New Holland Backhoes

[surfer-joe]

Personally, I'd stay away from any New Holland. I've demoed them and the hands all said they didn't like them. Prefered the Cat or Case, tho a couple did kinda like the 310 Deere. No dealer organization in many places. Boss couldn't pass up a steal and purchased a used one from Chevron-Texaco. No one in California projects wanted to run it so I sent it up to our Wyoming operations. It broke up there and the only New Holland dealer was five hours away and only handled farm side. He eventually got the parts in tho, took nearly three weeks.

Cat surely did screw up by using the same axle assembly as NH. Cost us a large fortune in brakes till I found some non-OEM that held up to the heat. (No oil cooler) I had to buy a used axle assembly and keep it on hand rebuilt so we didn't lose too much on downtime due to burned up brakes. Don't know if Cat has this problem licked yet.

JCB. Junk coming from Britain. Same deal, very limited dealerships. Our operators also did not like them. Same for Terex.

NH trying to buy market share, as is Terex. But I don't think either brand will ever do any good here.

 

[Squizzy246B]

In this thread: https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=1522

I posted some for those fans of JCB TLB's.

 

[Cat420]

Cat surely did screw up by using the same axle assembly as NH. Cost us a large fortune in brakes till I found some non-OEM that held up to the heat. (No oil cooler) I had to buy a used axle assembly and keep it on hand rebuilt so we didn't lose too much on downtime due to burned up brakes. Don't know if Cat has this problem licked yet.

How long ago was this? I only ask because we haven't had a single problem with the service brakes on our 01 420D. It's been roaded a fair bit too. Just didn't know if I should be watching out for something or not:beatsme .

The parking brake doesn't hold like it used to, but I can never remember to look at it to see what's wrong.

 

[surfer-joe]

Had major problems with Cat 416's and 420D's in the brake and differential area. Brakes wore quickly, and all that very abrasive stuff wore thorough the housings and ate up all the bearings for the gears. Very expensive to replace and repair. We used Cat oil, but found we had to had to change it every engine oil change. (Cat ran out of discs for a while so bought some from NH, same thing)

After 1st set of brakes on new machines wore out (sometimes within 500 hours), switched to another non-OEM brand of friction material. This material lasted far longer, but more importantly, it was not abrasive and didn't tear everything else in the compartment up. This was in 2001-2004.

Cat house said we traveled the machines too far at high speed. Housings only hold five gallons, no cooler or filter. Cat axle assemblies got very hot when traveling. No problem in this area on Case 580's or Deere 310's, all doing the same work.

I won major concessions with Cat on warranties as we sampled every change starting with brand new. They were horrible results, very dirty and all from the brakes discs. Had one mechanic who could swap out axle assemblies in about four hours after we got our spare assembly set up.

I've heard that Cat has gone to different brake material now, maybe from same supplier that I used. I know they were trying some of his in 2003.

 

[surfer-joe]

Speaking of Cat 420's, how many here have had problems with dirty engine oil samples, i.e., high silicon?

Look for cracked rocker cover. The early ones tended to crack right by the filler hole tube at the base. Cat did have a PIP replacement program at one time for these.

 

[Cat420]

Thanks. We haven't been on the road in a while and it looks like it will stay that way now. All fluids were changed out about 200 hours ago and we've done less roading since then as well. Good information to be aware of though.

We don't do a lot of work and never really looked into doing sampling, but ours is serial # below 300 and the rocker cover looks fine.

 

[Bearmtnmartin]

