Buying Advice Buying Backhoe. So many questions

[rockbust]

Hi, this is my first post here and I am hoping for some seasoned advice. I am looking to buy a backhoe for my small construction company and to help with some rural home building. I have a budget of around 10-12k I had a older case 580 some years ago and I loved it. had some starting issues in the cold and rebuilt a few pistons and replaced some hoses. I did find it a little weak when I had to install some drywells in a parking lot with traffic covers once.

What brand and model machine may be in my budget and still give me some good years with little maintenance?

Should I buy private or from a dealer?

Is it worth it to shop out of state and have it transported?

Thanks

 

[fried1765]

Hi, this is my first post here and I am hoping for some seasoned advice. I am looking to buy a backhoe for my small construction company and to help with some rural home building. I have a budget of around 10-12k I had a older case 580 some years ago and I loved it. had some starting issues in the cold and rebuilt a few pistons and replaced some hoses. I did find it a little weak when I had to install some drywells in a parking lot with traffic covers once.

What brand and model machine may be in my budget and still give me some good years with little maintenance?

Should I buy private or from a dealer?

Is it worth it to shop out of state and have it transported?

Thanks

Can't reasonably expect to meet your work parameters within your budget parameters.

 

[whitexc]

^^^I agree. If you had a Case 580 and thought that to be weak then you are looking for a construction grade rubber tire hoe.....likely to run you double your budget for something used. Will you be towing this tractor around? With what and how far?

 

[rockbust]

I found the case was strong enough for all the work I did with it. I only mentioned the one time I had an issue with those traffic covers. I had a silverado diesel Dually that I towed with. The trailer was a goose neck and worked well. I am building a few houses right now so I won't need to be towing at this time.

 

[Teachu2]

You may want to look at leasing one for the duration of your project.

 

[Egon]

You have owned a backhoe so the knowledge is there. It's just a matter of looking and matching your budget.

 

[LD1]

10-12k is going to get you old, tired, sloppy, and leaky.

IF you are handy, and can make your own repairs, and not in a rush when something does break, the older ones can be a good value.

But agree with others that if you want something that will last several years of construction-type work, AND be reliable and tight, then your budget needs to double.

 

[EddieWalker]

There are farm tractors and there are tools needed to make money. If you where looking for something to run around on the farm and you had the time and desire to work on it, then your budget gives you some options. If you want to make money using it on a job, you will lose money fixing it when you should be using it. As a small contractor who has an older backhoe, I've found that to make money, it's better for me to hire out dirt work, or rent it. I paid $18,000 for my 1998 New Holland 555E loader backhoe with 2,000 hours on it and I'm over 8,000 hours on it now. I see similar machines with similar hours for sale in the $15,000 range. But once they get to ten and twelve thousand hours, the price plummets to where you are at. Those are a lot of hours, a lot of wear and EVEN MORE redneck fixes to them.

 

[bspeedy]

There are farm tractors and there are tools needed to make money. If you where looking for something to run around on the farm and you had the time and desire to work on it, then your budget gives you some options. If you want to make money using it on a job, you will lose money fixing it when you should be using it. As a small contractor who has an older backhoe, I've found that to make money, it's better for me to hire out dirt work, or rent it. I paid $18,000 for my 1998 New Holland 555E loader backhoe with 2,000 hours on it and I'm over 8,000 hours on it now. I see similar machines with similar hours for sale in the $15,000 range. But once they get to ten and twelve thousand hours, the price plummets to where you are at. Those are a lot of hours, a lot of wear and EVEN MORE redneck fixes to them.

Sage advice here. I laughed out loud at the 'redneck fixes' statement. That is exactly what happens, leaving the next owner to unravel it and put it right. You'll hate a $10k backhoe. Buy one for 25-40 and get a real machine. If you only need to dig, 20-30k will get you an awesome mini excavator.

 

[mad_planter]

That kind of money will pay for a lot of rental. I suspect most people have a backhoe or excavator that sits 99% of the time.