Backhoe recommendations?

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Those high priced cat parts is why my buddy went to mostly komatsu... price, parts and service are so much better in our area

I had a little Cat back in the 1980s and the price of parts nearly killed me.

I traded it straight across for a 1958 Chevy 2 ton winch truck

[cornerstone]

I drove an hour away to a used heavy equipment dealer and looked at several hoes that were under 15k. After sales tax and delivery fees it was north of 18k.
Everything I saw was just too ragged out for that much. Then this last Saturday I almost caved in and bought a real clean low hour 2008 Case 580M3, but thank God I came to my senses before I dropped more cash than I did on my first house. I’m not using it to make a living, so it’s really more of a toy than anything else. Sunday came and went and I did my best to not think about backhoes at all. Just for fun this morning I checked Craigslist again, and I see a 1996 Case 580 super K newly listed in my town for a reasonable 15k. A quick text and I was on the hunt again. I was able to go check it out after work, and wouldn’t ya know the thing was around the corner of my place, less than 1/4 mile away.

It feels like a strong and fairly well taken care of machine but the back tires aren’t very good at all, one of them is bald and pretty gouged up. He came off the price another thousand, down to 14k. I’m thinking I’ll probably buy it tomorrow.

Any last advice? It’s a 2 WD, non turbo with 6800 hours and EROPS. Not leaks to speak of.

Thanks in advance guys.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

I drove an hour away to a used heavy equipment dealer and looked at several hoes that were under 15k. After sales tax and delivery fees it was north of 18k.
Everything I saw was just too ragged out for that much. Then this last Saturday I almost caved in and bought a real clean low hour 2008 Case 580M3, but thank God I came to my senses before I dropped more cash than I did on my first house. I’m not using it to make a living, so it’s really more of a toy than anything else. Sunday came and went and I did my best to not think about backhoes at all. Just for fun this morning I checked Craigslist again, and I see a 1996 Case 580 super K newly listed in my town for a reasonable 15k. A quick text and I was on the hunt again. I was able to go check it out after work, and wouldn’t ya know the thing was around the corner of my place, less than 1/4 mile away.

It feels like a strong and fairly well taken care of machine but the back tires aren’t very good at all, one of them is bald and pretty gouged up. He came off the price another thousand, down to 14k. I’m thinking I’ll probably buy it tomorrow.

Any last advice? It’s a 2 WD, non turbo with 6800 hours and EROPS. Not leaks to speak of.

Thanks in advance guys.

I am not a heavy construction company ,so what I have to say about buying a back hoe is strictly what I thought after buying a 580 C some years ago.. Now , I lived in Oregon and it rains a lot there.. luckly I had 4 sheets of 1 1/4 playwood to keep me from getting stuck and having to tear up some ones yard getting it out .. that machine up front was heavier than I thought and so I know it would of cost me more ,,quite a bit too,,But .. I should of got a 4 wheel drive ...another thing I learned to do when buying a used hoe was to back up and slam it in forward gear and make the front end come off the ground ,,that will tell ya if the Torque converter is working good.. (other Larry might have a better way of testing ,,as some do disagree with me on this..

Just relized you may of bought it already.. I bet it's a good machine and will most likely do all you want it to do for you.. Texas is dryer that where I lived in Oregon also ,,

[davischevy]

My first backhoe was a Case 580D 2 wheel drive and it probably had 10,000 one owner hours. I got along with it just fine as long as I was the only one using it.

Once you get used to having a backhoe around the place, you will wonder how you got along without it.

Good luck.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

ny
Just relized you may of bought it already.. I bet it's a good machine and will most likely do all you want it to do for you.. Texas is dryer that where I lived in Oregon also ,,

Thanks for the advice GOPAPA. I didn't get it yet, but still heavily considering it. I wish it were a 4 WD also, for the same reasons you mentioned. I figure you can't really get a full size hoe that fires right up, has strong hydraulics and doesn't leak too bad for much cheaper than 14K. I've been on the hunt pretty hard for 3 weeks and watched 3 auctions already. I had to work all day today so I wasn't able to run by and buy it. My luck it'll sell 10 minutes before I arrive.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Thanks for the advice GOPAPA. I didn't get it yet, but still heavily considering it. I wish it were a 4 WD also, for the same reasons you mentioned. I figure you can't really get a full size hoe that fires right up, has strong hydraulics and doesn't leak too bad for much cheaper than 14K. I've been on the hunt pretty hard for 3 weeks and watched 3 auctions already. I had to work all day today so I wasn't able to run by and buy it. My luck it'll sell 10 minutes before I arrive.

