Any one here have a old style track loder with the backhoe on it? How do you like it ? I am thinking of one for personal use on my property. I want the loader to pull out firewood and load my dump truck. But I am thinking the backhoe attachment would be great for the little jobs like trenching and such. What experience do you guys have with them?
They were a common sight in my area from the 1970's to about the mid 90's . Don't see many today . They were pretty much the tracked version of the rubber tire back hoe . Contractors I knew that ran them would take on damn near any kind of project . They generally would pop the hoe unit off for extensive grade work with the front bucket . I use my tracked skid loader with front mount backhoe in about the same way today . In the same situation myself as I'm a sucker for old iron plus would like a small track loader / hoe unit for some jobs . Still trying to talk my neighbor out of his John Deere 450C high lift / backhoe rig . I think they were handy units . It was a crazy idea ....... Contractor used one piece of equipment to do the job .
I have just such a machine - a Case 310G with a backhoe attachment. I use the loader more than my 953 but it has a 1400lb (I think) counterweight mounted on the rear in place of the hoe. I removed the front counterweight probably 15 years ago when last I used the backhoe. With the hoe mounted, the machine was pretty much worthless, in my opinion, for anything but hoe work. It was un-manuvereable and lacked sufficient power to do anything but maybe push a little dirt. With the hoe removed, it was too light in the rear to do much at all. With a full bucket, it would tip forward when trying to do any loading. Forget grading without that rear counterweight. With the hoe removed and counterweight installed the loader is invaluable around the farm for small odd jobs. With that being said, the combo did a lot around here before the Cat came along. If one has mostly a use for the backhoe, they can be quite useful, but not really as a dual purpose machine.
What brand are you looking at Cat E70 b ? Deere , Case , Cat ? Member Viking1 has a good thread rehabbing his Case 855 combo unit . HeavyEquipmentForums
look for a Caterpillar 931/935 crawler loader with a Caterpillar Backhoe attachment, BULLET PROOF. If you cannot find the above, John Deere 450/550 Crawler Loader with Backhoe attachment, Bullets bounce off it most of the time... ALSO, Look for 4 in 1 Loader bucket, very, very, very handy...
I have a older Cat 931 with a 4 in 1 bucket and backhoe. Handy machine that one can do a lot with. I bought it for my wife because she likes to play at our rural cabin property. She is addicted to swamps. The 931 can not swim. When she comes walking I can usually drag or push it out by itself using the hoe and if not use the bucket and hoe to lift it up and toss some trees chunks under the tracks. If still stuck its small enough for the 9U D6 to drag out.
Yeah ..... old iron or RBM , any idea when Cat , Deere , & Case quit offering the combo units ? I'm guessing late 1980's or early 90's . Just don't know . Deere units were the most prevalent in my area , 450 & 555's . We had a pretty good Deere construction dealer .
Deere and case seem to be what's around here I love the controls on the old 450 case dozer I use to have so I am leaning toward case. I would love to get a 555g with a hoe but I don't see them around much and there a lot more pricey
I'm not sure when they quit making the combo. Mine is a late 70s. We used to have lots of 450 JD's with them on in the early seventies on the bridge jobs.
I got to run this 931 loader/backhoe unit in 2008 for an hour or so, what a handy little unit! I would LOVE to have it! I would guess it to be a late 70s or early 80s unit...
That little unit looks perfect for my wood lot.
That's how it was in my area old-iron-habit . I grew up in the 70's / 80's and being interested in construction as a youth remember seeing those combo rigs on a lot of sites . I can only assume when the mid range excavators like the Deere 690 B & Cat 225 got popular with contractors the track loader / hoe units became less attractive . Job I'm on now I have a tracked skid loader teamed up with 20 ton excavator . They are a pretty good combination but many times on short time small jobs I could see where the old track loader / hoe combo would be handy if you only wanted to move in one machine . Hey ....Found a 1995 model Deere 555G http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=10029767
I like it spitzair ! What more could you want
Yep same here. I've seen a few JD dozers outfitted with backhoes as well. If you think about it for long trenching runs what would've been better for mainline utility runs in the ROW before smaller excavators were introduced? The dozer had traction a backhoe didn't and an angle blade to backfill and dress up better than any backhoe could.
Good point CM1995 . Yes , although not as common as the track loader version once in a great while you might see a JD 450 dozer equipped with the hoe unit . Hang on ........................... Here ya go ! LGP 450 with hoe unit . http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=10457499 Deere also offered a ripper attachment that would quick mount in place of the hoe . So far this is the latest Deere model combo unit I have found , Looks like they still offered them in at least 2000 . http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=6377562
Nice find TD! How in the world does one run the backhoe on the 450 LGP dozer? That seat looks like it's right under the ROPs. Anyone familiar or operated one of those?
The sheet steel rear half of the ROPS cab folds forward on the 450 . Looks like the ROPS has enough room on the 550 G .
I knew there had to be something, just couldn't tell from the pictures.
Yeah CM , on the 450 operator flips the ROPS roof open to use the hoe , head & shoulders are above main ROPS structure . It's really not a big deal for us older guys that have already had multiple head injuries from tree limbs & such .LOL ! What did you think about the 2000 model 555 G ? http://www.machinerytrader.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=6377562 I thought it looked pretty good and surprised to still see the combo unit on it . They are probably a little high on asking price but could be a handy unit for someone .
I bought one recently and had to have it shipped down here (Colorado Springs) from Detroit. Well worth it! This last weekend was the first time I have been able to do some serious work with it due to snow melt. I was worried when I sold my 310c that I was going to miss having that backhoe, but now I have one every bit as capable and with two buckets.