have to jump in here about NH backhoes. I sold my 416 cat POS 4 years ago and bought a LB110. Every contractor around laughed at me. But not the farmers. Most local farm equipment is either JD or NH. The NH backhoe is a 30 year old Ford design and its actually pretty good. There was definately a quality control problem with mine, but I'd like to think its because its an earlier model. It was made in Italy, and all the new ones are made in the US. Once I got the bugs worked out, which took a year, it has been excellent. The side covers are crap, my AC has been fixed 8 times and still doesn't work, I loose the window latches regularly, and I blew a hose under the cab two weeks after I bought it. Had to be dragged off the jobsite by my competition in his JD. But I paid 40K less than the new Cat, I got a 5 yr bumper to bumper warranty, 1 percent financing, and I just talked to the dealership about trading it in, and they offered me a new one for mine plus 45 G's. And it has run like a charm for 4000 hours now. The hydraulics are awesome. I can place 750g and 2pce 1200g concrete septic tanks. try that with another brand. I know a cat and a JD won't do it. It does 40 kliks on the road, and with the doors closed it is as quiet as my pickup. And the extenda hoe or whatever they call it is very good. the trick to lubricating it is not to. I haven't adjusted it in over two years, because the slides become smooth as glass over time, and if you keep them out of the crap, they don't seem to wear. Also they have a really nicely designed clam bucket. Oh, and they put horn buttons on the control levers front and back. Nice touch. What else....
Some of the interior plastic is junk. My key doesn't spin yet, but its in a hole cut in the junk plastic, so I expect it will one day. Freaking hate the horn-hooked-up-to-the-handbrake idea. On the other hand, the handbrake works great still, and the one on the Cat never did. You sure as hell can't drive with it on, unless you are deaf.

Happy digging.
BearmountainMartin

 

[mackdj]

Deere

I would go with a Deere because i have one and like it.

 

[trex2]

have to jump in here about NH backhoes. I sold my 416 cat POS 4 years ago and bought a LB110. Every contractor around laughed at me. But not the farmers. Most local farm equipment is either JD or NH. The NH backhoe is a 30 year old Ford design and its actually pretty good. There was definately a quality control problem with mine, but I'd like to think its because its an earlier model. It was made in Italy, and all the new ones are made in the US. Once I got the bugs worked out, which took a year, it has been excellent. The side covers are crap, my AC has been fixed 8 times and still doesn't work, I loose the window latches regularly, and I blew a hose under the cab two weeks after I bought it. Had to be dragged off the jobsite by my competition in his JD. But I paid 40K less than the new Cat, I got a 5 yr bumper to bumper warranty, 1 percent financing, and I just talked to the dealership about trading it in, and they offered me a new one for mine plus 45 G's. And it has run like a charm for 4000 hours now. The hydraulics are awesome. I can place 750g and 2pce 1200g concrete septic tanks. try that with another brand. I know a cat and a JD won't do it. It does 40 kliks on the road, and with the doors closed it is as quiet as my pickup. And the extenda hoe or whatever they call it is very good. the trick to lubricating it is not to. I haven't adjusted it in over two years, because the slides become smooth as glass over time, and if you keep them out of the crap, they don't seem to wear. Also they have a really nicely designed clam bucket. Oh, and they put horn buttons on the control levers front and back. Nice touch. What else....
Some of the interior plastic is junk. My key doesn't spin yet, but its in a hole cut in the junk plastic, so I expect it will one day. Freaking hate the horn-hooked-up-to-the-handbrake idea. On the other hand, the handbrake works great still, and the one on the Cat never did. You sure as hell can't drive with it on, unless you are deaf.

Happy digging.
BearmountainMartin

Whille New Holland may make a decent backhoe, the side covers in the engine area would automatically eliminate them from my consideration. Who wants to remove side covers to do fluid checks, etc.? Where do you put the side covers when they're off? On the hood? In the dirt? If you own a NH backhoe and are not always operating it, I would think that a large proportion of operators would be less likely to be bothered removing the side covers to perform daily checks versus a tilt up hood. New Holland needs to change the design to a tilt up hood.

 

[radd16]

Yes Trex2, I would like to see New Holland change the side covers too. They have talked about a tilting hood but nothing as of yet. Otherwise the backhoe is very good machine with more lifting and breakout force than a cat or deere.

 

[gmccall]

I have a ford 555d with what apears to be an interlock problem. any suggeations?

 

[gmccall]

ignition interlock sorry.

 

[sask farm boy]

well we bought a 2011 b95b new. over the years ive had 4 case 580s a deere 410 and this has been the best of the bunch 1950 hrs hasnt had a warranty claim cost 8000 less to buy.And all the operators love it.

