Hey, I am looking at buying a JD 555g with backhoe attachment. I have fence lines to clear, a driveway to fix and ditch, some waterlines to dig and some tree clearing. A good portion of my property is on grade. I don't have any experience with track loaders. I can only afford one piece of equipment right now. Is this a good choice? Do they have enough down pressure to push in fence posts? Thanks to all those who reply.
Welcome to the Forums Aspo! I'm a track loader proponent but unfortunately I have no experience with 555's just the larger Cat rear engine machines. Do you have a specific machine you are looking at or just asking in general. There are other members on the Forum that have the experience maybe they will chime in.
what year mdl are you looking at and how big are the fence posts
I think the G's are decent machines but never ran one. I read a lot that the original 555 machines were very expensive to fix if you had transmission problems. I think the G's came with a choice of power shift or direct drive. The loader should push in fence posts unless you have rocks or big tree roots. The backhoe is very handy to have but should be taken off if you're doing lots of loader work. Biggest thing to check other than if everything works is the condition of the undercarriage. It could cost over 10K to replace if worn out. Would be best to have someone experienced check it out for you. Local JD dealer might have more info.
Hey, it's a 1998 with 3900 hrs. Undercarriage is new. Fence posts would be 3-4".
Thanks for the input. It's much appreciated. The undercarriage is new on the machine I'm looking at. It's a 1998 with 3900 hrs.
this is the unit i'm considering
nice machine` no reason that machine wouldn't shove a 4" post in unless there is lots of rock may have to shake it a little
I agree with Pete, there should be no reason that hoe wouldn't push a 4" post unless you have rocky soils then it will just break the posts. Do you have a closer pic of the UC? Hard to tell from this pic but it doesn't look new.
here is a close up picture. I haven't seen the unit in person and don't know much about them.
looks to be very near new
using the hoe as a rear brace and the front bucket on a post you can muster almost 11 tons of down force
Thanks Pete. I really appreciate you digging up that info.
didn't have to look far I have a setup like it just older
Welcome to HEF Aspo ! "G" model machines (both the direct drive and torque converter machines) have been very reliable overall in my experience. First thing I would recommend however is to do a complete transmission service (take note of the oil condition upon draining, milky, etc) including inspecting/cleaning the suction screen. If that screen is clean then your golden.
About the only pieces I have seen as weak are the brake adjusters. Have known of several that were worry free for years just general servicing and as noted above OK to have the hoe on when needed remove when used as a general loader, should be able to find the counterweights to add to the rear if feels toe heavy when loading. 4/1 buckets are available all over for these and make them quite a general good use machine.
Thanks mg. I'll make sure to have a look.
Hey DMiller, Thanks. I looked online for some 4 in 1 buckets but ain't having any luck. It doesn't help that I'm horrible with computers. It took me forever to figure out how to post a thread! I'm up in Northern British Columbia so it's a bit tougher to find things locally. Any suggestions for good places to look?
Try kijiji in BC and Alberta. You may not get a lot of hits on people selling a single bucket but you should find some of the bigger outfits who have tons of used equipment in their yards that might have what you are looking for. Also, there is a publisher in BC called "the supply post" who have a website listing a bunch of suppliers with new/used equipment where you might find some leads. Jon.
That looks like a nice machine except it appears to have been painted and/or doesn't have original decals. 3900 hours sounds about right for undercarriage replacement but who knows if the hour meter is correct. Does the seller have the receipts for the undercarriage? Hoe uses swing cylinders which is very desirable. I found the machine you're looking at but the asking price almost seems too low for only 3900 hours compared to other 555G's for sale. Premium condition should have original decals in my opinion. I think the guy selling it dabbles in used machines (track loaders) and I've talked to him before. Could be a good machine but would pay to have someone experienced check it over really good. Looks like it could be missing some parts for the return-to-dig function. Again premium condition shouldn't be missing anything. I have 931B with a backhoe that is slightly smaller. The front loader will push 4" posts in like they aren't there. I had to put some 6" posts in for gate posts and there were some roots on one. I had the post pushed down about a foot and it lifted the front of the machine. I lifted the bucket about 2" and gave the post a couple bumps and it went down. I could have put the stabilizers or hoe on the ground but didn't want to mess up the driveway. I bumped it at the back of the bucket on the skid shoe close to the pin and only lifted it slightly. I have 4 in 1 bucket so it's like a 1300lb hammer. I know on a backhoe if you bang the bucket you can bend the stick cylinder so that's why I only lifted it a couple inches. It pushed the post about 4" with each bump. The other post pushed right in. For some things a 4 in 1 is nice but for others is more of a hinderance. If you're clearing any heavy brush and tree's you don't want a 4 in 1. Branches go everywhere and will wreak havoc on all the hyd. lines no matter how careful you try to be. A 4 in 1 doesn't fill as easy or dig as good as a standard bucket. They are nice for fence posts though because if you need to pull one out because of a rock or it's crooked, you can clamp on it lightly and out it comes. Works on smaller stumps and for picking up rocks too.
