I've been looking for a backhoe and found one to go take a look at tomorrow.
I'm not wanting to have to make payments on it so this is about as much as I
can afford. It's a 1979 Case 580C with 190X hours, gas engine, no cab,
$7500. The owner says it probably needs a battery, he has to charge it
every few months. The owner says he mostly uses the loader, the backhoe
mostly serves the purpose of weight, and occasionaly removing a bush. If
this is in the condition as described, does it sound like a reasonable deal?
I know the 580C is getting a little old, but 1905 or 6 hours sounds pretty
new hours wise, he says that is the actual hours. Anyway, I'm supposed to
go and take a look at it tomorrow, it's about ~42 miles away from here.

Thanks!

Oh, yeah, another find was a guy at work has a good condition John Deere
~95HP 4020 tractor (gas) with a front end loader (straight bucket) asking
$8000.

I think I would rather have a smaller tractor for bush hogging and the
backhoe for the heavier cleanup. I have 3 or 4 cisterns and 1 well to fill
up, plus 2 buildings to destroy, several trees to remove, land to level for
a shop building, plus I would like to dig a pond.

That's too low of hours for a 25 year old machine. (less than 100 hours per
year) My first ? would be has the hour meter been replaced, always
connected? Of course, you won't get a straight answer. You gotta buy an old
machine on condition.

My dad owned one. Great machine. The shuttle tranny went out on his and cost
a fortune to repair. If the hoses are original (most likely) I'd replace
them all/ Its a total PITA to replace one every time it ruptures in the
middle of a job.

I was weaned on a 4020. Did you know they sold for about 8K new? Green paint
never looses its value.

Karl

far too much money for too little machine. try to pick up a diesel.

don't believe the hours on it.

I wouldn't pay more than US$1,500 for a gas machine with no
canopy/extendahoe/etc.

make sure the unit you end up with can at least pick up a full load of dirt
on both ends at full extension.

I can pick up a newer diesel 580D unit, with cab and extenda-hoe for under
CDN$10,000.

"RogerN" wrote in message
hlink.net...

I've been looking for a backhoe and found one to go take a look at
tomorrow.
I'm not wanting to have to make payments on it so this is about as much as
I
can afford. It's a 1979 Case 580C with 190X hours, gas engine, no cab,
$7500. The owner says it probably needs a battery, he has to charge it
every few months. The owner says he mostly uses the loader, the backhoe
mostly serves the purpose of weight, and occasionaly removing a bush. If
this is in the condition as described, does it sound like a reasonable
deal?
I know the 580C is getting a little old, but 1905 or 6 hours sounds pretty
new hours wise, he says that is the actual hours. Anyway, I'm supposed to
go and take a look at it tomorrow, it's about ~42 miles away from here.

Thanks!

"RogerN" wrote in message hlink.net...
Oh, yeah, another find was a guy at work has a good condition John Deere
~95HP 4020 tractor (gas) with a front end loader (straight bucket) asking
$8000.

I think I would rather have a smaller tractor for bush hogging and the
backhoe for the heavier cleanup. I have 3 or 4 cisterns and 1 well to fill
up, plus 2 buildings to destroy, several trees to remove, land to level for
a shop building, plus I would like to dig a pond.

$8000 for a 4020 is a pretty good price, assuming it is in good
condition. At least in my neighborhood(SE MN) it is. I have seen
some absolutely beat 4020s bring $6-7000. The loader should be worth
something too.

The 4020 is a nice utility tractor and probably the most popular
tractor JD(or maybe anyone) has ever made. I prefer a 4020D(but they
are a little harder to find).

Can't speak for the backhoe, but the tractor would be a good deal at
that rate. The backhoe "may" be a better choice for you, but I don't
think you could go to far wrong with the 4020.

Do you know which loader he has on it? If it is a JD model, it is
probably a 140 model. A pretty good smaller loader attachment.
Typically $1500-2500 in the open market in my area. Not to hard to
change the buckets or make various attachments to fit the front.