 

[dozzer]

just bought a used 2010 b95b NH. brakes worked when I put it away next time no brakes. any ideas? thanks. 3100hrs

 

[Mother Deuce]

The company I work for has 3 675E’s still. 12 years after this thread started. They are all 4wd full cab extendahoes. They are old and tired but will still get it done. The key barrels have all been replaced and the hood side sheets are gone... the sticks work good no chatter and since my first backhoe I bought was a Ford. It seems like old home week to me. They are mostly relegated to tramming material and unloading trucks with forks but 25 years later they are still in the game

 

[Tinkerer]

JCB dealers are far and few in Illinois. I have never seen a JCB t/l.backhoe in my area.

 

[Check Break]

The E-s were very good machines. A couple of bugs but those got worked out. After that I lost track of things. Ford owned the backhoe market before New Holland destroyed it. Cat licensed the Ford rear axle because it was bulletproof but didn't copy it in it's entirety. Ford oil capacity is greater and surface area that promotes cooling is greater. If I recollect correctly, the real problem was Cat screwed up and used the wrong oil which brake caused failure. I remember Cat guys buying Ford MC2134d to use in their 416-s to avoid brake problems.

 

[aighead]

I'm probably not the best to speak about it since mine is a minimal use backyard backhoe but I have a 2004 LB75B, with about 5000 hours, that I'm pleased with. I've put about 600 or so hours on it with no issues that weren't my fault. Yes, it came with some issues, like non-working AC and a seat that likes to turn on it's own, but it was affordable and it works as I expect it to. It's handling all the projects I have for it and I'm finding more.

 

[Swetz]

Ok, I have been following this thread and have some questions.

- Several posters have spoken about the side covers on New Hollands...Is there a specific model or series of models associated with.
- Several have posted about the parking brake alarm problems. Again, Is this problem specific a model or series of models.
- Most recently I saw a comment about brakes on a B95, Are brakes a common problem?
- I haven't seen much mentioned in this thread about the engine in these TLBs. I think there was one mention that the engines are Iveco, if my memory serves me correctly. Are they all Ivecos and are they any good?
- I see no reference to the extendable boom on these units. They look different than most I have seen. Is this a hardy design? Are the wear pads in the boom easily replaced and do they wear faster or slower than other brands?

The reason I am asking is because I will be purchasing a used backhoe in 2020, and want all the information I can get prior to the purchase. I am looking at the B95 (~2007 model year) size unit. Please note that I am looking at multiple brands and have no preconceived notions about cat vs case vs JD vs NH (although I can see that many here have a favorite). I am just looking for a reliable piece of equipment for my 43 acres in North East PA.

 

[aighead]

You have to take my experience as a relatively light user on my NH...

-Engine covers are finicky and not well designed to stay on properly. Not a deal breaker for me but I could see how someone that had to get into the engine compartment regularly may get annoyed with them. I would imagine if I looked more closely there's a decent way to rig them up to be better. I haven't worried about it.

-Parking brake alarm is just an alarm. If you remember to release the brake the alarm (yes, it's loud and annoying, purposely) you'll never hear it. It goes off when the parking brake is on and you put in in forward or reverse. It's loud and annoying enough to be effective in teaching you to check it prior to moving the direction lever. When mine was being delivered I didn't realize that that was the terrible noise I heard as I tried to back it off the trailer. Now I know and I check, most of the time. The back up alarm is annoying to (for my use) so it was easy to disconnect, and I think it made the neighbors a little happier.

-I don't know if anyone has messed with the brakes on mine, before I got it, but mine are fine.

-I've had no issues with my extendahoe, and I feel like I've put it through some abuse. I've read some stuff you aren't really supposed to do with it extended and as long as you keep that in mind I don't think it'd be an issue. Greasing it properly is a question but it just calls for a general grease that isn't expensive or hard to get. Just squeeze some in and it's ok.

I went with NH because I did a fair amount of review research and didn't see many complaints (I didn't see anything like this thread at all!) and it was affordable to me with all the features I really wanted, namely 4wd and extendahoe. I also rented a NH a couple years back that was easy to learn as a first timer and it worked well. I imagine my opinion may be different if I used the machine a lot more or if I was counting on it to make me money, however, it's just there to be my muscle when I need it around the yard. For that it's been great.