Went to look at a Case 580CK today

[dirtymartini]

I have been thinking about buying an older backhoe to use on the 20 acre property we bought to dig out stumps and and try and get a spot cleared to build a house. It is a Case 580 CK, diesel, probably about a '68 or '69 model. It seem to be in pretty good shape, not all rusted to **** and has been kept in a barn. It didn't smoke or have any blow by, no leaks while I was running it but it did seem to have some play at the bottom where the boom attaches. Hydraulics were strong, it had no problem digging through some hard pan.

He is asking $5700...what do you think?

 

[Cpjlube]

Tell me where it is. I'll go check it out for you. Promise I won't buy it......

If it's a strong runner and engine hydraulics and trans are sound, that's a pretty good deal. Assuming your handy, I would seriously consider it.

 

[dirtymartini]

Tell me where it is. I'll go check it out for you. Promise I won't buy it......

If it's a strong runner and engine hydraulics and trans are sound, that's a pretty good deal. Assuming your handy, I would seriously consider it.

Strong runner, hydraulics looked good, didn't see any leaks while there was pressure on them. The only problem I saw was where the backhoe attaches to the tractor frame I saw movement as the backhoe was digging. I am guessing there is a pin or bushings worn? I'm a fairly good mechanic (I own a few British motorcycles) but don't have any heavy equipment experience.

 

[TomSeller]

That is a common wear point and a little play may not be enough to worry about. Depends how much. Another thing I like to do is drop the boom, extend out the dipper and uncurl the bucket to where the bucket is hanging down within reach. Then grab the bucket and see how much play there is in the bucket pins.

 

[dirtymartini]

That is a common wear point and a little play may not be enough to worry about. Depends how much. Another thing I like to do is drop the boom, extend out the dipper and uncurl the bucket to where the bucket is hanging down within reach. Then grab the bucket and see how much play there is in the bucket pins.

That I did try and was surprised to find very little play. The seller said that was some work that had been done in the last few years. This machine is surprisingly close to me, probably only 3-4 miles away. The man he bought from about 15 years ago only lived another 5 miles away and probably owned it for at least 30 years.

 

[TomSeller]

It is sounding like a real good deal. Even if you need to replace hoses. Were there any engine rebuilds in its history? Hours on the engine?

 

[dirtymartini]

It is sounding like a real good deal. Even if you need to replace hoses. Were there any engine rebuilds in its history? Hours on the engine?

Hours unknown....I'm not sure about rebuild history but there was no smoke and no blow by.

 

[BukitCase]

Sounds like a smokin' deal to me - I paid $8000 for my 580B 10 years ago, and it wasn't in that good a shape.

There are two subframes, one on each side, that bolt to the tractor frame - so that's a possible wear point. Then, the hoe frame has a 4-point mount - the two lower pins can wear in their bores in the frame, plus those pin sit in half-moon shaped cutouts in the subframes - another wear point.

The upper pin mounts are a bit more tricky - coming up from the axle area on each side are two clevises, which thru-bolt thru upper swing arms - there are 1-1/2" nuts/washers both above and below these swing arms.

If there is slop in the upper/lower mounts, (or just for R&R of the hoe) here's the procedure -

Clean the threads of the clevises, wire brush works - spray Liquid Wrench or similar around the nuts so they'll wanna move a bit easier - then run the lower nuts down and AWAY from the swing arms maybe 1/4" or so-

Then torque the upper nuts down onto the swing arms, to 250 ft lbs.

Run the lower nuts up against the swing arms, just snugly.

Now torque the upper nuts to 450 ft lbs. (This is NOT a typo)

The older CK's used two short pin/bushing mounts between the hoe tower and boom (2 pins, 4 bushings), and the hoses ran between those two clevis-type pins/bushings - parts for those are basically non-existent now, but you can buy a kit with SINGLE pin and repair bushings - if you have slop THERE, do NOT buy/make new hoses til AFTER you fix the bushings -

I did that on mine, and now I have to REDO hoses after I do the bushing repair. The one-piece pin passes thru RIGHT where the hoses go, so each hose will need to be 2-3 inches longer so it can pass OUTSIDE that full-length pin.

Here's the repair kit for 580B and C, I'm not sure about the original CK (Construction King) -

Equipment Parts Source, Aftermarket, Case, Backhoe, Crawler, Loader, Dozer, Tractor Case Backhoe Pin Kit

Those guys have pretty good prices on cylinder re-seal kits too.

You may have noticed that your toolbox is gonna need bigger drawers unless you already have wrenches up to at least 1-1/2" - you can keep the 4 foot cheater pipe somewhere else ... Steve

 

[boggen]

Strong runner, hydraulics looked good, didn't see any leaks while there was pressure on them. The only problem I saw was where the backhoe attaches to the tractor frame I saw movement as the backhoe was digging. I am guessing there is a pin or bushings worn? I'm a fairly good mechanic (I own a few British motorcycles) but don't have any heavy equipment experience.

same like boot per say before bought the current ford 555c TLB i have. i hit tractorhouse, craigslist via search tempest, and local news papers. got a list i think it was 12 units. and went out for entire day and went to all of them. some were complete crud. some look good, some had power, some no power at all. some had transmission problems, some had brake problems, some had engine problems, some had cab issues (windows to buttons for stuff missing)

there was noticeable difference in power, in most of the units (traction, getting bucket of dirt in FEL, to backhoe / out rigger strength, to how fast it would move on flat ground). all of them of them were old TLB's i looked at. but such a huge difference once i got into each machine and test drove for about 10 minutes i quickly started noticing the differences.

all of them had "play" in them more so the backhoes. most of them all leaked some oil some place.

ended up buying the very first machine i went and saw. (go figure) thank fully unit was at a dealership and was able to call up and get stuff sorted out over phone. without having to drive back to the place.

but ending the story... it was going out and hoping in each machine. that helped me a lot. a couple thousand bucks between all the machines. but such a huge difference. it seemed like some folks were simply ripping folks off for what they were asking for.

 

[George2615]

Sounds like a pretty good deal and you could drive it home and not have to pay to have it trucked to your place. I'm sure you could always get your money back when you finish your work with it.