Hello: Have been following this forum for a bit, finally signed up last night. We are going to be moving to a farm in mid-state TN in a couple of months, and I have been looking for a backhoe. Planned tasks include fixing our driveway, dealing with some creek issues, doing some building and installing a geo heat pump, building a pond. So after quite a bit of reading and thought, here is what I think we are looking for in a machine, working front to rear: 4 in 1 loader bucket - for picking up rocks, logs and stumps 4WD - lots of off-rd use, rough terrain EROPS with heat and AC - winters are cold, July & August get pretty hot Extend-a-hoe with - better reach into places where it would be difficult to take the machine Budget is up to $30,000. After looking for a while I believe my wants and budget are not well aligned - nothing new there! So far I have found a: 2000 New Holland LB110B that has all of the desired features and based on the sellers description is ready to go to work. 1999 Cat 416C, good tires, has a leaking stick cylinder, scratches on an outrigger piston and the AC clutch does not engage. Both machines have ~3,000 hours on them. Looking at our location, we have 3 New Holland dealers within 50 miles (nearest is 23 miles away) and a couple of Cat dealers. Much less coverage for Case and non-green John Deere. I am leaning toward the New Holland, but would welcome commentary from the forum one way or another. Could keep looking for a couple of months, but need it by June. Thanks Steve
As for the John Deere dealers... If you're going to maintain the BHL yourself. ANY dealer can get ANY deere part. I maintain a Deere tractor, Deere lawn mower & Deere backhoe. The big issue is stocking parts. Naturally the AG dealer will concentrate on AG parts while the Construction dealer will stock construction parts. Many routine parts interchange between the sectors. ie... filters, fluids, hoses, fittings, etc :usa I have a construction dealer close while the AG dealer is an hour away. Forget the lawn & garden dealer. I usually have my parts brought into the construction dealer as part of his stock order. Takes a couple of days but no shipping charges. If needed, parts can be overnighted or hand delivered for additional cost. (like two arms plus a leg) Can't have a multi-million dollar project held up for a downed machine.
I'm in Ohio, so I don't know if this would hold true for Tennessee, but For 555's and Case 580's seem to be popular options, and you should be able to find good examples of either that are within your budget. Also, there seems to be enough of a flourishing secondary market for these machines that getting parts and service shouldn't be an issue, although I would of course suggest asking around to see. Your mileage may vary, you know?
I started this search thinking that finding a machine would be straight forward, but after 4 months of looking I am not so sure. Thought I had a nice Case 580SM lined up, but when it came time to do the deal the email address for the escrow service didn't smell right, after a day of digging it turned out the seller was Russian and there was no backhoe. I have tried all the dealers in the general area, machinery trader, iron planet and eBay. Is the consensus here that I should avoid the New Holland and keep looking?
Was the price $2,547 with a great picture of the backhoe on vacation somewhere tropical? :falldownlaugh:falldownlaugh
Great set of photos, and in retrospect a great story. Of course when I asked for a different photo it was not the same machine. This was in early December, saw the same set of photos reappear a couple of weeks ago on eBay.
Sorry for your runaround. There's not much consensus on anything around here. I didn't take anybodies comments as anything against the New Holland. I don't know anything about them myself so no comment here. There aren't as many New Holland experts here so you might not get any good advice.
The fact you have 3 NH dealers within an hour tells me they must be popular in your area. Around me, never seen a JCB, have a lot of Ford/NH, Case, Cat, JD, in about that order of sales. I have a Ford, they were more expensive new than a Case or Cat, but the parts prices were about 30% less than the other hoes. And I wasn't buying new, so the parts pricing was more important. When you get into 15+ old hoes, the abuse and lack of maintenance will be much more important than which model. If you find one with yards of weld bead on the front bucket, run away. It was used to ram something to break it up. Same deal with yards of beads on the hoe, it was worked really hard. No matter how thorough your inspection and test drive, you'll never find everything wrong; it's just part of the deal...avoid the big deals like new engines and transmissions and you should be ok.