OFF TOPIC: How I envy anyone who has ground that will accept posts just by bumping them in with a loader!! Rocks!! I hate them! I have to dig a hole with a backhoe, fiddle around to line the post up in the bottom of the hole, then support the post while it is backfilled, and compact the backfill, taking care not to tamp the post out of line!! I use the hoe to steady the post by putting one tooth of the bucket on the top of the post and then buzz around with the skidsteer doing the backfilling. Tamping with the teeth tips of the bucket--with a Case backhoe, if you get real close to the over-center latch point with the boom, you can punch the ground pretty hard with a high speed boom down action. About 30 minutes per post with a good helper. Most of the professionals around here use a hydraulic jackhammer on a skid steer with a cup-ended attachment and use oilfield surplus steel pipe as posts where the going is rocky. Others drive a steel tapered shaft in first to make a pilot hole.
I kind of tapped the posts in. I don't think punching the ground with high speed boom down is a good idea. A post pounder would be better if conditions are brutal.
A Lot of yards will call them MP or Multipurpose buckets. The one on your to be machine is a GP or General Purpose.
The 555G in question has a GP bucket but the OP was considering an MP bucket.
Thanks Dave, the seller said he had sold off a bunch of equipment from his construction company and he had two cats left. You make me wonder if this is true? Do you recall what you talked to him about before.
I looked at a different 931B back around 1999/2000 and he was telling me you can just re-shell the rollers for about $100ea. at Cat. Cat doesn't re-shell D3 rollers, maybe they used to. He had another with a backhoe but someone bought the machine without the backhoe. I looked at the backhoe that was in really good shape but I think he wanted 10K for it. Looking at what was needed to hook it up required figuring some things out because it wasn't real straight forward. He had a shop set up for awhile selling used machines but I don't think it was even open for a year. I think he worked or may have owned a smaller excavation business but I don't believe the machines he's selling all came from there. I think he may have imported some of them. He seemed kind of the used car salesman type. Wouldn't offer info unless it was specifically brought up. Premium condition was his go to description. It may be a great machine but I wouldn't take his word for it. If I recall he placed an ad looking for used track loaders and/or backhoe attachments for them. If it's in Edmonton maybe someone at Brandt Tractor (JD construction dealer) could inspect it for a few hundred bucks. If it was his machine and he bought it new, that's where it would have came from. Also if it was his machine ask for the service records. If he can't provide any may be sign it wasn't his or maintenance records weren't important to him. I'd ask that if you see him in person so he can't make something up. It may be a fantastic machine but the price seems too good to be true. A premium 1998 555G with 3900 hours, new undercarriage and a backhoe attachment I think should be in the 50K+Cad. range and perhaps more. If you're real interested I think it's worth a look but make sure everything checks out.
Just spoke to Brandt - 225/hr - they figured an hour travel time and two hours to look over the machine - OUCH! Well, I asked a few more questions and the seller is saying all his maintenance records went when he sold the company. This is kinda odd since you would think you would keep the records for the machines that you didn't sell, unless it was an oversight. There are also no receipts for the undercarriage as he is saying it was replaced prior to him purchasing it and he put on very little hours. Brandt wants 225/hr to go look and said a minimum of 3 hrs - Ouch! So I left a message with another outfit. It looks like a good machine but pictures can be deceiving. The more I look into this type of machine in general, the more I realize it would be the best to meet my current needs. Hopefully I can get a good mechanic to go have a look for a decent price. Thanks Dave. Well, I asked a few more questions and the seller is saying all his maintenance records went when he sold the company. This is kinda odd since you would think you would keep the records for the machines that you didn't sell?. There are also no receipts for the undercarriage as he is saying it was replaced prior to him purchasing it and he put on very little hours. Brandt wants 225/hr to go look and said a minimum of 3 hrs - Ouch! So I left a message with another outfit. It looks like a good machine but pictures can be deceiving. The more I look into this type of machine in general, the more I realize it would be the best to meet my current needs. Hopefully I can get a good mechanic to go have a look for a decent price.
Clearly I cant use a computer worth a damn since everything seems to re-post itself!
Somehow that's what I was expecting his response would be. If he sold his company why would he buy another machine and only put a few hours on it? Why would he get rid of maintenance records if he was keeping it and would eventually be selling it? Why didn't he get the receipt for the undercarriage from the previous owner? Does he have receipts for the oil and filters and everything else from when it was "apparently" fully serviced or did those go when he sold the company too? All of these things missing could affect price as well. He bought it strictly to re-sell and may have painted some of it and not even bothered to get the correct decals. Why would it need paint and decals at 3900 hours? Was it drowned in a pond? Maybe a little high to inspect it but it's pretty clear to me he isn't being up front with you. Track machines aren't called money pits for no reason. An inspection could reveal a big red flag or give you piece of mind it's a decent machine. If you're really serious about buying it, get him to take it to Brandt and negotiate the cost of inspection in the price. He says he can help with arranging trucking. The purchase could also be conditional on the inspection. If you get $1000 off the asking price more than covers the inspection. If he's legit shouldn't have a problem with this. Depends on how bad he wants to sell it and/or if he has others interested. If it needed a couple thousand in repairs wouldn't be too bad. I'm guessing he's in his 70's by now. One last thing is don't be dead set on one machine. If something doesn't seem right don't be afraid to walk away.