Bought a backhoe couple weeks ago. It's a 1984 555A with 4n1 loader bucket, 15ft extendable, 24" heavy duty hoe bucket. Tach says 5242 hrs but if it's accurate they have been extremely hard hours. The extendable dipper has been broken at the elbow joint. The repair appears rather old with no reoccurring cracks/breaks. The hoe bucket has had cracks repaired. They too appear to be old and holding. The 4n1 appears to have been used open at a high rate of speed. The dozer edge is bent backwards at each end. I believe this use is how the subframe got cracked. It's cracked on both sides where the loader lift cylinders fasten. The repair is old and holding. Plated on the outside of the frame in addition to welding the cracks. It appears the latest damage was getting a large rock or stump under the belly on the left side, near the battery box. This destroyed the torque convertor dump valve, bent the bracket holding the trans filter, then sheared the bolts that hold the brake linkage swivel shaft. This left the hoe without the ability to dump the torque converter, an oil leak at the dump valve and no brakes. Had to put a kit in one of the loader lift cylinders and one of the 4n1 cylinders ($100). The boom cylinder and dipper cylinder seep but I'm gonna run em that way for awhile to see what else pops up. Replaced the front axle kingpins ($300). Repaired the brake linkage bracket. Replaced the torque converter dump valve ($580). Built a skid plate to protect the dump valve, trans filter and brake linkage. The engine sounds good, starts right up, no abnormal exhaust smoke or blow-by. The trans/torque converter work great. Brakes work great. Diff lock works great. Hydraulics have very good power, appears pump has been replaced not too long ago. All the glass is in the cab. Heater works great. Rear tires are very good. Fronts are solid but old. I paid $6500 for the machine. Have spent an additional $1300 so far. Will spend an addional $200 adding a block heater and replacing the hoe bucket teeth. Then I'm ready for warm weather to try it out.
Adding more pics.
nice machine been around 2 of them on farms they seem to hold up to abuse really well if i am not mistaken i think that is a digmore estick as far as i know they were the first ones to make an extendahoe they were pretty generic and would go on a couple different machines deere bought them out in the mid 80s
Looks good for what you gave for it. They all need work at that age, and $6,500 gives you the ability to spend a little. If you spend $15,000 right off the bat, and then have to drop another 5 with it, it gets expensive in a hurry. Better watch that back window, if the wind gets ahold of it, it could bust out all the rest of the glass in the cab, when it slams around. Glad to see you got it and home safe, have fun!
Thanks for the comments guys. I don't like the window/door situation. Definitely would lose the back window if it came unlatched. I'll use it mostly in timber. Weather permitting, I'll remove the door, right side/front window and rear window. Maybe they'll survive that way. I think with the repairs/improvements I've made I can make money on it as long as it doesn't suffer major mechanical failure. I'll try it out. If it fills my need I'll never sell it. That will be left to my two Sons to decide.
that's not a extendahoe
Most certainly is, unless you are referring to the term extendahoe, which is a Case term. The proper terminology is an "extendable dipperstick", but you probably already know that.
you are correct, I have a 555AXL boom, got service manual its too large to upload, can put on cd and mail if wanted, tach is cable driven off the engine called a flow meter takes 1675 rpms for an hour to make a clock hour I think my hours are showing low compared to clock hours 4750, bet that would be like 6000 clock hours they are very strong machines
I purchased a paper copy repair manual for $60 and an electronic owner's manual for $30. I always do my own repairs so manuals are a great asset. Yep, mechanically driven hour meters are only accurate at one engine speed. On a hoe it might have a better chance of accuracy. On my 3910 it has no chance.
We had 2 of them. They survived multiple operators, sometimes 2 or 3 different guys a day, which usually meant little to no grease unless someone stayed on it for the whole day or it started squeaking. Might have been a bit newer because it seems to me that they had the excavator style rear window. Anyway they were better built than the last models that New Holland built. Nice find.
Thanks. I think you described the history of this machine. Or an owner that didn't have a daily maintenance schedule. The Kingpin failure was obviously from lack of grease. My Brother had a newer New Holland and had constant electrical problems. All shuttling and shifting was done electronically. I'm up to $7995 today. I'm going to stop improvements until the machine proves itself. By the end of Summer I'll know whether it's worthy of "tightening".
I would suggest that if you are going to be working in timber without windows that you should consider putting some heavy screen in their place. You would be amazed how fast a small live tree branch can slap you inside the cab. I swear those things move faster than a bolt of lightning.
And make me instantly mad...... Good idea!!!!
