I was wondering what would be a good midsized backhoe to buy. We would like to use it for snow removal and digging, trenching, and landscaping duties. Would like to have a cab, heat,. What would be a good used one to look into. Have used CASE and CAT and JOHNDEERE equipment before and would like to stick with those brands unles there is a better one out ther...
I have a ford 555 2wd I love it. IT dose all that i ask it to, mostly used for snow removal and digging and some gradeing. I paid 12 grand about 6 years ago, it has a" million hours", and I cant kill it. they are work horeses
Case 590 is all our company has bought the past few years. They have tremendous reach on the extendahoe model. Cat's new pilot controls seem very popular. Geez ever heard of a dynahoe? They were indestructable machines in the 80's. Not many around these days.Koehring actually made a very strong machine around the same time, but they had transmission issues and did not last. Other than that John Deere, Ford....Case seems the best bet these days!
580SM would be a good choice.
Three words, ne, J - C - B. 3CX. Centre mount. Got that? Second hand is almost always, someone else's second hand problem. But, I would also recommend the Case. 580SK. If you prefer though, stick with a brand new backhoe.
310SE or even a 410D, good models. 310SE would be were I would go.
What about cold weather starts? any particular diesel to do the job not a problem starting ... a lot of the older machines have broken starter aids...
start aids are super simple to fix, just depends on how cold you are talking about
Can of either= starter aid! Very reliable!
Case or Deere. Stay away from Cat.
Without further explanation, this post tells us nothing. Any reasons that you can offer to explain your position?
Also VERY addictive and to be avoided at all possible costs unless your only other option is suicide in which case I would recommend try the ether
1st look at who your nearest dealer is, 2nd find out how good they are. Once you have located a source of spare parts and reliable back up you will then know which is the best machine to look at buying. Thats the easy bit, finding the right machine is the hard bit. There really is very little to choose between the main manufacturers. Compile a list of requirements. How much your willing to spend ! Expected age 2, 6, 10yrs old, beaten to death POS you are going to use 1weekend in 6 months or as suggested something reliable that it would seem your going to use regularly. Cab, heater, 4 or 2 wheel drive, bucket + forks on front, 4 in 1 bkt, extendahoe, Once you have sorted those out and your budget see if you can locate a machine.
what is wrong with careful use of ether? i have used or been around quite a few vehicles that had what looked like factory plumbed in ether to help cold starts.
Nothing, but how many people use it like that. I was taught to use it as a very, very last resort as engines become addicted to it :beatsme But I live in the UK where a realy cold winter might take us down to - 10c about +15f in your money :drinkup
Majority of people I know who have bought Cats, wether it be series 1, B, C, or D regret it. I know a few who love them and had luck with them. My dad owned 2 416's. An 88 and a 94 B. An owner operator who took good care of them and had nothing but problems. The 416 had a bad torque convertor, hydralic pump go at low hours while the machine was trenching in the road, transfer case problems. The 416B around 2,000 hours burnt through several quarts of oil between each 250hour service, ended up being a bad set of rings. Trans problems. The banana boom split across the pin that connects the dipper. Cat knew the machines had these problems and had drilled holes in the boom to camera the inside, told him it was fine only for it to split later. The stabilizer pin snapped. The dump piston was cross threaded from the factory. Some sort of problem were the boom would swing to the side on its own. Thats all I can remember for now. 4,100 hours on a super L other than a thermostat, muffler mount bolts, regular maintnance, and a stack or 2, no problems. If Cat had better qaulity they would have a decent hoe. Like I said, I know quite a few people who will never go with a cat backhoe again after having many problems.I think John Deere is the best all around backhoe out right now. I think Case is still the best for manueverabilty. Case and Deere are proven to be reliable in my eyes. Majority of my backhoe experiance is on Case 580's so I will lean towards Case right off the bat.
I agree with you. I've had a few Cat 420D IT's it will not stand up to my Case 590s. It just can't take the beating a Case can. From time to time you push the machine to the limits and the Case will take it everytime. I have a Case with 10,200 hours. Changed the oil every 250 hours, greased al the time. And that machine was worked hard. I use it as a backup machine now. I'll take a Case over a Cat anyday. Cat makes good dozers and excavators, but backhoes I'm not to fond off.
Other than a spotty paint job on the hood and a cab that leaked water (but was fixed) I really like my CASE. It's very compact & manueverable, yet has lots of power & toughness. I love the pilot controls.
