you need to install a power beyond section at the loader control valve and also add a diverter valve. There are a couple of videos on utube of an old school 9300 b/hoe and a 9300G b/hoe installed on 455G’s.
Thanks Diesel Dave I'll definitely watch the videos. With switching back and forth from winch to backhoe sounding like a pretty big job, I'd likely just go without a backhoe on this machine. I've had someone tell me that the backhoe on a crawler is "just okay" for digging, and when your not using the hoe it makes the crawler unbalanced with it off and a PITA when just hanging on the back for weight. I'm strongly considering the the machine with the winch and 4in1 bucket. Any crawler owners/operators out there find the hoe to be a pretty indispensable tool? Other than trenching, I'm not sure I'd miss having it.
I have a 450c track loader with the backhoe. If I don't need the hoe for the project at hand I take it off the machine. Balance is much better, no "hobby horsing", I can actually do some fair grading with the front bucket. You also don't have a 10 foot long tail swinging around behind you waiting to break what ever you bump into.
If you don't have a need for a winch, you might be better off trying to sell it if you bought the machine. A winch is not quick attach like a backhoe so switching between them would be a pain. I suspect the hyd's. couldn't be set up for both. Finding a backhoe as well as the necessary hyd's. to run it and the mounting ears might be a tough challenge. Not sure if the backhoe also requires an additional oil cooler as well. A backhoe is handy to have and makes most digging a piece of cake. In my opinion 4 in1 buckets aren't that big of a deal and I have 1. They don't fill as easily and it you're clearing brush, there's a bunch more hoses and lines to potentially get mangled.
Thanks for weighing in boaterri. Sounds like the balance isn't an issue when you don't have the hoe on, which is good to hear. How do you like using hoe, are you happy with it when you use it?
Thanks for your reply Welder Dave. You make some excellent points. I actually heard back from a seller on a different 455G that I sent a message to several weeks ago. This machine is a 1997 JD455G with a 9310 hoe and a 3 tooth ripper. It has standard bucket with good teeth. Overall condition looks to be excellent and he's asking 25K. It's a couple of hours from me and I'm hoping to go see it this weekend or early next week. I'm glad to hear your opinion on the 4in1 bucket. That's another thing I always think I need but maybe don't. Seems like it would be easier for leveling/grading for someone with little operating experience.
JD's are nice because the backhoe and ripper use the same mounting ears. Cat is completely different so it's not practical to have both. Hopefully the machine you're going to look at has the return-to-dig bucket leveler working. If it's adjusted right makes leveling a breeze in addition to putting the bucket level on the ground for loading. $25K is not a bad price if the undercarriage has some life left in it like at least 30-40% remaining. That should get you 1000 hours plus if you don't abuse it. I never use 3rd gear even if I have to drive 1/2 a mile to my neighbors back field to load sand and I'm kind of glad my machine only has 1 reverse speed. It's in between 1st and 2nd gear. High speed reverse is the worst for undercarriage wear. If the machine has 3500 or so hours (or more) the original undercarriage would be almost ready for replacement. If the machine has over about 4500 hours it should have had new undercarriage fitted. Sometimes machines seem like a great deal but they're being sold because the owner doesn't want to spend $12K or more on new undercarriage. If the 455G needs undercarriage but is otherwise in good condition would be worth putting new undercarriage on if the price was right. On smaller machines it's sometimes easier to justify the cost of new undercarriage.
The hoe is an absolute beast. Most of my digging is in limestone. Small bites and the hole just keeps on getting deeper. Would like to get a smaller bucket to make it more effective for my tasks. I can have it removed in about 10 minutes, back on takes a little longer. With the hoe removed and just the rear under mount weight the track loader is a very nice machine to load, spread and rough grade with.