I just purchased a New Holland LB75B at auction today. It has about 3700 hours on it. It starts and runs well with no obvious problems. However I know nothing about its history. What should I look at / do to it before a begin using it? Also, I should mention that aside from my "testing" of machines at the auction I have never operated any heavy equipment. Thanks, Steve
Welcome mnsteve. Congratulations on the finding the best way to open that hole in your pocket! If it did not come with one, buy an operators manual for it. It will tell you all you need to know about how to look after your new investment. Usually, when you buy a piece of machinery, best to give it a full service - drain all oils & replace all filters - give it a fresh start. Watching youtube will give you some operating tips regarding what to do & not to do as well. Is that black tape on the boom? Holding the plumbing? - if so, get that properly clamped ASAP.
Go to your cat dealer and buy a box of SOS bottles (about $10 each). Then I'd run it a few hours and sample all the oils. That might tell you if you have any impending failures, and it might save you replacing the hydraulic oil. Cut open the filters when you replace them and check for metal and other junk. Figure out what kind of antifreeze it has in it and service that if it's due. Decide what kind of grease you're going to use (something with moly) and grease it frequently at first to make sure the new grease and old grease don't react and plug up the passages (if they're not plugged already). Then start looking for more buckets.
Arlman, Thanks for the advice. I am hoping that owning this will be a slightly smaller hole in my pocket than hiring someone hourly do the work for me I did purchase an owners manual, and I am learning quite a bit from it. However it will take me a while to absorb all 200 pages of information. What are most people running for engine oil? Synthetic? What change intervals are you running? What is a good price for hydraulic oil? The black tape is supporting the aux plumbing. Whoever added the aux plumbing did a very poor job. I don't have any plans for it, so I plan to remove it completely. Thanks, Steve
Delmer, SOS bottles?? Is this an oil test kit? How do I know if the antifreeze needed serviced? Does someone make a test kit? What grease would you recommend? Thanks, Steve
A cheap tester will tell you the freeze level of the coolant. (Suction bulb - Auto parts store) Otherwise you can get a good idea just looking at some of the coolant in a clear or white cup. Lots of folks neglect the cooling system. It's ususally after you drain out the old rusty crud that you wish you had done it a long time ago. If it has a reservoir take it off and clean it good inside and out so you can enjoy the clean coolant inside.
The auxiliary hydraulic system is worth keeping as it is another string for your bow so to speak.Repipe as necessary but keep is my advice, good luck
The backhoe was delivered to me yesterday, I am working on a shopping list of fluid and filters I will need to get everything ready for use. The machine currently has a light on indicating low break oil. According to the manual it uses "NH Break Oil (86541699DS)" Is there an equivalent I can buy? Is this the same as regular DOT 3 fluid? Thanks, Steve
Yes, SOS is an oil test kit. Find out what kind of antifreeze it has in it. Find out what it had originally and then check if the color is what it should be, red, green, or whatever. It might be AOT or conventional or something like that, and what the service interval is. Some get tested and you add a specific additive, some you just add a bottle after a certain time/hours. Completely different depending on what it is. An EP (extreme pressure) grease with moly is what you want to use, or go down to the lube forum and read a couple hours.
I agree I would not take that off either, makes your machine more valuable in case you wanted to run a hoe pac, breaker or thumb. Looks like its already got a coupler on the hoe. You will have another use for your snowmobile suit with the open air cab.