Price Check Ford 555B Price Check.

[Nacci]

Hello TractorByNet, I am new here and could use some advice on the purchase of my first backhoe. I am considering buying a used Ford 555B off. I own a 30 acre spread in New Hampshire with plenty of work to do. I have a farmer down the road who hays my fields and he and I have an agreement that in return I can use his backhoe for a few days. He has a 555B and I really like the machine, old school, basic, strong, I think it would serve my needs well. Anyways, I found one for sale for $22. I spoke extensively with the seller and he said that he has 18K into it and would let it go for that. In addition to the regular bucket, the machine also comes with a trenching bucket and what he called a turf bucket?? No teeth, just flat.

His story is this; he bough it off the original owner who ran it up on a rock and cracked the crank case, drained all of the oil out of it and seized the engine and the machine sat there for 8 years until the guy had to sell the property and this fella who owns it now then bought it. He had the engine rebuilt by a local diesel mechanic who rebored it, planed the head, new valves, pistons, rings, bearings the whole works. I asked who the mechanic was, he gave the name to me, I called the guy and he verified that yes he did rebuild the engine and that the engine is now tip top. He also told me that the he knows the guy who is selling it and he is a very good mechanic himself and as honest as they come.

Because the machine sat for so long it only has 1,000 miles on it and the rebuild only has 5 hrs. This fella who owns it now is 87, has two new hips and says he can no longer even get up in it so that is why he is selling it. Well for the negatives, the driver door is missing and the rear door which was also missing has been replaced by one that is not in great condition, rust, rot, bogus plexiglass glass instead of the tempered. I am a decent fabricator and feel that I could weld up a replacement driver side door side door and fix the back one over the winter

The fella said that the machine is as tight as a drum, zero play, no rust, not a leak to be found, starts right up and hums away. I'd like to be in this baby for 15K, I spoke with a fella who could deliver it and that is a good $700.

I guess my question is, what do you think?

Thank you in advance.

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum.

When you said 1,000 miles, did you mean 1,000 hours? Tractors use hours of use, not miles driven.

I will let someone who knows Ford tractors tell about the price since I have no working knowledge of Fords.

 

[Nacci]

:welcome:
To the TBN forum.

When you said 1,000 miles, did you mean 1,000 hours? Tractors use hours of use, not miles driven.

I will let someone who knows Ford tractors tell about the price since I have no working knowledge of Fords.

Thank you for that, yes, 1,000 hours and 5 hrs on the rebuilt.

 

[RickB]

$15K is too much for any 555B $22K is out to lunch.
Auction results for Ford 555B's :: Backhoe Loaders :: Construction Equipment

https://www.machinerytrader.com/lis.../loader-backhoes/manufacturer/ford/model/555b

 

[ovrszd]

I agree with Rick.

Last December I purchased a 555A for $6500. Spent $2000 fixing things I deemed necessary I've put 100 hrs on it. Very reliable machine. 4n1 front bucket, 15ft extendable boom, 24" bucket.

 

[rScotty]

The "triple nickle" Fords were real nice machines. I happen to like older machines myself and own several. It makes me comfortable knowing that the mechanical systems are old style and simple to diagnose and work on.

But having said that, this guy simply has too many dollars in that machine. That's a shame, because he sounds like a nice old guy and you are in the position of telling him that a decent price for that machine is less than he has in it. Nobody likes to hear that. He got into it too far.....but that's not your fault.

Frankly I felt better about it until you mentioned the doors. Add that to a history of belonging to someone who breaks the engine...oil all over the place.....and then is uncaring enough to runs it until it seizes?? A seizure which turns a 300 dollar repair into a $10K repair all for 5 minutes run time?? Is that the person you want putting the critical first 1000 hours on a new backhoe? Not me.. What are you to think about the rest of the machine? Frankly it sounds like a machine that was owned by someone who mistreated it and now this hoe has had the incredible good luck to have a nice rebuilt engine that purrs. So what? I love old machines. Nacci, I think the fact you are missing is that most old commercial machines and particularly old backhoes ALL have old diesel engines that purr. Of all the things that wear and break and cost dollars, the engine is the very least of the things that us backhoe operators worry about. Most old backhoes purr, most of those old diesels do. And they don't leak either.