Is it a synchrorange or powershift(hydrostatic) transmission? IMHO
the synchro is better, but you may prefer a powershift for what you
want to do with this.

JW

I don't know what universe you are from but anything with a backhoe on it gas
or diesel with fetch 4 to 5k just about anywhere. Some of the late 60's and
early 70's International backhoes have brought upwards of 10k on ebay (must be
collectors). I have a 3414 IH and while a good tractor they are fairly slow to
operate. I mainly use it for picking up heavy stuff around the house and shop.
As far as your 580C I would run. First off it can't be a 1979 and still be
gas as I sure don't remember that even being an option in 79. More than likely
it is a 1960's 580 CK which predates even the B models. They rarely had cabs
and gas engines were the predominate engine option although there were some
diesels. The hour meter is obviously broken. One thing about the early Case
backhoes they are built more like a converted farm tractor where as starting
with the 580C series there is a short driveshaft that connects the engine with
the transmission that allows you to take the trans out without spliting the
whole tractor. To me ease of maintainance is a big factor in anything I look
at.

tim

In article .net,
says...
I was weaned on a 4020. Did you know they sold for about 8K new? Green paint
never looses its value.

Karl



Strange, but correct. I sold my 1967 4020 last fall for 6K. I told
the buyer everything wrong with it, about 2 zillion hours on it,
dribbling injectors, noisy powershift, missing PTO guard, squirrely
differential lock, tires 40%, etc, etc.

He just HAD to have it, Go figure.

My brother-in-law recently picked up an early '80's 580C for about $8000. It
needed some work on it. The hours on your prospect sounds low. Sounds like a
pretty good deal. Look for leaking cylinders and torque converter.
Gary Brady
Austin, TX

I went to look at the backhoe and it wasn't a 580C, it says CASE, 580, CK,
and Construction King on it. I didn't look at the hour reading but it looks
pretty worn and has a lot of leaks. The engine is a small looking 4
cylinder. The loader had been broken in a couple places and welded back
together. The foot petals with the diamond knerl looking tread was worn
almost flat, in all, it looked like too much wear for only only 1906 hours,
perhaps 7906? I jotted down the number on a plate on the frame, it was
4177962. I figure he must have thought the 79 was the year, but I think it
looked more likely a 62. The backhoe bucket had holes in it, rusted through
I guess. The hoses going to the backhoe had the outer layer of rubber
coming off around where it swings left and right. All in all, I wasn't
interested in that machine for $7500, I have seen 580C's that looked much
better for not much more money than that. If I can get the $$$ together, I
would like to get a newer one, perhaps the 4wd version.

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 13:42:43 GMT, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

That's too low of hours for a 25 year old machine. (less than 100 hours per
year) My first ? would be has the hour meter been replaced, always
connected? Of course, you won't get a straight answer. You gotta buy an old
machine on condition.

My dad owned one. Great machine. The shuttle tranny went out on his and cost
a fortune to repair. If the hoses are original (most likely) I'd replace
them all/ Its a total PITA to replace one every time it ruptures in the
middle of a job.

I was weaned on a 4020. Did you know they sold for about 8K new? Green paint
never looses its value.

Karl


There are some low time tractors out there. My '81 bought new has less
than 400 hours. Mow a little, dig post holes, drag the drive, etc.

"RogerN" wrote in message thlink.net...
I jotted down the number on a plate on the frame, it was
4177962. I figure he must have thought the 79 was the year, but I think it
looked more likely a 62.

There is no date coding in Case serial numbers. It is only a
sequential number, telling only that tractors position on the line.
Depending on the year, and if Case decided to start a new sequence at
the first of the year, it might jump by as many as 10000 from the last
unit of one year to the first of the next. The only way to find what
year it was is to contact Case. THe jumps in number don't mean
anything, and did not happen every year.