Recently I came across a Case 530 TBL sitting at a junkyard. I stopped and talked with the owner. He seemed interested in selling but at the same time tried to talk me out of it. Here is the best description I can give without pictures of it. He told me that it ran before he bought it and that he has never had it running. Basically they dropped it off the truck and never touched it again. Looking it over everything looks good for the most part. A few hydraulic hoses are in bad shape, there are a few minor spots of surface rust on the cylinders, no pitting or heavy rust though. All of the tires are holding air but they are dry cracked and nothing special. When it comes to heavy equipment I have very little experience. Can anyone here give me any points or suggestions about this machine? Maybe what to look out for, what would be a fair price? While I was there the owner told me to make an offer. I didn't want to but hey wouldn't give me a number so I offered 500, slightly above current scrap price. I know it's a low number but I had to start somewhere. Thanks in advance.
looks like it is resting good,, best not wake it up at any price RIP
Hard to tell much from that pic but that thing looks like it should go to the scrap yard. Cheap equipment more often than not turns out to be very expensive.
Run, fluffy, run..... unless you love to restore old projects. Setting in the open, not running, time is any machine's worst enemy.
Thanks for the opinions. I agree sitting outside is taking it's toll. I'm mainly looking at it because I enjoy working on older stuff as a hobby and could use a backhoe but don't have the cash to go out and buy a good running one. No matter what I buy it will only be used for personal stuff, nothing heavy or commercial like. IN the condition it's currently in what would do you think top dollar would be? I'm think no more than 750-1000 but could be wrong.
You've already made a generous offer, be glad he didn't take you up on it. From what I can tell, that thing looks like a money pit. "Run, fluffy, run" is excellent advice.
I think you are missing what people are saying. Just because you may be able to by it for $500 doesn't make it cheap. You could spend thousands fixing it. Odds are something major is wrong with it or they wouldn't have abandoned it to rot in the first place. Most the time when you see equipment like this something broke that was going to cost more to fix than the machine was worth so it got parked somewhere. So if you come along to restore it not only do you have to fix what broke in the first place but you have to fix the other problems that have developed from it sitting there for god knows how long.
Looks like a good "parts" tractor.
As an old machine fixer myself... Consider the seals have hardened and ready to leak. Piston seals, pump seals, valve seals, shaft seals, anything rubber etc. Hoses are expensive. Mice love to chew wires. Anything sitting in the weather for years is just junk. You can't even check the condition of the pins & bushings of the hoe. Offering a scrap price, you'll likely find your project will cost thousands of dollars in new parts and hundreds of your hours. Save your cash and find an old machine that runs or was recently running and fix it to your level of knowledge. As DD said: You've already made a generous offer, be glad he didn't take you up on it.
I agree, listen to what has been said in response to your question, and consider the knowledge that was given.
Hey, I bought this one's twin sister last year and she's up and running after only needing the radiator rebuilt/fuel tank brazed/replaced rear tires/total rewire/new alternator & custombuilt bracket/belt/water pump/thermostat/radiator hoses/return lines/all new gauges including hourmeter [couldn't figure out how to set the new one to 26,867]/~$150 worth of brake cleaner and oven cleaner+$400 pressure washer to clean off all the gunk/12 cylinder seals&packings/2 dozen rattlecans of yellow paint/power steering pump filter and 0-ring/20 gallons hydraulic fluid/15 gallons gear lube/3 gallons Rotella15-40/2 gallons antifreeze/1 gallon Marvel mystery Oil/2 headlights/misc snap rings on pins/2 bushings/new magnetic drain plug/2 front wheel studs installed to replace the stripped-out lug bolts/new filters/~20# of misc hardware/few hundred hours on the Internet chasing parts, learning about diesels etc./maybe 300 hours actual labor. After the few remaining minor details [all the hydraulic hoses replaced/tie rod ends/front wheel bearings/hoe valve body rebuild/seals and 0-rings in the loader control valve/major engine rebuild kit for a paltry $800/new seat cushions and probably another couple hundred bucks for things I can't recall just now-maybe a backup alarm, taillight, boom light, horn, nonskid tape on all places you gotta stand on while working on a beast like this], I'll STILL HAVE A FIFTY YEAR OLD, 2WD BACKHOE WITH NO CAB, NO HEAT, NO A/C, A TRANNY THAT JUMPS OUT OF LOW GEAR, PRETTY SLOW HYDRAULICS, A CRACKED AND WELDED LEAKING LOADER FRAME AND A REALLY, REALLY INCONVENIENT HOE SEAT. Yeah, I definitely recommend that you offer the guy $2500 for it and pay him another $700 to deliver it to you...you'll learn much in the process including how to curse fluently in at least four languages other than your native tongue. You WILL develop patience to rival that of Job in the Bible, though, so that in itself may be more than worth the price of admission.
Priceless Oldphart Priceless
TY, Bill! Kinda forgot to include the new cutting edge, a set of 1"-2" combination wrenches, an electric impact wrench, power steering cylinder seals, new cable for the fuel shutoff, breather cap, industrial-strength hose clamps [8 @ 4.50 each] on all the return lines, about $40 worth of plumbing fittings to replumb the return line setup which vibrated, leaked mightily and beat the crud out of the radiator fins, new battery, battery holddown, terminals, miscellaneous gaskets, 4 tubes of EP moly grease, a dozen new zerks, 3 old kitchen chair cushions to keep from freezing my butt off on the bare metal seats, a 12V outlet, pretty much an entire assortment of shrink tubing, half a dozen wire brushes, 6 pairs of gloves and eight bucks for some 3" black vinyl letters. I was just gonna slap them on and turn it back into a 530CK but am debating whether I should repaint it in purple and scarlet and rechristen it as, "The Great Hoe of Babylon" [Revelation chapter 17]...
Ive bought a 2010 JD that was running and my experience is beginning to rival Olpharts
Yikes Run Skippy
So, farmerall- If you decided to buy the beast and change your mind at a later time you are most welcome to drop it off at my place in Montana at your convenience-I'll even unload it. Looking at your lone picture I think I can almost see a cab of some sort on that one. Mine didn't come with one and I'd sorta like to be able to keep the snow off my big bald spot this winter. I could cannibalize one of my old Datsun trucks which slumber peacefully in the back 40 and get a heater core and blower motor. Heck, the additional weight of the cab would probably improve my snow and ice traction a tad and offer a bit of protection from unplanned hot oil showers and circling ospreys and bald eagle bombs.