Old Farm Hoes: Gas vs. Diesel

[Wolfy]

Maybe Ford was ahead of IH. Mine don't have factory shutoffs, or they have been removed sometime over the 40 years since new. I will say though, some days those gas engines run like new.

[Soundguy]

my ih cub from 66 has a cut off valve on it's sed bowl.. from the factory...

soundguy

[Soundguy]

what IH ya got?

[TBigLug]

as for individual weights.. try places like tractordatya. their stuff ain't 100% correct always.. but it's a good ballpark figure usually.

Another site to check out is http://digitalcommons.unl.edu or http://tractortestlab.unl.edu/ that is the online library for all the Nebraska Tractor Tests. Once you can get the Search function to work you can access every tractor test they've ever done. Gives weights, hp, fuel consumption, just a plethora of information.

[TBigLug]

as far as trailerling the unit home. i would say ya better off contacting some local haulers or local tractor repair shops. they will have the the truck and the trailer and have everything legal to be able to pull things home.

Thaks for all the input boggen. This part won't be a problem since though my buddy (more like my brother for the last 15 years) I have access to his Ford 9000 dump and pintle trailer we haul his dozer and BH with. Most of the work it sees will be doing things for friends and neighbors. Around here that's how we are. None of us would ever turn down a friend in need.

I'll be fine driving it down the road. Here in MI it's still considered farm machinery and exempt from road tax just like a tractor driving from field to field.

How do you like your 555? I've come across a couple of them for sale around here. My budget is pretty much capped at not very much money I've got plenty of time to search for just that right priced unit.

[TBigLug]

Thanks for all the input so far everybody. Keep it coming.

[boggen]

Thaks for all the input boggen. This part won't be a problem since though my buddy (more like my brother for the last 15 years) I have access to his Ford 9000 dump and pintle trailer we haul his dozer and BH with. Most of the work it sees will be doing things for friends and neighbors. Around here that's how we are. None of us would ever turn down a friend in need.

I'll be fine driving it down the road. Here in MI it's still considered farm machinery and exempt from road tax just like a tractor driving from field to field.

How do you like your 555? I've come across a couple of them for sale around here. My budget is pretty much capped at not very much money I've got plenty of time to search for just that right priced unit.

runs awesome, well i take that back. right now one of the out rigger levers is stuck in up position. and because the valve for the lever does not have a by pass. tractor is pretty much useless till i get it fixed. ((all power of tractor tries to lift a fully lifted out rigger *ughs*))

beyond that, only other complaint is the ugly stinky -15 F temp in winter and starting it. and not remembering to plug in the block heater. but at those temps everything has a hard time starting. though once block heater had a chance to warm the block up. hit the key and off she went. though most likely this comming winter will also add a "battery warmer blanket" had to get charger out a couple times last winter. just to deadly cold out. and had to jump tractor and vehicle. due to colder a battery is the less charge it holds. not tractor fault. just the weather.

only other maintance has been regular preventative maintance (oil changes, air cleaners, etc...) the on the older hoes, ya need to except to add hyd fluid here and there. they all leak some hyd fluid, either from fittings, to cylinders, to gaskets, to other. they all been used and abused. and they just leak like old folks do. not much you can do about it either. except deal with it and move on.

errr take above back. old tires on the unit originally and had to buy new tires (side walls cracked to point tube came out and tube got pinched in cracks of side walls of tire). tractor tires are not cheap! and can set ya back a couple 1,000.

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250 acres. seem like a good amount of ground.if ya got some woods / pasture, call up some logging companies, get them in there to cut some trees out. and let them clean up the mess and cut there logs into wood, you get some wood to use on various projects, plus cash out of it. and get some trees out of the way. put the cash to a bigger TLB.

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double check, on the road tax. IRS and local state websites.

there was a thread a few months back. that folks noted there own states have same like laws. ya i doubt many farmers will actually get nailed. but if they wanted to, they could nail them. i am assuming from a few things i googled up. was folks running heavy machinary on the roads and just busting the living daylights out the road. and since on road tax was paying for road repairs. various folks were doing damage, getting a benefit of not paying the road tax (running off road diesel in the big machinary) and in that not help pay for repairs. so law was changed. so anything going on road if it has off road diesel in it. requires folks to start paying on road tax as soon as tires hit the road and then come off the road. I hate to say it, but law noted, directly it did not exclude but did include farmers having to go by this law.

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for me the company that ended up doing the hauling of it home. used a "low boy" trailer. pulled behind a semi. bottom of trailer perhaps 2 to 3 inches off ground. and top of trailer (not counting the drive over wheel rims) 6 to 10 inches from ground.

the backhoe needs to be "triangled" so BH bucket is resting down on trailer. and then the FEL also needs to resting down on the trailer. this alone causes a rather lengthy trailer. i would say 30 foot ? maybe 40 feet?

if ya do not have a cab. then it is the top of the backhoe that ya need to worry about. as far as clearance under a bridge. if memory serves the top of backhoe and top of cab on the 555c were pretty much as close to even when i saw it pull up. to be dropped off. and was not much room left on the trailer.

[Soundguy]

cracked tires are what boots ar fer..


soundguy

[Builder]

I'd go with a diesel. They run better when lugged down in the RPM range. My LB115 backhoe is constantly pushing into a pile and if it were gas, it would stall easier. Diesels also run more hours between rebuilds. Of course there's the obvious things like no spark plugs, dist caps, plug wires, etc. to replace.
Gas engines just seem stupid in a construction machine of that size. probably why they're no longer offered. My guess would be that parts are probably more readily available in an older diesel than an older gas because they last longer. Back in the 80's, I had an old pos F-700 4x4 dumptruck with a gutless 361 in it and parts were scarce 20 years ago. The 8.2L diesel powered truck I bought to replace it seemed like a huge upgrade.
Go diesel. It'll just feel better when you start using it. More like a modern piece of machinery.

[farmhand96]

If u live around southwest Missouri my family has an old 50's case back hoe it needs alot of work done to it