Found a BackHoe

Oh, yeah, another find was a guy at work has a good condition John Deere ~95HP 4020 tractor (gas) with a front end loader (straight bucket) asking $8000.

I think I would rather have a smaller tractor for bush hogging and the backhoe for the heavier cleanup. I have 3 or 4 cisterns and 1 well to fill up, plus 2 buildings to destroy, several trees to remove, land to level for a shop building, plus I would like to dig a pond.

That's too low of hours for a 25 year old machine. (less than 100 hours per year) My first ? would be has the hour meter been replaced, always connected? Of course, you won't get a straight answer. You gotta buy an old machine on condition.

My dad owned one. Great machine. The shuttle tranny went out on his and cost a fortune to repair. If the hoses are original (most likely) I'd replace them all/ Its a total PITA to replace one every time it ruptures in the middle of a job.

I was weaned on a 4020. Did you know they sold for about 8K new? Green paint never looses its value.

Karl

far too much money for too little machine. try to pick up a diesel.

don't believe the hours on it.

I wouldn't pay more than US$1,500 for a gas machine with no canopy/extendahoe/etc.

make sure the unit you end up with can at least pick up a full load of dirt on both ends at full extension.

I can pick up a newer diesel 580D unit, with cab and extenda-hoe for under CDN$10,000.

$8000 for a 4020 is a pretty good price, assuming it is in good condition. At least in my neighborhood(SE MN) it is. I have seen some absolutely beat 4020s bring $6-7000. The loader should be worth something too.

The 4020 is a nice utility tractor and probably the most popular tractor JD(or maybe anyone) has ever made. I prefer a 4020D(but they are a little harder to find).

Can't speak for the backhoe, but the tractor would be a good deal at that rate. The backhoe "may" be a better choice for you, but I don't think you could go to far wrong with the 4020.

Do you know which loader he has on it? If it is a JD model, it is probably a 140 model. A pretty good smaller loader attachment. Typically $1500-2500 in the open market in my area. Not to hard to change the buckets or make various attachments to fit the front.

Is it a synchrorange or powershift(hydrostatic) transmission? IMHO the synchro is better, but you may prefer a powershift for what you want to do with this.

JW

I don't know what universe you are from but anything with a backhoe on it gas or diesel with fetch 4 to 5k just about anywhere. Some of the late 60's and early 70's International backhoes have brought upwards of 10k on ebay (must be collectors). I have a 3414 IH and while a good tractor they are fairly slow to operate. I mainly use it for picking up heavy stuff around the house and shop. As far as your 580C I would run. First off it can't be a 1979 and still be gas as I sure don't remember that even being an option in 79. More than likely it is a 1960's 580 CK which predates even the B models. They rarely had cabs and gas engines were the predominate engine option although there were some diesels. The hour meter is obviously broken. One thing about the early Case backhoes they are built more like a converted farm tractor where as starting with the 580C series there is a short driveshaft that connects the engine with the transmission that allows you to take the trans out without spliting the whole tractor. To me ease of maintainance is a big factor in anything I look at. tim

Strange, but correct. I sold my 1967 4020 last fall for 6K. I told the buyer everything wrong with it, about 2 zillion hours on it, dribbling injectors, noisy powershift, missing PTO guard, squirrely differential lock, tires 40%, etc, etc.

He just HAD to have it, Go figure.

My brother-in-law recently picked up an early '80's 580C for about $8000. It needed some work on it. The hours on your prospect sounds low. Sounds like a pretty good deal. Look for leaking cylinders and torque converter. Gary Brady Austin, TX

I went to look at the backhoe and it wasn't a 580C, it says CASE, 580, CK, and Construction King on it. I didn't look at the hour reading but it looks pretty worn and has a lot of leaks. The engine is a small looking 4 cylinder. The loader had been broken in a couple places and welded back together. The foot petals with the diamond knerl looking tread was worn almost flat, in all, it looked like too much wear for only only 1906 hours, perhaps 7906? I jotted down the number on a plate on the frame, it was

4177962. I figure he must have thought the 79 was the year, but I think it looked more likely a 62. The backhoe bucket had holes in it, rusted through I guess. The hoses going to the backhoe had the outer layer of rubber coming off around where it swings left and right. All in all, I wasn't interested in that machine for $7500, I have seen 580C's that looked much better for not much more money than that. If I can get the $$$ together, I would like to get a newer one, perhaps the 4wd version.

There are some low time tractors out there. My '81 bought new has less than 400 hours. Mow a little, dig post holes, drag the drive, etc.

There is no date coding in Case serial numbers. It is only a sequential number, telling only that tractors position on the line. Depending on the year, and if Case decided to start a new sequence at the first of the year, it might jump by as many as 10000 from the last unit of one year to the first of the next. The only way to find what year it was is to contact Case. THe jumps in number don't mean anything, and did not happen every year.