I was just wondering who still is running these old beasts and how they like them. Also if anybody knows of any information on them. I do still run mine and love it I also have the manuals for them if anybody needs parts or any information.
So nobody has any input?
I had an old 500A, it was in poor repair and not really worth fixing, found it too big for most uses, the hoe was huge and it felt very top heavy on uneven ground.
Thank you for your in put.
No more input I'm kinda surprised.
I haven't seen a JD 500 around my area in over twenty years. So for that reason it doesn't surprise me you aren't getting many reply's.
I understand. But some still have to be around and working still. I have seen some for sale. I'm just surprised nobody has anything to say about them.
it's probley been that long since I've seen one on a job working used to work with an older guy that's the only machine he had and he was good at laying pipe.and they were old then. most of the contractors that run them upgraded to the 710's
Nice. I don't expect contractors to still be running them as a main machine. They are 30 plus years old. They do make good yard machines tho and for privet use. The one that are still running good anyway. I know parts are getting hard to find for them.
I just bought a 500 A series. She's old and ugly but runs like a top. Planning on using it to dig a basement and move dirt around on my new property in South Carolina.
That's great these machines have plenty of power to get any job done even being on the old side. Just can't beat some old iron. I have a parts book if you need info even tho it's for a 500c but they are a pretty much the same.
Thanks, I do have a question for you. Is the starter on it a 12 volt?
I think so. But I'm not sure. I will check when I get home for you. Why do you ask?
The Solenoid is out of it and I need to replace it. I figured a standard solenoid would work.
2 6 volt batteries connected in series give 12 volts for the electrical system. The solenoid switch part # is AR90070 its a kit.
Thank you Sir
I bought a 500A (72) back in 95 and used it to put in a cabin in heavy woods. It was quite a power full machine with the 80HP diesel. It had well over a dozen fish plates on it and soon I had to oversize the front frame to engine block bolts. It was essentially a JD 400 tractor with backhoe attachments. In the 15 years I ran the machine, the shuttle shift trany was bullet proof. Once I talked to a big tractor bone yard in Texas and the guy told me the tractor's engine was a sought after engine. Said he would buy the back hoe if I ever wanted to sell it if it ever became a parts unit. I originally paid $4400 with manuals in 95 and sold it to my neighbor for $2500 with no dickering. Im sure I could have gotten more but I sold the cabin homestead and had to move ASAP after I used it to load heavy machinery into my trailer. That machine saved me many, many thousands of dollars in everything from putting in my leach field to skidding & stacking fire wood trees. Many of the bushings & pins were pretty beat but it was still a good working property machine when I sold it. In my new home now and just bought a NH Ford 555E for $14,850 delivered with 2900 hrs. Huge upgrade from the old 500, just hope it will be just as reliable with that TC trany.
That's awesome! Thank you
There has to be more input or even question.
I'm getting ready to buy my first backhoe I'm thinking pretty seriously about buying a Jd 500c
Anything I should be taking a really close look at?
I'm just got my 510 b some minor electrical issues but so far so good, lots of power
Sorry for late response. As far as to look at its the same as any other machine. To me there are no none problems with these machines. They are light in the front end tho when using it on hills.
Any more input?
Let's try and bring some life back to this.
I do have a John Deere 500CD. It's my favorite toy. It's old and tired, like me, and I baby it. It has given me some problems over the 13 or so years I've owned it, but luckily, nothing serious. Right now I'm down because the park pawl arm has disintegrated so I was stuck w/o a park position out on our road with a bucket full of asphalt but I got it home and discovered the faulty part. Unfortunately, some pieces of it have left the tractor so I only have a picture of it from the manual and am looking to buy one if I can find one anywhere, otherwise I may have do a work-around, maybe make a lever that replaces the cable operation and goes directly into the shaft that engages the pawl. I solved a little of the tail-heavy aspect of this guy (I live in the foothills) by filling the front tires with water & antifreeze. Not a perfect fix, but a definite improvement. I still back up the steeper hills.
It seems to me that I remember these having a front cast counterweight wrapping under the front axle. Might not be to major of a project to hang some weight their.
Hi Old-Iron, You're correct, and there is a big hunk of factory-looking (cast?) iron strapped to the front of my tractor. I imagine I could put some more up there, but water in the wheels added several hundred pounds by my calc's and I think that's OK for now. It used to rear up like a stallion on even small hills so I would only go uphill in reverse, which I learned to deal with, but the water trick helped a lot. Plus my piece of dirt is quite hilly so on side-hills, having more weight down low feels better. Another trick old-timers know is to load the front bucket with dirt or rocks. It was and is my first backhoe, so imagine how I felt when it reared up and started bouncing down the hill towards the house I was building.... I dropped the front bucket real quick and was safe, but it's a caution to any newbies out there to be careful on hills. I bought it for less than the quotes were to dig my basement and still own it years later, one of my few good investments.
I think my Ford 5550 is about the same class as the JD. I looked at one in '88 at the Napa Deere dealer. Too expensive and when I checked JD parts pricing versus Ford, that's what sealed the 5550. This is my first and only hoe, 28 years I've had it. I did all the same mods with the water in the front tires, scoop up some dirt before driving up my driveway. They are definitely tail heavy, especially if it has a Dig More, 24" bucket, and a mechanical thumb hanging off the back. If you don't have to trailer it around, this size hoe is great; stuff a 555 can't do is easy with this one. I'm on a lava flow, need the weight to keep the hoe from sliding around when I'm breaking that up. Then I can lift huge lava rocks with the thumb and stack them out of the way. Can't do that with the little ones....