Ford / NH 545D Industrial Tractor - looking for owner experiences

[TSO]

If the brakes are anything like my 575 there is no adjustment. More likely the discs are worn and or the cylinders are leaking into the rear axle. About a $3000 fix at my dealer.

What was so expensive about that brake repair?

 

[ovrszd]

Curious about that as well. It appears all of these machines used the same brake system with linkage variations depending on application?? I can't see any cylinders involved to be leaking?? Wonder if he means the boots that seal the brake shaft where it enters the housing?? It also appears that the "adjustment" is on that same shaft/linkage. I guess if the discs were worn so bad that the adjuster wouldn't take up the slack anymore they might need replaced??

 

[TractorGuy]

What was so expensive about that brake repair?

The key to my comment was "if the brakes are anything like my 575". I don't know if they are.

My 575E has wet brakes inside the rear axle. Labor to put seals in was quoted at $900 plus parts. They said the discs would cost a grand. Adding up oil, seals, and transport came close to 3 grand in my case.

Does the 545 have dry adjustable brakes?

Edit: just looked up parts for the 545D and it looks to have mechanical brakes. Wish mine was that simple. I figured all these industrial tractors were built similar.

 

[joecdeere]

nope, 545D has the same wet disc brakes all later Ford industrials have, and close to what the newers ones use



545D brakes - New Holland (545D) - 3 CYL TRACTOR LOADER (9/92-12/) Parts Diagrams

 

[TSO]

Hmm... So there are no adjustments then they can be made? There was pedal left, and a little stopping power, but there was no way that they could stop the machine inching into anything. I had to flip it into neutral to stop.

I probably won't buy that particular one anyhow, it was just too rusty on the cab. It's a shame because it ran really well. There's a couple others I might go check out today. I'm also going to look at a couple new utility tractors to see what I think about them. I'm just worried that they aren't built as heavily as the 545d, and I want something that I can't break.

 

[ovrszd]

The key to my comment was "if the brakes are anything like my 575". I don't know if they are.

My 575E has wet brakes inside the rear axle. Labor to put seals in was quoted at $900 plus parts. They said the discs would cost a grand. Adding up oil, seals, and transport came close to 3 grand in my case.

Does the 545 have dry adjustable brakes?

Edit: just looked up parts for the 545D and it looks to have mechanical brakes. Wish mine was that simple. I figured all these industrial tractors were built similar.

I guess that's where my confusion comes from. I looked up your 575 brakes and saw the same mechanical system others use, just linkage variations. Are your brakes not simple mechanical brakes?

I'll try perusing the parts again.

EDIT: Spent the last few minutes searching parts again. It appears the 575 uses wet discs in a similar situation as the others. But they are activated some other way. I never found a parts diagram about that. So yeah, it appears yours might be pricey to repair and there are internal seals that could fail and cause you to lose your brakes.

 

[ovrszd]

Hmm... So there are no adjustments then they can be made? There was pedal left, and a little stopping power, but there was no way that they could stop the machine inching into anything. I had to flip it into neutral to stop.

I probably won't buy that particular one anyhow, it was just too rusty on the cab. It's a shame because it ran really well. There's a couple others I might go check out today. I'm also going to look at a couple new utility tractors to see what I think about them. I'm just worried that they aren't built as heavily as the 545d, and I want something that I can't break.

In the case of the 545, it uses mechanical linkage. It can be adjusted. Sounds like this machine's brakes needed adjusted.

 

[TSO]

Well I just looked at two more that were on a lot about 45 minutes away from me. This place is a pretty big company but they mainly sell used and traded-in stuff. In the pictures of course, both machines looked pretty good. Once I got there and looked at them closer, they were rusted pretty good on a cab also. Irritating because they slapped paint over everything to make it look pretty. They didn't even take the time to clean off the grease and dirt in a bunch of places and painted over it. One of them looks like it had a pretty decent old leak on the top of the transmission housing under the cab, which collected dirt and grime over the years and they just painted over that as well. Nothing like a fresh coat of yellow paint over greasy dirt.

That kind of puts a damper on my search locally. I don't think there's much else near me in my state, will have to start searching out of state. And that's always risky, hate to make a trip for nothing, or buy something sight unseen that's this age.

I'm going to stop by my local Massey and Kioti dealer right now, going to take a look at an rx6620 and see what I think about it. Looks like a decent machine on paper, and the specs for the loader are good for the category, 3500 lbs Max lift at 133 inches. Nothing like the 545d tho. I just love how Stout the loader Framing and subframe are on the Ford. Feel like I could run it into things all day long and not hurt anything. Nothing like the new machines with all of their sheet metal.

 

[ovrszd]

I drove 5 hrs one way to look at a tractor few years ago. Talked to the dealership salesman and he assured me I wouldn't find a cleaner version. As soon as I drove up to the tractor I told my wife "this won't take long". I spent more time inside telling the salesman what I thought of his honesty than I did looking at the tractor. Didn't even bother to crank it.

 

[TSO]

I bought my current 1652 sight unseen from Virginia, had it shipped up. I was hesitant at first, but based on how good my 1648 was, and this one only had 250 hours, I took the leap. Obviously it was worth it, as that machine has been flawless. But, especially with iron 20 years old like what I'm looking for now, that's a lot more risky.

Just left my Kioti dealer, he didn't have any RX models in cab, but he did have an open station machine in for a warranty repair and I was able to check it out. Didn't get to drive it. The loader was a lot more Stout than I expected it to be. Was actually impressed with the size of the machine, looks fairly well built. Definitely not built like the 545d, and I hate all the thin sheet metal and plastic that gets destroyed when he gets bumped by everything, but still not bad. They're going to give me a price on a new one in cab form loaded up with remotes, probably somewhere around 37 grand I'm guessing.