It's your call but I'd consider leaving the windows in if you aren't out in the sun and it gets too hot. If they are just flat glass they are cheap to replace if necessary. You can just cut them out of flat safety glass. The curved stuff is expensive and not DIY. At my place, the windows have an even better chance of getting broken if they are out of the machine and leaning against the wall somewhere. Nice machine. Have fun.
When I was first shopping for my first backhoe I was 200 miles from home on vacation when I saw an ad in a local paper. It was an old guy, said he bought the 555A to replace a Case, but couldn't get the hang of joystick controls after a lifetime of Case machines. The tractor in 1996 was advertised for $8000. with 800 hours. I agreed to buy, when his son threw a tantrum, said it wasn't his father's to sell. I walked away. I have friends who've always had Ford Backhoes. Their triple nickel is spanked!
I thought I was the only one that broke things I was trying to "save". Yeah, even as small town as my area is, I have a shop 13 miles away that will cut me flat safety glass pretty cheap. My concern for the windows that open and the door that opens is that I'll be too hot in the cab so will be operating with them open. Dramatically increases the chances of snagging them on tree limbs in the timber. Thanks for the compliment.
I think Case makes a great backhoe. And I don't say this to slander them. I can't get the hang of foot swing...... I also expect to move the boom with my left hand...... When I was shopping I ignored Case hoes that weren't joystick. Interesting dialect. Explain to me what "Their triple nickel is spanked" means?
555 or triple nickle is slang for this model. Spanked might be compared to "beat", my father would have described it as rode hard, and put away wet. It is used by a family operation. The recently deceased old man cared deeply about caring for his machinery. He wasn't a super mechanic, but preventive maintenance was something he understood very well. His much younger brother is now 75. The rest of the users are a younger generation, or two. His nephew is a Hell of a fine mechanic with a work load about triple his capacity. The 555 is now not considered to be a part of the first string of machines. In a reorganization following the bosses death, the boss's son now owns the 555 as his personal property. He'd need triple A to change a flat tire, and does not spend money, EVER! It won't improve.
I have a Case 580K with foot swing. At the time I bought it, I had another 580K with joysticks, and Extend-a-hoe. As one tractor was in much nicer condition, and most of the extend a hoe had been rebuilt, I switched dipper, and control tower before selling the tired old hoe. I am very adept with "John Deere" controls, but can't do well with Case three lever. My present 580K was almost unusable, as I found the foot swing terrifying. Nothing was worn, but lubrication wouldn't ease the force needed to end a swing. Having to use one foot as a brake to stop a swing initiated by the other seemed counter intuitive. I kept wanting to use heel to stop motion. I'll sum it up that it took twice as long for me to dig a ditch with Case controls. Cat controls take an hour before I'm on my game, but I'm not stumped as I am with Case controls.
Willie; I don't know if this helps you with that swing problem, but it is adjustable. I took this screen shot out of the 580K service manual.
Got it. Thank you for the explanation. Makes perfect sense. Also thank you for the short history of your family. Lots of information in that small paragraph!!!! Wear your family heritage with much pride!!!!
To use a friend of mine's "slang", I can't hit the ground with Case controls.
Good stuff. Thanks for posting it!!!!!
No, I may have failed in my explanation. I no longer have foot swing. Case hoes seem to accelerate as they swing, if they didn't have a swing sequence valve, they'd be shattered the first day. I said that wrong! IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE A Functional SWING SEQUENCE VALVE, they'd be shattered the first day. Lots of things go wrong with swing sequence valves. If you work on a Case backhoe equipped with one, get good at rebuilds. Even joystick equipped ones depend on this valve. I refer to the begin swing with one foot, you must use great force with the other foot to stop said swing, or it will wipe out a truck, or building. It seems the effort to send the boom one direction must be countered with twice the force to end the swing. I usually associate this with stuck linkage. Lubrication didn't help.
If you are going into the woods with it I think you are on the right track by removing and storing the glass. I wouldn't care to work in a cab without AC but down here is a different animal. I have never turned the heat on in mine. The glass cab becomes an oven without the AC on.
NH ; I ran my T/L/B without a windshield one summer. My gosh, what a relief from the heat. Ya we get humid days in the upper 90's in ILL also. Have you ever seen a cab with a second roof about 2 or 3 inches above the OEM ? I have seen pictures of a couple. It supposedly makes a big difference in the temperature inside the cab. Willie ; ok now I understand what you meant. I ran a 580CK and own a 680CK, both of them with foot swing. Both were smooth as can be when swinging and stopping the swing. I do know the 680 has a cushion device in the swing cylinders. Don't know about the 580, cause I never had to repair anything to do with the swing.
