New to me

[Willie B]

1993? John Deere 410C. I've always loved the control of a John Deere hoe. Wasn't seriously considering a purchase until today an opportunity came to me.
I trucked this machine two years ago when it was bought by a friend. He wanted out today. I thought faster than my brain should, made a low ball offer, he accepted.

I'll get pictures tomorrow.

Everything works, but I don't believe it has seen a grease gun this century.

I love my Case 580K but love a little less the jumpy backhoe.

 

[AzIron]

C were a pretty solid series not much to go wrong and if your a case guy then you wont care it's a straight boom

 

[Bumpsteer]

Yup, lots of hours in a C-series, good machines.

Ed

 

[Willie B]

I'd rather have a banana boom. I've had an older 410, and two Case 580K. I always loved the control of the JD Hydraulic plumbing makes it easier to operate smoothly.

The choice of this particular tractor was based on price, and opportunity. Big backhoes are less common & they tend to be high hour machines. I'd sure prefer a newer one, and the male extendable dipper makes adding a thumb near impossible.

 

[Swetz]

Willie B, Good luck with your excellent score!

As far as the thumb, I have researched one for my NH675E, and came up with this style:

http://equipmentland.com/categories/Thumbs-&-Grapples/Hoeclamp/

They are a bit spendy at ~$3k, but amulet has a decent reputation, and they look well made. No hydraulics to worry about either. I have not pulled the trigger as my piggy bank is still broke from buying my machine and fixing it up.

 

[Willie B]

They look fragile, though I may be wrong in practice. The price tag is a bit much too.
I've not yet put the finishing touches on the thumb for the Case 580K. I have used it quite a bit. It is very robust. My needs are to grip rocks too big for the inside of the bucket mostly. Pretty heavy duty use.

I built my house on two separate 1 acre lots. I believe 1/3 of one lot was cleared of rock by moving it to the other. The other lot only had a home from 1907 to 1927. Its owner was considered quite eccentric. He hung a block & tackle high in a huge tree & one at a time pulled thousands of boulders into a pile. I assume he wanted a bit of lawn. I've removed most of his pile. I hope to remove the rest of it.

 

[Willie B]

How do you steer a John Deere?
I think I mentioned I live in VT. Don't see the bumper stickers any more "Vermont Ain't Flat!" I think it offended the foreigners.
About half the time backhoes front wheels aren't on the ground. You steer with brakes.
In my Cases clutch is right thumb on shift lever & loader lever. Right foot is throttle. Damned if I understand, left foot for clutch, right is go + steer. This is NOT cool!

 

[Swetz]

Willie B, If you come up with something that will work with an inner boom extenda-hoe, please share. We have LOTS of rocks here in the north east of PA too. I have many, many to move.

Thanks.

 

[Tinkerer]

Pictures, Willie, we need pictures !
Are the all front counterweights on it ? If they are would adding more of them help the steering problem ? Maybe ballast in the front tires ?

 

[Willie B]

I'm not sure if a bigger counter weight is possible. Tire ballasting might help a little. Case's over center hoe parking is less tail heavy.

 

[NH575E]

You could always fill the loader bucket full of rocks or dirt for more frontal weight.

Man you guys all have such nice looking machines. I'm embarrassed to post pics of my old rag-a-muffin NH. It did begin life as a Texas municipal machine and has spend it's whole life out in the elements.

 

[mitch504]

You could always fill the loader bucket full of rocks or dirt for more frontal weight.

Man you guys all have such nice looking machines. I'm embarrassed to post pics of my old rag-a-muffin NH. It did begin life as a Texas municipal machine and has spend it's whole life out in the elements.

I keep my front tires filled with water, it cuts down on her tendency to climb the trailer on her hind legs.

Maybe one day I'll post pics of my two b'hoes, they have spent their working lives in fertilizer in wiinter, spring and fall, and saltwater in summer. You'll feel a lot better about the looks of yours.

 

[Tinkerer]

In the freeze zones calcium chloride or beet juice is used for tire ballast. I don't know about beet juice but cc requires a tube in the tire. I saw way too many rims (rear farm tractor tires) get ruined when the cc leaked into wheel. My brother had a John Deere that the bead area of the rim nearly fell off before he replaced it.
I read that beet juice is 25% heavier than water and won't freeze until -35°.

 

[colson04]

Beer juice works, but makes a nasty mess if the tire has to come off for repairs or just to change it

 

[Tinkerer]

Beer juice works,/QUOTE]

Seems like a waste of beer, Colson

 

[Swetz]

I understand some use windshield washer fluid too. I have the calcium in my small TLB. It does make rust by the valve stem. The dealer installed it when I purchased the tractor new.

I would not consider wasting my beer in a tire

 

[colson04]

Lol, I meant beet juice, not beer. I should proof read better before I post.

 

[DMiller]

I Like Beer Juice, call it Barley Soda Here!! Have 60 gal of Ethanol(WS Wash Solution) and water in each of my farm tractor rears. may need to do fluid fill to fronts on it as it is Nose Light.

 

[Willie B]

New problem:
This tractor has had too many years with not enough TLC. The backhoe vertical functions settle sometimes, don't when cold.
I thought foam in the oil.
Suction screen plugged
Suction hose crushed
Leaks in suction line
Maybe plugged filter, (not likely)

Seth used it this morning. Raging about what a POS it is. "The boom won't lift the tractor!"

This was a very different experience than I had last night.

We discovered a clean suction screen, a collapsed suction hose from reservoir to pump. I ran to Rutland for new suction hose.

When I returned, I found an empty tool box. Seth had tried everything possible to get the return filter housing off. It is cast aluminum surrounded by transaxle & transfer case. Only a 1-9/16 specially shaped wrench will address this filter.

He had ground a 1-1/2" open end to fit. No bueno! Might get a very short box wrench to fit, but no space for leverage. We broke several strap wrenches, then improvised. Long time, vice grips & copper wire make a good strap wrench. No go!
1-1/4" ratchet strap as the wrap broke without starting the thread. 2" ratchet strap, sliced a fat groove in a 1-1/2" socket Made a loop in 2" strap, passed a loop through & inserted a 1/4" rod. Two big men, 3/4" breaker bar, 2' cheater pipe, we made noise, but didn't budge the thread.

1-9/16 (or whatever the metric equivalent is will be here Sunday. I can predict it won't move this thing.

What do we do next?

Machine is at 3400 hours. I'd bet the filter hasn't been changed yet.

 

[Tags]

That looks like a nice clean machine you have there Willie. I hope you get your filter off, I am sharing in your frustration, I'm pretty sure we've all been down that road at one point or another where you can't get a filter off no matter what you try…