I have to look into the cold start system on my 1988 JD 310c to see whats missing or broke, or if it still half there to fix?... because if I'm going to be starting it in the winter the temp is usually in the 20's and 30's for the most part of the winter... then for a short amount of days we might get them few cold days and nights in the teens, and rarely the temp does go in the single numbers.... it hardly goes bellow 0º but there has been a winter or two where it did dip below 0º. I mentioned cold starting for the person that posted to keep in mind about what he buys can start cold with no issues, because he mentioned snow removal, because being new myself to my backhoe I noticed when the summer ended and it was getting cool out side my backhoe didn't start in a split second like it always did in mid summer when I first got it, I actually had to crank it over for a short moment for it to start, so being I have no cold start button that works I can tell I'll need it, so I need to get that system working....... I also see I have a 110 volt plug hanging down, it's the heater coil that looks to keep the coolant hot/warm... I don't know if its a good idea to keep that plugged in all winter? or as long as the antifreeze is good it will get thru the winter out side just fine because I have no garage to keep it in.
If you intend to use the machine at least weekly for a few hours I would say the 110v heater is the ideal solution
I have owned 2 555 ford and 2 LB75B New Holland Backhoes and they were all great machines no major problems at all, of course I serviced them every 200 hours. all i ever had to do was change the starter and batteries.
The members on here are not too big on New Holland, but I have to agree with Mackcat. I have had a 2005 New Holland LB75B for about a year and a half now with absolutely no problems.And it was about 1/2 the price of one of the big three.
As can be seen by the avatar. As long as she works well, who can complain. And reading some more recent posts, we call the D series cat 'clatter'pillars. Need I say more? Need you say more?
give me a massey/fermec/terex any Cat 428 here eat rear diff's .Wouldn't mind trying a komatsu mind you
Dinah da Ho Dynahoe's are tough machines. My 490 with a 4in1 does the work of a backhoe and small dozier. Pel
Have 5 Deere hoes here. 4 of them are 410G's and one 410J. All of them except for the oldest G have excavator style joystick controls. All have couplers on front and back. Use them to hoe pack as well as general material handling on site, laborers love them, always easier to move mud tray with forks than by hand. Have had nary a problem with these machines. Defiantly do not baby them. Didnt for the TMC on the new J, little scared of all the technology in a laborer's machine.
Bought a 420D EROPS used. Definitely Ok the 4WD. Don't need the EROPS. I'm in and out a lot doing general farm work and the doors get in the way. Love the pilot controls on the rear. Love the machine overall, very refined. As has been said, what service capabilities are around you? That makes a difference. A Lexus doesn't cut it in Antarctica... (no dealers, get it??)
Id vote on deere or komatsu, our wb 150 komatsu has a grid heater in it. So as long as the battery is fine its never to cold to start.
Well where I work has all Cat 430D's and haven't had a major problem yet. Are oldest machine is a 2002 with 6500 hours on it and the biggest project we have done was a water pump, other then that we have just kept up on routine maitenance. I know some people dont like Cat but we haven't has a problem yet, knock on wood! So if you were to get a cat I would say a 416 or 420 would be good for your application. The other machine that you might want to try is a Ford 755B. Where I work only bought Ford backhoes until they stopped in 1993 when we switched to Cat. Ford is a good quality machine and Fast. Very versatile, can do almost anything with them, usually pretty cheap, only downfall no 4wd on the 755 but it has enough weight for plowing snow. So I would say to get a Cat or Ford, depending on how much you want to spend Ford is probably the cheaper way out.
We just ordered a new LB95. I have had a 310SG nice machine, 580SM nice but not near the power of the 310. I demoed a new Deere and that was my first choice. Case is nice but crappy dealer and just not as nice as the Deere. Komatsu was nice but the response in the controls were slow. It was almost the same price range as the LB95. Ive never had a Cat but there are alot of them around here. I ran one acouple of years ago and it worked. After some seat time in the LB I found it to have the awesome brake out force. Controls were smooth and responsive. Ride was of even with ride control. Awesome visiability. Chair was easy to spin and the pilot controls were the same as the Deere I think? New arched boom and the price was better than all the rest. Just my 2 cents worth.