Before the two 580K, I had a 1974 John Deere 410. The backhoe was SO smooth compared to the Case. I could use any combination of valves simultaneously without any jerky, sudden stuff. The Case is very different in hydraulics. When using two or more functions simultaneously, stopping travel with one hydraulic cylinder causes a sudden speed up with another. Mostly this is a problem lifting, dumping, reaching, while swinging. I have to be very careful. When in close quarters, I do one motion at a time. Foot swing compounded the problem, and I felt the system was very awkward. I converted to joysticks, sold the first tractor with the foot swing controls.
Foot swing is very awkward compared to joysticks. I would love to have joysticks, but I could only afford to buy the foot controlled machine. I just took delivery on another seal kit for my left swing cylinder. I backed into a pile of snow and destroyed the wiper seal.
Back in the days of early tractor cabs my thoughts were that most days the cab was worse than open station. Things have improved dramatically. Most notably remotely locating the hydraulic valves outside the cab and using control linkages. In the beginning the valves were inside the cab. What an oven!!!! No AC is tolerable up here. Rare to see a hoe operator with the windows closed in Summer. For me, this machine is a luxury. If it's too hot, I'll put the project off until a cooler day. Originally I was shopping for an open station machine. Wouldn't consider that if I was trying to make a living with one.
A friend of mine has a Case 580K with foot swing. He also has two large Excavators. I use him when replacing road culverts. The guy that runs his Case is very rough on the controls. I wouldn't consider getting in the trench when he's within reach. I always thought he was just a bad operator. Maybe I'm being too hard on him. Maybe he's struggling with the swing controls because of design?? I'll relax my under breath condemnations of him next time. My friend always runs the Excavators. They are Linkbelt machines. I have no reservations about being around him. I've rode across many, many trenches in his bucket.
I tried a White backhoe. Not sure of the year. It had individual controls for each rear boom function, but it had a joystick for the front loader. If you were swinging and raising the boom, then stopped raising, the swing would take off. I hit more stuff. It's funny how I am comfortable with joysticks on an excavator, or backhoe, and can't imaging trying to run one with all those controls, but how I can't see myself running a grader with joysticks, cause that's just crazy.
I've had 3 backhoes in the past with foot swing and found them easy to control and smooth. I also felt there was more power using them when lifting the machine and moving the back end over.
Was he running the machine with the throttle wide open ? Just as Billrog said, I consider myself quite smooth with foot controls and have no problem doing multi functions at the same time with the backhoe. My 680 has tremendous hydraulic power running the engine a little above idle speed. I know some of the 580 series need full or nearly full throttle to get any production out of them.
It's funny how you say there is more power with foot swing, I just had this argument with a friend. There is no difference in the hydraulic valves, just the linkage that moves the valve.
I don't think I said that Mitch. My comment may have implied that. Of course the valves are the same. I was just quite surprised the first time I ran a 680 how the backhoe could dig and handle broken concrete, compared to the 580CK's I ran in the past.
I hear ya. After a couple days I can run a joystick grader, but I haven't mastered being an operator yet......
Nope, they run their equipment half throttle.
Mitch was quoting Bill's comment. I agree with Mitch. No way for there to be more power. It's simple linkage variations.
Isn't the 680 a larger more powerful model than the 580?? Such as a JD310 compared to a JD410??
Yes. Like a mouse and an elephant difference.
A good operator will make it work. It might be necessary to slow down to gain a level of control if the machine design isn't what it should be. I'll illustrate with the antique tractor pull my son hosts on each Columbus day weekend: I set 800 lb blocks on a steel stone boat. There is a great surplus of "helpers". A pipe cast into a concrete block weighing 800 lbs receives two pegs hanging from chains. Typically, we move two at a time. Put the pins in, get out of the way. Let the operator place the two 800 lb blocks on the boat, then move in to fine tune placement, and unhook. Each year we have a pre pull lecture: "Stay away from the blocks until they are within a few inches of being placed!" The proximity of four pairs of hands throughout the 10 foot journey forces the operator to take five minutes to do what would take 10 seconds without "Help". A John Deere hoe could do it in two minutes.
My brother used to have an old JD510. Definitely an elephant.
Willie, My K doesn't have foot swing but my C and CK both do. Since I learned on the foot swing and 3 levers it is intuitive to me and I can still do it in my sleep but I don't have to fight the swing like you describe. It's really smooth and the pedals work easily. Maybe there is something different about the newer foot swing but I feel much safer working with people around in my foot swings than I do with the joy sticks that I have to think about. Maybe there is an issue with yours? I don't know. Maybe just a different design.
