Anyone have experience with JD wheel loaders? Pros/cons of these machines. Never ran a JD anything so wondering how they compare to other guys CAT, CASE etc...fuel usage, tranny, engine, power etc?
Also looking at a 444E 1990s models. The 544b is a 1970s model.
As I recall the 544B models were pretty bullet proof, way better than Case of that size and vintage, maybe not quite as Skookum as CAT. But they're way old now, you would want to check it over pretty close. Check that 444 doesn't have a ZF trans, I seem to remember issues with those, but the wayback machine is pretty hazy back around the early 90's which was my Deere days.
Don't know to much about the 444 but it is not like the 544 of same time it doesn't have pilot controls or quite as good of layout as the 544e but like I said I haven't owned one just ran one once and wasn't impressed.
Thanks for the replies guys!! I read a few threads after going a search on google where the 544b,c,d models had tranny problems? Could be due to operator error and being rough but have you heard anything about that lantraxco? Included 2 pics of the actual machine itself. I'm just going to be loading top soil, dirt and bark on a moderate scale I think so was thinking the 544b would be able to handle it. It looked like a really clean machine (whether that was from the pressure washing or not), quite a few new hoses, oil and filter changes very recent, new starter and a couple other newer parts. The pins seemed to be pretty tight too, hardly any wiggle room in them. I think whoever owned it took really good care of it as the body didn't have any dents, had all the doors to cover the engine etc. Seems like a clean machine. Says there are 1808 hours on it but I know that isn't right.
They were decent machines for the time, but like anything else that age they would be a second string machine. They didn't have a lot of gears so they are somewhat slow, but in typical Deere fashion are pretty powered up. The problem we have had with ours is keeping the steering gear sealed up.