I have a 1998 Ford 555E Loader Backhoe. It's also a New Holland. I'm not sure when, where or how the names interact, but all the parts are available from New Holland.
New Holland and Case, along with a few other companies are all owned by Fiat now. The Case New Holland part of Fiat is called CNH. I don't know how or why this is relevant, but New Holland is changing allot of there replacement parts. When I need a cylinder rebuild kit of one of my cylinders, I have to replace the piston with a new one. That's an extra $200 for a part that's still in good condition. They don't have the seals for the original pistons.
Fortunately, the guys at the parts country clued me in to a guy who will sell me just the seals that I need for my original pistons.
The engine is a Perkins and it's pretty good. I don't know enough to really critique it. One thing that I had to deal with was the starter stuck up at start up. I had to get off the tractor and disconnect the battery to make it stop. Of course, the starter was fried. It was the original one, and from someplace in Eastern Europe. I don't know for sure, but it seems everyone told me that it was a piece of junk.
Again, the parts guys told me that I shouldn't replace it with the same poorly built starter, and to get a replacement. They use a starter/alternator guy who specializes in rebuilding them. He sold me a brand new Bosch starter for less then a rebuilt one from New Holland would have cost. He aslo refused to take my original one for a core. hahahaha He didn't charge me for the core, but he sure didn't want it either. hahaha
If you stick with a name brand, you should be ok. All have good and bad points. It's much more important that you have good support close by then anything else. A brand new tractor isn't going to do you any good if a simple part breaks on it, and you can't drive hours to go get it right then and there.
Eddie
