I have a new to me case 580c. I bought it after my wife and I bought a 5acre unimproved lot and thought it would be helpful for various tasks. It gets stuck fairly easily and the locking differential was eliminated by a previous owner. The internals are still intact but the shaft was cut flush and the linkage to activate it was removed. The tires are worn but not terrible and holding air. One thing I did notice is they are 17.5x24 and anytime I search case 580c tires online I see 19.5x24. Would that extra 2 inches per side help with traction and distributing the weight more to make it less prone to slipping in the mud and sinking in? Thanks for any advice
Deep lug tires will help but that differential should be repaired. Ballast in the rear tires will help a bunch too. I had a 580C for a short bit and found it too light and getting stuck often, but that was mostly my own doing trying to use the machine far in excess of it's purpose.
Did you read the "stuck in the mud best ways to get out" thread here in TLB on the second page? Lots of good advice for techniques to get unstuck. They won't help you operate the loader in soft slick ground, nothing will except waiting for dry conditions, even if just enough so it's not slick on top. I wouldn't bother with wider tires unless yours are nearly bald. even then I'd figure to wait until you pop one...
I haven’t seen that yet. I had a pretty good rhythm using the bucket along with the wheels in rev to get myself freed a couple of times but I would get out of one and sink into the next. I underestimate how wet it was in that area. I found Hagan tractor parts online and I think I have replacement parts for my diff lock. Trying to figure out if one had a one piece pedal linkage or a two piece. Seems the 580 C had both. I’m linking a pic of the serial number. I think it’s a 1979 based on research and also a picture of the floor board. Not sure where the linkage would pop through the rectangle cutout I assume was for the ebrake which is missing and the other holes are for shifter and transaxle dip stick and heater core hoses. Any pictures of the way the linkage is mounted or where the pedal comes up would be appreciated.