Good Luck ,,hope it works out for you .. One last advise ..if you can get an honest answer from who owned it ,,make sure it didn't spend it's life before in a rock pit.. I'd walk away if it has...metal fatigue will get you lots of problems..

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

I'd walk away if it has...metal fatigue will get you lots of problems..

Yeah that’s one of the first things I was looking for, stress cracks near all the pivot points, extra welds or plates added for strength. I didn’t see any at all. I brought my step brother Tom out with me to check it out since he’s so familiar with diesel engines and tractors in general. He’s been driving tractors since the age of 10... grew up farming in Searcy Arkansas. His feelings were the same as mine so I paid the man and drove it around the corner to my house, probably under a quarter of a mile.

I parked it in the driveway, walked in the house and the wife says “well, tell me about it” I figured it would be better for me to just take her outside to see it as opposed to giving her specs and numbers. She saw it and said ”WOW!!!... it’s got an arm!!” I thought I’d fire it up and stand it up on the outriggers and show her how cool it is. I felt like a 10 year old boy flexing my bicep for my girlfriend. Wouldn’t ya know it, it wouldn’t even crank.

I’m sure it’s something simple. Anyways, it’s mine now.

[Killer Bee]

good luck with it, looks like a solid buy..

check your safety interlocks, seat, seat belt, neutral, etc.

or call your neighbor and see what his trick was

[GOPAPA]

Here is what happened to me one morning when I drove my back hoe out on frozen ground and then the sun came out and thawed it out ,,I haD a heck of a time getting my hoe to grab solid enough ground to drag myself off the yard onto the drive way .. this was before I got the 1 /14 inch thick plywood

It was a 1978 Case 580

[davischevy]

I hope Killer chimes in, but, if it turns out to be the battery, replace it with a Case battery. I know that sounds crazy, but I have been through this scenario several times and they just start better with an OE battery.

EDIT; What I meant was I would like to hear Killers opinion.

[cornerstone]

I think it was a switch on a brake pedal but I’m not positive. I jumped in it a it fired off just like every other time.

I gave it a good power wash and cleaned all the windows. What a difference. Something’s wrong with a guy when he details his backhoe hasn’t washed his daily driver in months.

Was that at a customers house GOPAPA? What kind of grief did that mess cost ya to make it all good?

[davischevy]

I'm glad you got it going. Safety switches can drive you crazy until you get used to them.

Like I said, in a month you will wonder how you got by without it.

Searcy, Arkansas, Does your brother know Boog?

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by Killer Bee

good luck with it, looks like a solid buy..

check your safety interlocks, seat, seat belt, neutral, etc.

or call your neighbor and see what his trick was

Good Call Killerbee sound advice

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Was that at a customers house GOPAPA? What kind of grief did that mess cost ya to make it all good?

Nah ! it was ,my own lower yard.. just a dumb thing to do when the ground was frozen and just undermeath was wet ground..

[QUOTE=davischevy;8791430]I'm glad you got it going. Safety switches can drive you crazy until you get used to them.

I had one right under the seat,, cant remember now what that stopped when I stood up?? I had more fun with that piece of machinery than any I ever owned ,,they can do so much to clear your land ,dig up stumps ..make burn piles ,, ,drag a whole building to a different location our back of your house ...

change the landscape or fill a low spot.. I moved over 200 yds of earth from behind my shop to our front yard of my place so the wife could make a flower garden .. all in fun .. Cornerstone ,,you are about to live on that Case Back Hoe ,so best tell the wife you'll be out side awhile longer each day.. take your lunch pail with ya,,,

[Killer Bee]

yes Larry, OE batteries are often the best choice and almost never a bad choice.. even though we have to accept low bid most of the time we do specify OE or specific aftermarket like Odyssey or Trojan for certain applications where replacing house label east penn batteries every 6 months hinders our operations.. so yes, that's sound advice to buy OE unless you have specific personal knowledge or experience otherwise..

I actually have decent luck personally with interstate and costco warranty is solid for the price point but I have seen other brands perform longer.. I'll give any wet cell battery a gold star if lives past the 5 years standard expectancy.. costco is just a no hassle go-to for me, I replaced 7 12v batteries this year, 3 in one shot in indep, mo last month.. and none of them are making me any money

and speaking of wet cells, make sure your machine's charging system is set up to maintain an AGM if you decide to go that route.. AGM batteries perform as advertised if kept at the design voltages..


indeed Brian, that is a nice looking machine all cleaned up, I like it! keep it clean, lube and inspect daily, operate it within its design limits, and it'll give you many years of reliable service..