Stevebi just bought a backhoe for the exact same reasons as you. I wanrt a pond and need road maintenence. If you are a little flexible in you needs i think you will find what yiu want. I found a case 590 sl with everything yiu mentioned except for two wheel drive and a open cab. I live in tn we do have hot summers but with a open cab you get a breeze and yiu can do without 4 wd as long as you have good rear tires. I have heard the new Hollands are not that good if you get a newer model aka made by fiat. The Deere seem to go for too much money IMHO but the cat and the case seem to be in your price range. Look at any 580 or 590 super series and you should be fine. Good hunting and have you thought about buying at auction? Have been following this forum for a bit, finally signed up last night. We are going to be moving to a farm in mid-state TN in a couple of months, and I have been looking for a backhoe. Planned tasks include fixing our driveway, dealing with some creek issues, doing some building and installing a geo heat pump, building a pond. So after quite a bit of reading and thought, here is what I think we are looking for in a machine, working front to rear: 4 in 1 loader bucket - for picking up rocks, logs and stumps 4WD - lots of off-rd use, rough terrain EROPS with heat and AC - winters are cold, July & August get pretty hot Extend-a-hoe with - better reach into places where it would be difficult to take the machine Budget is up to $30,000. After looking for a while I believe my wants and budget are not well aligned - nothing new there! So far I have found a: 2000 New Holland LB110B that has all of the desired features and based on the sellers description is ready to go to work. 1999 Cat 416C, good tires, has a leaking stick cylinder, scratches on an outrigger piston and the AC clutch does not engage. Both machines have ~3,000 hours on them. Looking at our location, we have 3 New Holland dealers within 50 miles (nearest is 23 miles away) and a couple of Cat dealers. Much less coverage for Case and non-green John Deere. I am leaning toward the New Holland, but would welcome commentary from the forum one way or another. Could keep looking for a couple of months, but need it by June. Thanks Steve[/QUOTE]
I was in the same position buying a farm in Ga and figuring out what equipment would be best for clearing, pond construction and general earthmoving on the farm. My budget was the same but I ended up getting a 455G track loader and a JD410 backhoe. In hindsight it has worked out great with the right piece for any project. I assume a nice backhoe will do it all but the track loader is invaluable for the pond, heavy clearing and major grading projects.
Got a lead on a 1998 JD 410D equipped they way I wanted it with 4,800 hours. Advertised as running well, just had a number of cylinders rebuilt. Should have more info in a couple of days TBD an ice storm that may move through the area. Need to find a mechanic to give it a look over, if it checks out we may be there - it's also a lot shorter haul than the New Holland. I initially thought about a dozer, but we have over 700 acres split between several tracts, getting a tracked machine would require something to transport it - getting more complicated. Ckinser1 - where abouts in TN are you located?
i am in athens which lies inbetween chattanooga which was my hometown and knoxville where i lived the past 25 years. I hope u get a good machine. i bought mine 97 590 sl for 15000 On auction.It had 5300 hours on it. Backhoes as long as they are not abused will last a very long time.be wary of repaints as it will hide how much wear was on the machine. thev500]Got a lead on a 1998 JD 410D equipped they way I wanted it with 4,800 hours. Advertised as running well, just had a number of cylinders rebuilt. Should have more info in a couple of days TBD an ice storm that may move through the area. Need to find a mechanic to give it a look over, if it checks out we may be there - it's also a lot shorter haul than the New Holland. I initially thought about a dozer, but we have over 700 acres split between several tracts, getting a tracked machine would require something to transport it - getting more complicated. Ckinser1 - where abouts in TN are you located?[/QUOTE]
If your locating close to Cookeville area there is a decent dealer there(john deere). 30k have you thought about having 2 machines, something with a nice loader and a midi excavator?
Maddog: After realizing the limitations of a dozer in our situation I looked at compact excavators, and they were a better fit, especially for trenching and digging activities. Not so good when it came to moving material and road work, and maybe a problem in rough terrain. A separate loader would be a good compliment, and if I was going to be making a living doing this work it would be the way to go,however I am recently retired and thus productivity is not a first priority - while the list is long so is the realization that some things won't get done. I am planning on a second machine, more along the lines of an agricultural tractor with a 3-pt hitch for mowing and related activities. However, a related question I had is what are the reliability and maintenance implications of rubber tracks?
Shblack, I have owned a 555B, lb75b and ran a many other ford new hollands on the job. They are great machines very strong hydraulics and nice visibility. But like El Hombre said cond. & maintenance is very important. I don't know how you feel about parts, but i would find a good hose shop that can make replacement hoses and oil and air filters can be had at orielys for much less.
Mudober: Thanks for the thumbs up on New Holland, I see a lot of New Holland equipment in the fields around where I am located, that and Deere. i believe our local Co-Op can make up some hoses, and Rural King also carries some hydraulics - I am going to get to know many of these folks over time. Thanks for the tip on O'Rileys, the local store has been very helpful, believe they have occasional filter sales, just have to watch the ads.
I like rubber tracks, everything has it's place but my personal experience is that the rubber is more practical, and easier to maintain. I have run both steel and rubber, and probably will never own another steel track machine. The reason I suggested "maybe 2 machines" is because it may be better for your situation, it all comes down to personal needs. I thought I would be happier with a backhoe at one time, until I finally broke down and used an ex, no going back now. Little confused are you saying an ex isn't good in rough terrain, and doing road work? Road maintenance, like spreading, york raking, would be easier with a tractor, but ex'es can be very handy in the building process. As far as rough terrain ex'es can easily be taken where other machines dare not tread.