Hi there, I'm new to the forum but have been reading a lot and have found so much useful info here. I just purchased a few acres with a cabin in a rural area and have a lot of work to do like building a pad for 5000 gal water tank, remove some old concrete, excavate area for barn/shop, build a 200' long berm, and moving big rocks around (we have a lot of them here!!). I got some quotes on having the work done by a few different owner operators, which has led me to looking at purchasing a loader/backhoe. I don't have a ton of money to spend on one, but have found several between 5-10K. It seems that 5-7K buys an older case 580b, MF200, or ford 420. Then I found a 1989 ford 655a turbo 4wd with 4 in 1, four digging buckets and extendahoe for 10K. My question is, would it be smarter to buy the newer machine in terms of maintenance, downtime, and resale value, or should i save the 5K and deal with an older machine, which would be a 2wd without extendahoe. In my experience older things are simpler and easier (cheaper) to fix. If it were between the older case 580B for 5K and the newer ford 655a for 10K which way would you guys lean? It seems maybe it would be much easier to sell the Ford when I'm finished with it, and from my research, 10k is a screaming deal while you can buy an old hoe all day long for 5 -7K. THanks in advance, any and all insights are greatly appreciated!
Get the Ford, $10K is a great price if everything works and it's not hanging together by a thread. The older hoes will tend to have more issues, and it's getting harder to find parts to fix them. Just the four buckets and extendahoe are worth $4k all buy their selves. Just test it before you buy, spend a couple of hours digging, moving dirt with the front bucket, using the shuttle back and forth and shifting the tranny up and down. If you've been lurking, you'll be aware of all the tranny don't work threads.....
2800 hrs on 655A, all the cheap ones hours unknown
Yes, I've been lurking and have transmissions on the mind. My Kubota 7100 has a manual trans and I love it, but I quickly found out that wasn't an option on a hoe (unless its really old). going to check out the Ford today, any advice about how to rigorously test trans function would be much appreciated. Also, is it common/appropriate for buyer to "test" equipment before purchase, something more than 10 minutes moving loose dirt around? Like a day of work?
I was lucky and the Ford dealer was 5 miles by a rural two lane from my house. I brought it home and ran it for a couple of days to make sure everything worked. How much testing is pretty much based on where the machine is. Couple of acres you can dig and run around with a loaded bucket, I would try it for at least an hour. You want to get it good and hot and see if the tranny starts slipping or won't shuttle like it should. Also get the hydraulics up to temp and see if the performance drops off or it's leaking with the hot oil. Check ALL the fluid reservoirs for level and condition of the oil. It's actually better if it has the used oil still there instead of nice, clean, new oil. Tells you about prior condition. I'd get it up on the stabilizers and the front bucket, shut it off and start tugging on the front axle and see if anything is sloppy. Dealer lot with no place to dig, best you could do is start it up and run around the lot, exercise the hoe and front bucket, try to run it at least a half hour. Good luck.
Bought the Ford, It is extremely clean, and had been regularly serviced by a highly reputable local shop. With the 4wd, 4in 1, 4 digging buckets, and extendahoe it was a no brainer. The owner was VERY meticulous about maintenance and it showed. A little more than I was planning on spending but it seems like the right thing to do. It arrives here tomorrow and I'm looking fwd to getting familiar with it. BY the way it comes with stick controls (mounted) and joysticks that could be installed (previous owner switched them out). Would you guys recommend switching to the joysticks or what? I'm not experienced with either one so its kind of a clean slate for me to learn on one or the other. Thanks for your input El Hombre
If you can handle the conversion, switch it back to joystics ( I assume that means two handles that control two functions each, instead of four handles. "joysticks" makes me think of electric or pilot controls) If your ford is cleaner, newer and lower hours than the cheaper ones, I don't think you'll regret the extra $$$. Guessing the electronics on it are limited and not "critical" to the drivetrain. Sure would't gain anything by going any older than '89.
I'd opt for the joysticks. Takes a little getting use to but in the long run much better setup IMO. Rick
I would go with the wobble sticks, that's the default option. I've been using the 4 lever Ford for 24 years, it has it's advantage. But most operators are going to be familiar with the joy sticks. You'll like your Ford, they're tough buggers. And the parts are cheap compared to JD, Case, and Cat.