I also highly recommend going through the machine tip to tip and replace all fluids and filters with OE brand everything regardless of when it was claimed to have been done last.. we had our 886 hydraulic drive replaced a couple years ago at a VERY reliable and trustworthy local shop.. well, not 5 minutes after delivery and the driver was out of sight, boom, no hydro.. turns out they forgot to replace the filter and clean the screen everyone makes mistakes and all was forgiven when they immediately corrected the issue the next day on site.. point is, do it yourself or use your own known trustworthy mechanic if some of the maintenance is out of your wheelhouse..

speaking of which, I highly recommend a good cordless grease gun.. I put these in all of my shops and the guys love them and more likely to use them

grease or rather the lack there of can be the demise of any heavy machine and guaranteed expensive repairs to follow.. can't express this enough to operators and field mechanics, grease, grease, and grease.. not globs hanging off of every pin once a year but proper amounts daily and a good purge at PM time, flush that old stuff out and verify completely flooded.. your machine will thank you

You Tube

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Killer Bee

yes Larry, OE batteries are often the best choice and almost never a bad choice.. even though we have to accept low bid most of the time we do specify OE or specific aftermarket like Odyssey or Trojan for certain applications where replacing house label east penn batteries every 6 months hinders our operations.. so yes, that's sound advice to buy OE unless you have specific personal knowledge or experience otherwise..

I actually have decent luck personally with interstate and costco warranty is solid for the price point but I have seen other brands perform longer.. I'll give any wet cell battery a gold star if lives past the 5 years standard expectancy.. costco is just a no hassle go-to for me, I replaced 7 12v batteries this year, 3 in one shot in indep, mo last month.. and none of them are making me any money

and speaking of wet cells, make sure your machine's charging system is set up to maintain an AGM if you decide to go that route.. AGM batteries perform as advertised if kept at the design voltages..


indeed Brian, that is a nice looking machine all cleaned up, I like it! keep it clean, lube and inspect daily, operate it within its design limits, and it'll give you many years of reliable service..

I also highly recommend going through the machine tip to tip and replace all fluids and filters with OE brand everything regardless of when it was claimed to have been done last.. we had our 886 hydraulic drive replaced a couple years ago at a VERY reliable and trustworthy local shop.. well, not 5 minutes after delivery and the driver was out of sight, boom, no hydro.. turns out they forgot to replace the filter and clean the screen everyone makes mistakes and all was forgiven when they immediately corrected the issue the next day on site.. point is, do it yourself or use your own known trustworthy mechanic if some of the maintenance is out of your wheelhouse..

speaking of which, I highly recommend a good cordless grease gun.. I put these in all of my shops and the guys love them and more likely to use them

grease or rather the lack there of can be the demise of any heavy machine and guaranteed expensive repairs to follow.. can't express this enough to operators and field mechanics, grease, grease, and grease.. not globs hanging off of every pin once a year but proper amounts daily and a good purge at PM time, flush that old stuff out and verify completely flooded.. your machine will thank you

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4xj5-L4mdM

That's a lot of great info Killer Bee! Thank you.

Currently it has a group 24 auto battery in it and it must be outgunned. The battery box on the left side looks like it could hold a couple of group 31's. I used the hoe for a couple hours digging up a 30" oak stump and just as I was filling the hole back up the alternator light came on. I parked it in the shade, shut it off, and tried to restart it. It cranked slow and didn't fire. Before I left for work I removed it and put it on the trickle charger. I'll throw it back in and test the alt. output after its running again.

It came with a manual so I'll give that a good read and make sure not to miss any lube points. I'll make a list of fluid amounts required and get them bought. I know it's not gonna be like changing the oil on anything else I own that's for sure... I think I saw somewhere it takes 21 gallons of hydraulic fluid! I just check on the filter combo pack and that's $170. That battery powered grease gun sure is cool, and if I end up using this machine as much as I'd like to, it may be a sound investment. I found that particular gun for $232. At this point I'm in it at 14k, so even if I spend another 600 or so on initial maintenance I still think I did pretty well.

[davischevy]

It looks like you had a lot of fun.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

That's a lot of great info Killer Bee! Thank you.



I found that particular gun for $232. At this point I'm in it at 14k, so even if I spend another 600 or so on initial maintenance I still think I did pretty well.

Originally Posted by davischevy

It looks like you had a lot of fun.

I too know you will have lots of fun with this new toy you have,, first of all I do not have the knowledge that Super Bee and Other Larry has ,,as only I can share with you ,my mishaps ... once I ran a hoe for a contractor that was doing the land excavation as he couldnt not make it to work that day and ask me to take his place.. I was the carpenter building a garage on the property at the time..

What I did is stretch the hoe out as far as it would go to scratch the ground while bring the hoe into me at ground level,,. that blew a hose imediately ,,old hose maybe? but it does seem mighty stressful thing to do..

I sure do like the case controls better than the John Deere though