Aybody have any luck with Fords .....think it's 550 model about 2002 ......me hates Ford products but it's cheap 7K 1200 hrs....any thoughts thanks me don't know these machines {FORD}
Wow, for a 2002 backhoe with 1200 hours thats sounds good, hows the pins??
Around here 580 case 4X4 extendahoe seems to be the one most in service.
If I was going to clear land for myself I would invest in a EX 200 or equivelent excavator with a thumb, and get a tractor with a 1-2 yard bucket to move material.
Excavators hold their value, so I do not think you will loose money as long as the under carriage and hoses are good.
To add "do not waste you're money on a backhoe if your clearing brush/trees"!!!!!!!!
I was looking at mini ex's,nice machines but all are around 90k.....to rich for me.....I want it more for trench work ,clearing snow,moving dirt around
It's not an extendable....was used lightly on a hobby farm......pins are tight....runs well,hoses all in good shape,
And with the thumb on the bucket after you pushed the tree over you picked it up shook the dirt off the root ball and put it into the slash pile. 1/4-12 acre a day, could have been more but took lots of bevarage breaks.
I was at Ritchie Bros 2 years ago - there was a lot of 3 Kubota U50's, a dash 2 and two dash3's. All in nice shape - went for $27,000 for the lot. A guy bid the first one to 9K and they offered all 3 and he said yup.
But I don't think you want rubber tracks for land clearing.
A co-worker of mine bought a really nice Deere 310SG that day. There are some deals if you know what you are looking for.
That insley looks a little old, but the right size for clearing brush.
The machine you would probably need is around 30.000-35.000 pounds+-.
Power to weight makes for easy tree pushing over, and don't forget the thumb.