Here are some specs. Lifting cap. Breakout force Hydraulic flow Weight New Holland B95 5,870 15,057 40/3,045 14,440 John Deere 315SG 5,785 10,300 28/3,625 14,700 Case 580M 2 3,750 9,480 28.5/3,050 13,359 Case 580M Turbo 2 3,750 9,480 28.5/3,050 13,359 John Deere 310G 4,446 8,100 28/2,750 12,800 Caterpillar 416E 5,106 9,014 34.8/3,292 14,960 Caterpillar 420E 5,722 10,076 43/3,611 15,474 JCB 214e 4,945 11,730 29/3,300 13,046 Case 580 Super M Plus 2 4,680 9,480 28.5/3,050 14,905 Case 580 Super M 2 4,680 9,480 28.5/3,050 14,285 John Deere 310SG 5,785 10,210 28/3,625 13,500 JCB 214 5,400 12,638 39/3,300 15,593 Komatsu WB140-2N 5,678 12,790 43.6/3,000 16,600 Komatsu WB140PS-2N 5,678 12,790 43.6/3,000 16,600 Terex TX760B 3,466 10,485 37.5/3,250 14,975 Terex TX860B 3,466 12,291 42/3,250 15,964 Volvo BL60 5,121 10,004 30.6/3,190 16,564 Volvo BL70 5,754 12,037 42/3,625 17,800
I'm a dyed in the wool Deere guy,have been for 25 years now.My 410G is unbelievably strong,smooth, and agile.Couldn't imagine a better machine.
Abe0389, If all you are going to use your backhoe for is light work (snow, landscaping,) then i would definetly buy used. any of the machines you have mentioned would probibly make you happy. I am partial to the case because thats what i own.
Hi Everybody who replied, I know this post goes back to 2008. and I don't mean to take over the original post. I'm now showing an interest in starting my JD 310c during the Winter to remove high volume of snow. And plugging in the block heater isn't doing the job because when the coolant is hot enough it flows out of the engine block into the radiator where it's cooled down again being its very cold outside, and then it goes back into the block again, and the cycle repeats it self, so it's a never ending cycle of cooling down the coolant after the block heater gets the coolant hot, and it never gets hot enough to start the engine when using the block heater. If I was to pinch off the radiator hose to stop the hot coolant from going into the radiator where it gets cooled off, I'm worried when I release the pinched radiator hose and the rush of the cool/cold coolant races back into the hot engine block I'm worried of cracking some part of the engine block/heads from the fast temp change, etc... I just rather not mess with it like that. What if I pug in the block heater, so then parts of the block with be cold and warm to hot, then use a quick shot of ether to start it ? Doing it like that I believe there won't be any significant quick temp changes as the coolant starts circulating once the engine is started. Any feed back on personal experiences and knowledge is always appreciated. Joe PS... also my friend ncbschzzt... in time I'd like to talk about fixing the factory starting aid.
Two options, Replace the thermostats. OR, drain enough antifreeze so the level is below the top radiator hose, it will still cover the top of the tubes to minimize air circulating, and it will stop the thermosiphon. Do NOT use ether, the engine should be plenty warm to start after an hour or two with either of the first methods.
Do as Delmer suggest about the thermostat(s). A properly working thermostat shouldn't allow enough coolant from the radiator to drop the engine block temperature a significant amount. Do you happen to know what the wattage rating is of your block heater ? I would want a minimum of 1500 watt rating. Yours may be defective and not heating as it should--- maybe.
I think any heat is a bonus to starting a cold engine. If you have a temp gun point it at the before plugging in and after it's been plugged in for a couple of hours, if its warmer than it was when you plugged it in that's better than nothing. Just use it to get through this snow we are getting and then work on figuring it out after.
Sounds good Delmer, thank you... (If I touch the engine block on the right side its nice and warm, the left side is ice cold) (I still have not replace the thermostat)
I had a meter on the heating element and it showed it was drawing 1000 watt. (980ish, something like that) I don't know if it is a 1500 watt thats gotten weak ? I feel like the block heater worked a lot better when I first got the machine. Plus, after a while I needed to charge the batteries and this helped a lot, but didn't cure the issue. Replacing the thermostat Delmer sounds like it should fix it to start cold when using the block heater, I figured this would be true since the right side of the engine block being very warm and the other side being very cold is a good indication while the engine block heater has been on for several hours. Or would the block on one side being cold and the other side hot be the thermosiphon ?
You probably have a 1000 watt heater. Pull it out and see if it is coated in lime -- would be something I would do. New thermostat(s) needs to be done to see if the problem is gone. Feel the top of the radiator after the heater has been plugged in a couple of hours. If the block is cold like you described it and the tank is warm there is a problem.