But you like that particular machine. I get that. There's no accounting for taste, and 555s are basically good machines. That actually counts for more to me than dollars. So what I'd say is get a buddy who knows backhoes to go over there with you and he can be the bad guy. You ought to be spending $15 to %16K only if all the hoses, brakes, electrics, clutch, and tranny are in good 1000 hour shape. BTW, how are the tires? How about the pins in hoe and loader? Are they worn and sloppy? Are the kingpins in the front axle shaky? In any hoe that's had decent attention from a grease gun those pins are good for 5000 to 10,000 hours. And BTW, if it passes your buddy's tests, the $16K should include some decent used replacement doors with at least some of the glass in them. Plexiglass, rot, and rust....ye gads!

I am real sorry to be telling you this, but you can get a real nice honest old 2wd backhoe with 5000 to 6000 hours on it for around the $12 to $15K mark. $20K would buy you a low hour creampuff and that would be my choice because I like to pay top dollar for a low hour creampuff myself. But that's just me. My buddies think I'm crazy, but I do like the well-maintained old machine and don't mind paying for it. And there's a bunch of those out there.
Good luck.
rScotty

 

[crashz]

Everything rusts here in NH. If the rest of the cab is in good shape, the doors may have been swapped as a donor. 1000 hrs is not much. I'd expect the rest of the machine to be in decent shape. But like Scotty says, the price is high and you could find something newer.

Is is 4wd?

My father had a 555A. Loved that old rig. Traded it for a Cat 416 with more features. But it still had a lot of life even after 15 years of commercial use.

 

[Nacci]

I went and looked at it yesterday, The machine itself was solid, nice clean rebuilt, body looked solid and all but there were issues too that were not disclosed like the heater and windshield wiper not working, the seat not sliding back and forth, the front rims were bent from hitting rocks, the tires dry rotted from sitting, the lock hooks for the hoe being snapped off and other aggravations like that but I took it down the road moving from 2nd into third and when I would hit the accelerator a screeching noise would come from the front end, the machine wouldn't loose power, just screech. I turned around and got the brother who was the mechanic and had him come for a ride so he could hear it and he said they all do that. Well this was my third Ford 555 that I tested out in the last two weeks and none of the others did it so I drove right back, thanked them for their time and left.

 

[rScotty]

I went and looked at it yesterday, The machine itself was solid, nice clean rebuilt, body looked solid and all but there were issues too that were not disclosed like the heater and windshield wiper not working, the seat not sliding back and forth, the front rims were bent from hitting rocks, the tires dry rotted from sitting, the lock hooks for the hoe being snapped off and other aggravations like that but I took it down the road moving from 2nd into third and when I would hit the accelerator a screeching noise would come from the front end, the machine wouldn't loose power, just screech. I turned around and got the brother who was the mechanic and had him come for a ride so he could hear it and he said they all do that. Well this was my third Ford 555 that I tested out in the last two weeks and none of the others did it so I drove right back, thanked them for their time and left.

I think you did right. Shucks, re-reading your posts, I KNOW you did right to walk away. Not only is that way too much money, those things wrong with it are exactly the kind of things that shouldn't be wrong with any hoe regardless of age.

IMHO, hours don't mean as much as care and maintenance. Other's may disagree.
I turned down a rental Cat hoe with 2000 hrs and bought my present JD310 with 6000 hours put on by the original owner - and the price was roughly the same for each. Actually I think I paid more for the high hour machine. In fact I know I did, as I put rear tires and two new batteries in it. But overall it looked and ran like an old machine that had been cared for. I've had it 4 years now and it was the right choice.

I know this is going to sound trite, but you sound like the kind of guy who will know the right machine when you see it - and driving it around will just confirm what your gut is already telling you. If you have to ask yourself questions, you already know the real answer.

Don't overlook JD310 and Case 580. Both of those are excellent machines, too. For the homeowner I kinda lean to the Case 580 myself because like the old JD310D&E, the Case 580s are slightly more "home mechanic friendly" than later model JDs and Cats. Good used 580s are scarce here. The few I've seen are either not for sale or beat up.
rScotty

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I agree with Rick.

Last December I purchased a 555A for $6500. Spent $2000 fixing things I deemed necessary I've put 100 hrs on it. Very reliable machine. 4n1 front bucket, 15ft extendable boom, 24" bucket.


View attachment 564438

That is a nice looking rig.