Construction and other equipment

Print Page | Close Window

Backhoe question?

Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Construction and other equipment
Forum Description: everything else with orange (or yellow) paint
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7158
Printed Date: 20 Jun 2025 at 2:45am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Backhoe question?

Posted By: C. Burnett
Subject: Backhoe question?
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2010 at 1:52pm

I hate to ask about a John Deere backhoe on an AC board but it shouldn't be any worse than asking about a Massey these days. I work with a gentleman who seems to be an honest person and he purchased a used backhoe to work on his place while he was building a new house. The contractor had made him mad with his reply to him about digging a basement for such a large house and told him he could probably do it hisself if he had his own backhoe so he went and bought one. He has kept the backhoe for 2 or 3 years now and said he had been thinking about trading it for a small tractor to maintain his place. I asked him about selling it and he said he hadn't thought about it but he told me the history behind the purchase. He bought it with a problem in the hydraulic system ( contamination) and most of the seals were shot severely. Before he came to work with us, that was his area of expertise, so he bought it and rebuilt everything and flushed and replaced the fluid. He says I can park it in my garage for a week and there will not be a drop of anything on the floor. He said the tread on the tires was excellent when he bought it but that the sidewalls were cut up so severely that two of them would leak down so he took it and all new tires put on at a cost of $1800. He is kind of a stickler for everything being right. It is a '97 John Deere 310SE which is a turbo 80+ hp tractor with 4wd. It has about 1500 hours on it and he was guessing he would sell it to me for about $20K. Does anybody that has any knowledge about backhoes have any thoughts on this? Thanks

Replies:

Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2010 at 1:59pm

Unless you have a lot of money or plan on using it to make money the 20K is a lot to tie up in a toy.

Sounds like a good machine for someone who would use it but for home use a lot to play with. My AC 715B cost half of that and I have put over 4000 hours on it since i owned it doing sewer and water and basements.

-------------
Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something.
"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2010 at 5:59pm

Coke's right , that 's a lot of coins,especially today for a 'toy'.Sounds like a good machine( I've run Case 580,680s mostly) but if you're happy, he's happy and the wife's happy..then go for it.

Posted By: David Gantt N.C.
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2010 at 6:54pm

I would look around abit longer, I can't see that kind of money if just to use once in a while, it does sound like a good machine, but what you decide to do is your business.

Posted By: C. Burnett
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2010 at 7:24pm

I know that you gentlemen are right about it being too much for just a toy, which it would be. I know my practical side would have decided that in the end but just every now and then I wonder how it would be if my other side were to win an argument. I just had a hunch this was a good machine but as I tell my wife when she comes back from shopping, "just because something seems like a bargain doesn't mean it is if you have no use for it".

Posted By: Dave A
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2010 at 7:16am

Might look at buy the a tractor back hoe unit. would be cheaper. seen a 1985 Ford 80 hp with hoe go for $6500 on November. On Hansonyoung .com. A Case 580 4 wheel drive loader Back hoe went for $8500 in April. Both where in good working order. The guy, I bought my 816 from, replaced it with a 2000 Case 580 he bought for 10 K. I gues what I'm trying to say is, shop around. Like Coke said. It is best if it will be making you money. Otherwise it is a expensive toy.

-------------
Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.
Winston Churchill

Posted By: Denis in MI
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2010 at 8:04am

I bought one of the original Case 530 Construction Kings a early 60's I believe. It had a overhauled engine but needed tires I paid $3500 at the auction and drove it home. I then found a set of brand new blemished tires "AKURET brand" at a local tire store and was able to get them delivered and installed for $500 cash. It leaks and needs a few cylinder seals and a I have replaced a few hoses, but I put in my own drain field and dug out stumps and fill dirt and it more than paid for it self in he first two years. I would not get rid of it for anything except maybe trade on a AC backhoe. At $20,000 you have alot of digging to get your money back but you may. Depends on what you plan to use it for if your going into buisness it is probably a good machine if your looking for something to play with I would go a cheaper route, unless you plan to sell once you use it.

-------------
1938 B, 1945 B, 1941 IB, 1949 C, 2 1938 WCs, 3 1950 WDs, 1951 WD, 2 1955 WD45, 1957 D-14

Posted By: Kevin(Alabama)
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2010 at 8:36am

I farm alot of low creek bottoms around here and have a lot of beaver problems and have to have a backhoe around to tear out dams and have found that a Ford seems to be better in getting through wet spots where others will break though the wet ground.

-------------
"I would die a thousand deaths before I would betray a friend."...Sam Davis, Nov. 27, 1863.....DEO VINDICE

Posted By: Dave A
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2010 at 9:26am

a wanted to buy ad in the local farm paper might help with getting something for the right price. I found the 816, buy putting a WTB ad on Craigs list. Might be selling it, if I can come to a price agreement on a T-14 with hoe down the road

-------------
Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.
Winston Churchill

Posted By: firebrick43
Date Posted: 26 Jan 2010 at 9:32am

How much work are you looking to do? I know a lot of fellow around here that buy a decent shape 530 case for around the going rate. Use it for the work they need to do, then sell it the next spring and get all or more of the money they put into it. Better be sure exactly what you are buying but it works well. Know quite a few fellows do the same thing with bulldozers every 10 years or so to clean out fence rows, making sure they have decent undercarrages and final drives before purchasing.