rScotty
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Messages
- 9,422
- Location
- Rural mountains - Colorado
- Tractor
- Kubota M59, JD530, JD310SG. Restoring Yanmar YM165D
I've helped several buddies buy JD310 backhoes. I'd say that the 310 is roughly comperable to the 555. Around here there are lots of 310s but you rarely see an old 555. Maybe that varies by area.
Frankly if I was doing my own repair work I'd rather have a Case 580. IMHO, they were built more with operator maintenance in mind.
But all three machines are good. Some years they are thin on the market, but in the last year I've seen a lot of 20 to 25 year old 2wd hoes sell. Most of them have 5 to 6 thousand hours, 2wd, cab with AC, worn buckets and sloppy pins, worn controls that work fine, poor batteries but decent tires, and everything working more or less right. Service records are common. Seats and interiors vary widely. Rust isn't a problem in Colorado. One always wonders about brakes and clutches....but really no way to tell.
The prices tend to run from $9K to about $18K for these as described - and for the higher price you can get a pretty nice machine with at least one remote hydraulic, a set of slip-on bucket forks, and maybe the extenda-hoe mod but without a thumb.... you never do get a thumb....
My opinion is that any guy with decent mechanical skills can find a real nice used yellow backhoe/loader in the lower end of that price range. One that will be worth owning and do good work for a decade. But a person who is just so-so about his mechanical/electrical/hydraulic skills should expect to be spending more toward the top end of that range to get a better machine - and he should spend a few hundred to get a shop mechanic to go over it for him. Shucks, I'm a pretty good mechanic myself and I never do mind paying another mechanic to go over one that I'm thinking of buying. It's been worth it.
BTW, speaking of other mechanics....the best buys I've found on used backhoes like this have been through asking older salesmen and mechanics at the dealership if they know of a good older machine. They don't like to handle machines that old at the dealer, but their salesmen sure know where the good ones are and who has one for sale. Don't buy one without giving that a try.
rScotty
Frankly if I was doing my own repair work I'd rather have a Case 580. IMHO, they were built more with operator maintenance in mind.
But all three machines are good. Some years they are thin on the market, but in the last year I've seen a lot of 20 to 25 year old 2wd hoes sell. Most of them have 5 to 6 thousand hours, 2wd, cab with AC, worn buckets and sloppy pins, worn controls that work fine, poor batteries but decent tires, and everything working more or less right. Service records are common. Seats and interiors vary widely. Rust isn't a problem in Colorado. One always wonders about brakes and clutches....but really no way to tell.
The prices tend to run from $9K to about $18K for these as described - and for the higher price you can get a pretty nice machine with at least one remote hydraulic, a set of slip-on bucket forks, and maybe the extenda-hoe mod but without a thumb.... you never do get a thumb....
My opinion is that any guy with decent mechanical skills can find a real nice used yellow backhoe/loader in the lower end of that price range. One that will be worth owning and do good work for a decade. But a person who is just so-so about his mechanical/electrical/hydraulic skills should expect to be spending more toward the top end of that range to get a better machine - and he should spend a few hundred to get a shop mechanic to go over it for him. Shucks, I'm a pretty good mechanic myself and I never do mind paying another mechanic to go over one that I'm thinking of buying. It's been worth it.
BTW, speaking of other mechanics....the best buys I've found on used backhoes like this have been through asking older salesmen and mechanics at the dealership if they know of a good older machine. They don't like to handle machines that old at the dealer, but their salesmen sure know where the good ones are and who has one for sale. Don't buy one without giving that a try.
rScotty
