Old international 3514

Worth rebuild or is just a money pit?

lots of leaks will need many new hoses at least one new seal on boom tires seem good at least, runs just everyone is afraid of when the next hose is gonna blow haha

3514 hydrostatic … it’s old partially sentimental partially only chance at owning heavy equipment just wanna know if anyone has got there moneys worth and more out of old equip

Different people view a unit like that in different ways. It is really up to you to decide.
Failure of a major part could make it un-repairable because of the cost to repair it.
I think it is an endless money pit.

Tinkerer said:

Different people view a unit like that in different ways. It is really up to you to decide.
Failure of a major part could make it un-repairable because of the cost to repair it.
I think it is an endless money pit.

Click to expand...

Thank you just looking to see everyone’s opinions

Well you could buy quite a few hoses for $1,000, and if that is all you had into it, it wouldn't be a huge deal if the machine croaked on you.
Kind of depends on how much work you would be expecting the old thing to do. If you would only be using it occasionally, and for small tasks, it might serve you well for many years.
I have an old 555 Ford that is in similar condition, and it is mighty handy.

If it were mine I would replace the hoses and doing minor repairs when needed and keep using it until something major disables it.
It amazes me how many old t/l/b's are still running.

Took a quick look and that tractor has been out of production since 1972, I'm thinking parts are going to be tough to find. I think if it were me I think I'd set a budget and start figuring out costs. I don't think you'll be able to make logical sense out of fixing it up, it will have to be because you want to. And there's nothing wrong with that.

And sentimental value trumps all logic everybody needs something to play with

What's your plans for the old one, if I were you I would change every hose then you get to start on repacking all the cylinders and valves next as they will be next to leak. How deep you plan on rebuilding? Been there done that...

Would like to have it to the point to where I can use it to do some work on farm, budget would be low and have to make sense we already have a tractor though so a lot of the practicality of fixing it up is lost as we have a loader on the tractor

Is this thing sentimental as in you want to own it for some reason? that does make it more fun to own and repair.

Is this a backhoe that you don't have? or just a loader tractor? And is it hydrostatic, like a skid steer, or a gear shift and torque converter? Tractordata calls it hydrostatic but also says gear shift and torque converter. If your current loader tractor is a clutch tractor, then you'll appreciate the torque converter.

I wouldn't worry too much about it being low production and old. It's at least an International, not some no name, or import that you'll never find parts for. International would have used mostly off the shelf parts that went into thousands of units. They did hydrostats if that's what you had. And they did enough other more common industrial equipment that would have used a torque converter that it's either a well known second party unit, or they worked the worst problems out long before '70.

For backhoes, we see CASE, more CASE, some JD, some CAT, a Ford now and then, JCB, terex, dynahoe, Allis, MM, probably a few others. Even a JCB is frowned on here for being so few and so poorly supported, even though JCB owns the market worldwide.

If the machine is free and everything works but needs hoses and cylinders repacked it probably is worth it. Find a local place that makes hoses and bring them there to match up and get made. Shop around, it is amazing the price difference and also cash, no receipt helps.

Cylinder replacing is not hard to do. I am sure you can find seals for it even it you need to take the stuff to a local shop to get matched up.

This is assuming you can do the work yourself. If paying someone then the whole perspective changes.