Comparing JD 52 and 70 loaders.

[ironwood]

I have just sold my 755 wit ha 52 loader and before that unit I had a 655 with a 70 loader. I knew the 52 was harder to remove for mowing, and never really did it until just last week before I sold it. It was EASY, that surprised me, only slightly more hassle than the 70. That said, today I brought home my "new to me" 955 with a 70 loader. And the old familiar squeaks and sllight wobble made me realize my 52 loader was ROCK solid, no wiggle no sway, and WOW did I do a TON of earth moving with it (I moved 5000 ton last year). All last summer pavers and the City brought me concrete and asphalt chunk with gravel mixed in. I literally sorted several thousand ton with my little 755 and its custom made tooth bar. I put that thing to SERIOUS work. I also mowed with it and when my buddies JD skidloader ring gear was shot and he took it home I finished cutting inot my clay bank with the little 755 and a large off road forklift. I worked it hard, the only issue was at some point I stripped out the internally splined shaft that connects the motor to the tranny, so off it went to my buddies for a 10 month wait for him to fix it. We thought perhaps I collapsed the pinion bearing or cracked something in the casing, and thankfully that was not the case. He did it on barter for a $300 item I had and $300 in parts. This saved me like $3000 in JD shop time. So, I got it back and decided to upgrade. I currently have the 955 and it will be on lighter duty as I bought a Bobcat with Grouser tracks for the "heavy lifting". So in summation, the the 52 seems more solid than the 70. I like the 70 ALOT for my current work, but if I only had unit to use for dirt work (TLB or something) I would use the 52.

Ironwood