Greetings from up north...

[Dominic Frasca]

Greetings my new friends, I'm 59 and a city boy at heart. Spent most of my life as "the boss" in retail endeavors. After my business life ended I retired up to northern Maine.
I never thought I would find happiness behind the wheel of a backhoe, but needing some work done on my property, I spent quite a few months looking around the internet and the best, inexpensive unit I could find was a glorified lawnmower with a bucket attached for 3500 bucks, No way I said to my buddy!!

So we kept looking til we found a 1970 ford 4500 backhoe that needed some tlc but all in all, its in good shape and the seller seemed to be an extremely honest man, and after talking we agreed upon a price of $2100 bucks, a good deal I thought. The truth is, one drive around the property and I was in love with my new machine. Absolutely head over heels in love with her.She has the 3 cylinder diesel, 60 hp motor. So far as a pre-heater this unit has a system that starts a fire in the intake manifold, which seems to work too.

So far I've replaced the steering wheel, repaired the seat and a few leaks, serviced her. a new triple chrome plated exhaust....more for looks. lol and a new grill. I'm in the middle of painting her now.
Here are a few pics of before the paint job and present. The paint is not finished yet.

 

[Dominic Frasca]

Does anyone have any advice/info to share to help me get her all fixed up?

 

[Dominic Frasca]

Really....not one reply at all? Am I the only member here?

 

[Delmer]

Fix what's broken??? The hoses and tires are going to be the biggest trouble typically. Keep an eye on the hoses when the outer rubber gets cracked, and when the steel braid starts rusting, and once there's any bulge, or the steel braid lets go with loose strands, then try to replace them before they make a mess and cost you ten gallons of oil.

Put a ROPS on that thing if you do anything stupid like steep hills or moving large objects on the front loader, they can roll back over the bucket and squash you.

Use a good moly grease, and/or be sure you grease the pins every 8 hours or so.

Figure out what fluids are best for it, and change them. The hydraulic can wait until you're done replacing hoses and working any kinks out, as long as there's no water in there, and you're sure the filter is in place and intact

I'd say you got a great deal.

Since you're new to equipment, it's a good idea to remove the ground cable from the battery when it's going to sit, to prevent the battery draining and fires. Charge the battery if it's not being used every month over the summer, once over the winter and again before you start it in the spring.

 

[Dominic Frasca]

I dunno whats happening but my trans is leaking big time. I've already gone thru 10 gals of fluid to the tune of 80 bucks. I'm not sure where to look but its an automatic tranny.

 

[kshansen]

I dunno whats happening but my trans is leaking big time. I've already gone thru 10 gals of fluid to the tune of 80 bucks. I'm not sure where to look but its an automatic tranny.

I have no experience with that tractor so best I could say is if it is leaking fluid follow the stream of fluid "up hill" and maybe post a picture or two showing the leak. Hopefully someone here has some knowledge of that model.

 

[Delmer]

An automatic transmission generally has a front seal, a rear seal, and some hoses going to a cooler and back. If you're lucky it will be a loose or cracked line going to a cooler by the radiator, also common is a rusted out cooler which is a little more hassle, but not that big a deal considering. There's lots of other places in a typical transmission case that can leak, but those are the common ones, once you see where the puddles are on the ground.

 

[Dominic Frasca]

directly under the tranny is an opening into the tranny, rectangle shape, about the size of a pack of smokes. You can see right into the trans and seems to be leaking from there.

 

[Delmer]

Would that be towards the engine, looking into the bellhousing at a torque converter? That would be the front seal most likely. Picture?

 

[kshansen]

I did find what might be an online parts book:
http://partstore.agriculture.newholland.com/us/parts-search.html#epc::mr317620ag22053

Without seeing it in person or a very good picture it is hard to say but does not seem to be an easy fix. Would think engine or transmission may need to come out to access the front seal if in fact that is where the oil is coming from. A leak that has pushed out 10 gallons of fluid should be easy to trace.

If I was planing on keeping this tractor I would be locating a service manual. Even if it costs $100.00 it will pay for itself in a short time. One damaged part or a couple hours labor saved will make it seem cheap.

 

[mitch504]

That's technically not an automatic transmission, it's a 4x4 power reversing torque converter transmission. 4x4 as in 4 fwd-4 reverse, not 4 wheel drive. Inside that hole in the bell housing, (where torque converter and flywheel are, not actually in transmission) is a reversing safety valve, I think the cooler bypass valve, and maybe another valve that can be repaired through the hole if you are lucky, and very dexterous. It's been a number of years since I've been in there, but I think that's right.

You are going to have to look up in there while it is running to see if you can find exactly where the leak is. If you are very lucky, it will be an o-ring you can replace, but, most likely, you are going to have to split the tractor.