Grady, in regards to your comments above. My definition of an "operator" versus someone that can run a machine is that the movements become natural. I would have to draw a picture and think about it to tell you what each lever in my grader do. But I don't ever think about it when operating it. To me it's just as comfortable as using my hand. Same with a backhoe or any other type of equipment. I think the various control setups come easier or harder to different operators. For example I've never understood why any operator would want to have the blade lift controls of a grader on opposite ends of the rack. I've also never understood why a backhoe operator would want more than two sticks.
Of the era, John Deere had closed center hydraulics. Pressure was maintained reasonably constant by varying the output of the pump. All valves on the tractor had equal pressure at a given time. It was possible to curl, extend the dipper, raise the boom, and swing simultaneously. When one cylinder had moved as far as desired, no sudden change in the rate another moved happened. Other manufacturers used open center systems. Pump volume is controlled by engine speed. When no control is used, all oil flows back to the reservoir. A six, or seven section valve is supplied from one end. actuate that valve fully, very little oil gets to other valve sections. Operate two at once, swing, and boom, then stop motion with the boom lift, swing accelerates at an alarming rate. JD hoes didn't suffer from this. One can gain proficiency with a Case hoe, but two experts each on his choice of hoe, JD would move more earth, with more precision.
ovrszd, I guess it just that I learned on the old 3 sticks and foot swing so 2 sticks is a second language to me. My excavator only has 2 and I'm real glad but I had enough time on the old backhoes to play it like a musical instrument - not bragging, it was an old pos but it was all I had at the time. The three levers correspond directly with the three functions - boom, dipper, and bucket and they do exactly what they do. If you push the boom valve away from you, the boom moves away from you and if you pull the dipper lever towards you, the dipper moves toward you . etc. etc. etc. It seems a very logical set up. My hoe allows you to use all three levers at one time but things do slow down when they have to share the flow. It obviously wasn't the optimum set up but it did work. Willie is probably right about JD being able to move more dirt but the few times I ran one - it just wasn't pretty. ; )
It's funny, but I have a Cat trackhoe with two joysticks, of course; a 580SK with 2 sticks; and a Ford 4500 with 4. I can't sit here now and tell you all of what is where on any of them, but I have no problem in the seat, (as long as I don't think about it too hard). I can also drive most any shift pattern in a truck just fine, but if I think about it all of a sudden, I won't know where I am.
A piano VS a xylophone. The first "Instrument I owned was an old JD. It wasn't the first I operated, but it was the first I sat on many hours. These days i'm a Case owner. It does everything i ask, but I do wish the boom had more lift power, and it lifted higher.
Willie, You need a Hitachi EX160 for that extra boom power and higher lift - talk about moving some dirt - impressive power for a smaller mid size machine. That's right mitch, just don't think about it too hard. I've tried to explain it by saying, "It knows how if I get out of the way" - same thing.
Exactly!!!
Make sure you lower the stabilizer before you open the rear window! We broke windows and bent the frame a few times.
Probably not in the budget.
I totally understand and agree. I watched a Professional, and I mean Professional backhoe operator run a Case several years ago digging in a large sewer pipe for a commercial hog operation. The smoothest, most accurate operator I've ever watched. When he took a break I asked him about the Case controls. He said he is much more accurate with a stick for each function than joysticks. He said there was too much slop in them to suit him.
I thought it was just my peanut brain that has those moments.
If I haven't said this before in this thread, let me say it now. I didn't buy a Ford hoe because I thought they were superior in any way. I bought the first hoe that fit my needs and budget. I would have bought any brand. But I was steering away from 3 or 4 stick Case hoes because of my operator inadequacies.
Thanks for the tip. That explains the condition of the window frame!!!!! At some point it's had the entrance door swung clear back and the stabilizer lifted as well.....
Plenty of recent manufactured backhoes, and excavators have pilot controls, where electricity opens the valve, and sticks have rheostats. control is precise, and fast.
Some excavators sense your control movements and adjust pressure to smooth out your movements.
Not if you want to stay married.
Nothing wrong with the older Ford 555 hoes. Ford used to do a comparison in the 80's of all major brands digging the same trenches side by side and switching operators between the machines so know one would have an advantage. Ford was the most productive for several years which would explain why they were quite popular in the day.
Thanks Dave. Hopefully it'll be a dependable addition to the farm.
Removed a large Elm stump from the front yard yesterday. Baby steps.
What are you referring to tightening on the machine and what are your $$$$ estimates ? I am looking at similar machines. Thanks Ed
Tightening would be replacing bushings and pins that currently don't prohibit the machine from working, just remove slop. I've put 80 hours on it now. I'm not going to replace anything that's just wear. I'm using it. Very productive machine for the investment. We've started building a new house and shop. It'll continue to pay for itself.
I am naïve when it comes to pins, bushings and hoe pivot point. Are parts readily available for the older machines ?