Buying/repairing Deere310D

[TomBlurR1]

Hey guys, great site here. Spent the last few days reading here,lots of great info available. Here's my question. I've interested in buying a backhoe for the cottage/ farm we have (50 acres).There is a 93 310D backhoe that is parked at a public storage parking lot for the last 6 months (same place I park my work truck). I come and go everyday and this backhoe just sits there. I've asked the manager of the compound to ask the owner if he's willing to sell months ago and never got a responce. About a month ago the hoe owner calls me and offers it for sale. I figured it would have been a 16 to $20,000 tractor from what I've found from the net. He offers it for $10.000 for a quick sale. Red flags start popping up. He says he's in need for cash and needs to sell quick. I ask him if everything works on the tractor... he says everything works great (with a hesitation in his voice).Well not knowing too much about backhoes I had to do some more investigating. Thats how I came to this site. Internet is a great thing.

I went and took a closer look at the machine... its 2 wheel drive, has 7800hrs., rear tires are shot, seat base is broken, missing 2 pieces of glass (one small, one middle rear), no really bad hydrolic leaks, no oil leaks from the motor, pins are mostly in good shape, oil and water levels are all topped up and fairly clean.
Since the last conversation I found out from the manager he's falling behind on monthly storage payments and is tight for cash. Since then he's been locked out of the compound.

I called him again asking about the condition of the tractor and who holds the title of it. He's the sole owner the last 3 years, but starts telling me about there being a problem where the tractor only goes in forward gears for up to 15mins. and then stops. Reverse supposedly works fine. He says it needs some o-ring package in the transmission($250 part at John Deere). I think he's feeding me a line that its an easy fix.

From what I've found out on the net its called a reverser thats causing the problem, but I couldn't find any o-rings in there to replace. A rebuilt reverser is about $1300 exchange. I'm not 100% sure that it is the reverser as of yet.

So am I heading in the right direction here, or does it sound like something to stay away from.

And he's lowered the price to $8000 now.

Tom

[Steve Frazier]

Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums!!

I can't help with the reverser, but I can give you a tip on another item to check. With the machine at idle, cycle the attachments and stabilizers. You should be able to lift the machine off the ground with the loader bucket, backhoe boom and stabilizers with the engine idling. If it won't, the hydraulic pump is pretty well worn and probably will need replacing as well.

[TomBlurR1]

When I asked him if the attachments will pick the machine up he said "no problem at all" and that the hydrolics are still very strong. I'm very leary to trust this guys word on anything and when we do meet I'll try your method of testing it when he fires it up.

[Countryboy]

Welcome to HEF TomBlurR1!

[TomBlurR1]

Thanks for the welcome guys

[Water-N-Mine]

One word comes to my mind... JUNK!
We just had the reverser redone in our 310D It was almost $4000. IMO, I would steer clear of this. If it's sat long then the belts, seals, gaskets have probably dry rotted. The hydrolics are probably not tight with that many hours. Anything over 5000 hours is nothing but a money pit!
Finally I wouldn't own a 2wd backhoe for anything but dry/flat ground work.

[mtb345]

theres a good reason why its sitting there junk that machine should be listed under mechinics special. keep looking

[tnturkey]

Clutches are probably worn out, or has a broken disk. You could do it yourself in about 4 hours and the parts will run you about 800 bucks.

[Bob t]

Thanks for the good info, I have yet to hear from someone who has a 1995 JD 310D with 7000 hours. Have a feeling it will be in the same condition as the one you are investigating.

[hillbillytoo]

my 310d is 1991 model with over7800 hours biggest problem i had was shearing rivets that hold ring gear to carrier

[davidd]

Hay TBR1
Good advise above about the machine must pick its self up at idle.

Another easy to do test is to fully extend the boom, parallel to the ground. Shut machine off. Get off and manually try to move the bucket side to side. Worn pins will allow movement of perhaps 2or 3 feet. It should be tight with less than a foot of movement.
Also a minor thing but take a grease gun and see how many fitting will not take grease. Its quiet a chore to free some of them up.

BUT my opinion is it may need to be passed up.

For farm use a 4wd is a must imho.
Davidd.

[Deon]

I have a 1992 310D 4x4 extendahoe with 8360 hrs. Engine purrs like a kitten, does not burn any oil, smokes less that most new Cat, Case etc. I have replaced seals and bushings/pins here and there and the cab needs rust repairs along the bottom. I have a friend with a 310C that has 13,000 hrs. and everything still works but this one is really rusted along the bottom and floor of the cab. I intend to repair the rust and repaint the whole machine. Like my JD dealer told me, everything on this machine is rebuild-able but you must be a mechanical guy like myself or things will cost more than you will want to spend. If the reverser is the only major thing wrong and 2 wheel drive is OK for your application then you may be happy with your choice. But a 4 wheel drive is a much stronger machine to do loader work and backing up hills. Then again $8,000 is a lot less that $20,000 and the $20,000 machine will also need work, just something else.