Mahindra 5545 4wd w/backhoe arrived today

[dickfoster]

I personally blame the dealer far more than the guy(cant call him a mechanic that's for sure!).....Sounds like just another cheap *** dealer saving a buck and hiring someone who says they know what there doing!....Im sure you will give them an earful!

No I know for a fact it was definitely installed by the distributor. I saw it there. The dealer didn't have a 1538 with a backhoe on the lot and no gear tractors so I had to go to Olivehurst to see it.
After the last bit of evidence I think they are gonna hunt him down and do an elimination. My dealer is picking the tractor up tomorrow morning. I have a great dealer.
The same outfit owns both the dealership and west coast distribution. They are somewhat new at the distribution game so have a somewhat green crew to go with it. Still, trying to hide something is never good and some stuff was just plain stupid. Only a complete knucklehead would force an SAE bolt into a metric hole. Especially in an expensive cast part. The same monkey force fit one of the bucket pins in with a BFH making it a pure ***** to get the thing out. Hey when something doesn't fit, stop and find out why fer pity sake.
As bad as my wife who is the proverbial bull in a china shop. It's a constant job fixing stuff behind that woman so I'm busy enough fixing other people's screwups.

 

[BubbaBillyBob]

All--

Over the last few days I put 16 hours on the 5545; all of it was using the backhoe to dig out trees. I tackled everything in the 4" to 18" size range. As this was my first backhoe (and tractor) experience, I had many miscues until I learned a bit about operating the hoe. After that, I found it had far more power than I expected and easily handled the rocky Ozark mountain ground.

The largest tree I uprooted was an 18" hickory which was 55 feet tall. When it was ready to fall, I tried to push it over using the hoe--as I had done with all the others--but couldn't quite get it done without sticking the tractor in the hole I dug. So, I fired up the Komatsu, placed the FEL under one side of the root ball and gave it a lift. Over it went with a crash.

I am very pleased with the backhoe and the tractor. The shuttle shift is a dream to use.

--Bill