Gamble on a 450 straight loader backhoe?

[Fallon]

I'm looking at a JD 450 straight loader backhoe. Apparently the owner came down with dementia a couple (2?) years ago & passed away this spring. His middle aged kids have sold off the place up in the mountains & are looking to liquidate the other stuff including the 450. They know nothing about it really. I showed up to take a look at it & possibly try to try & get is started. It's to heavy for me to haul (20k lbs about right?). Wiring on it's fried, several melted, lots of stuff unplugged. Hood wasn't all the way on. There is a rotted indoor power strip hanging from an extension cord on the hoe & jumper cables buried in the snow, probably related to wiring melting. The tarp over the seat & controls was pretty frozen & buried. I obviously didn't even try to get it started. Batteries were disconnected & one read 12.something volts, which makes me think it hasn't been down for to long. Other one was 9v, maybe a dead cell or something. Serial number comes up as a 1969 according to the thread in the FAQ forum.

After pointing out the issues with it they realize it's not going to be worth much. I believe the house is sold, but allegedly the new owners would be fine with leaving the crawler there until spring. Wrenching on it in the snow wouldn't be fun & the driveway & road is about 1/2 mile of ice, so that will put things off a good few months.

Do I try & make an offer at scrap prices for it & pay to get it hauled home? Do I gamble that the drive train is in serviceable condition & that the engine didn't get water in it. I can spend a couple weeks doing the wiring easily enough. I hear the dry clutches are a likely to freeze up, but Colorado is a dry climate, so corrosion generally isn't a huge issue like it is in more humid climates. It's an hour away & I'm going to guess it will be a grand or 2 for somebody with an appropriate setup load & haul it home.

I'm not looking for much. I'd be happy if I could get a cheap machine that would do 10-15 hours of work a year for the next 5-10 years. A rubber tired backhoe under 12k lbs I could haul would make more sense, but crawlers are cool. I've seen a few 350s around, but not many & none with a hoe. I've got a 420c with a loader & have had to wrench on it a fair bit, so I have an inkling as to what I may be getting into. My bucket list has "own a bulldozer on it". I've come to the conclusion that my 420c with a loader on it isn't a bulldozer & stumbled across this not a bulldozer. But this one is a diesel & has the hoe, which will be a bit practical around the property. I have the Kubota L4060 for doing practical stuff & side jobs like mowing & driveway maintenance. I don't really expect to take the crawler off my acreage.

The bad

• Missing pre-filter
• Mystery 2' hydraulic hose, probably related to the 8' hose hooked up to the right side lift cylinder that's hanging on the track
• Lots of grime & oil around the backhoe
• Backhoe has the rotary swing motor on it, which I hear is problematic compared to the swing cylinder setup

Not good, but not surprising or enough to make me run

• Lots of dust & oil on the bucket curl cylinder
• Missing track pad
• Lots of the other hoses look crusty & original
• Wiring

The good

• Drive sprocket seems in decent shape
• Bushings are a bit egg shaped, but seem to have a bit of life left in them
• Track tension seems to be good

Does the rail height on the chain look excessively worn?
If moisture made it past the pre-filter would it be likely to make it past the filter itself

Engine, transmission & steering gear are unknowns. Other than the missing pre-filter I'm going to guess that things were working before the wiring took the machine down. Where would I try & bar the engine over to see if it's locked up? Or just try to jump the starter directly & see if it will turn over?

I'm assuming a come along and/or ratchet straps to lift the loader & hoe while cycling the hydraulics. I could also take my 40hp Kubota tractor up & hope the 1,600lbs of loader lift would move the implements. I'm not sure if 5k lbs of Kubota would be able to pull the crawler, even if it was in neutral.

Should I gamble a couple grand that I can get an ok machine? I'm assuming if the engine has water in it or is locked up, or the tranny doesn't work that's pretty much instantly a loss & i becomes a parts machine or scrap. I'm assuming I could deal with brakes or clutches. Hydraulic hoses going are a given at some point & I've been through that before on the 420c & a friends mini-backhoe.

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[Jim B]

Engine could be stuck, there could be drive train and or steering clutch issues as well as hydraulic problems, those are unseen. The sprockets look ok for use; however, the picture of the bushing you posted looks like it is breaking up to me and the side view of the rails appear to show a fair bit of wear to me. I would not trust the hours on an hour meter without some back up.

I don't think you will lift the loader and hoe as easily for transport as one might think.

You need to decide how much time and money you want to risk getting it to where you can use it compared to finding a dozer (which is what you say you want) that is running you can try operating before purchase. Rental of a mini hoe, when needed, can be better than a crawler mounted backhoe which can increase final drive issues.

Gamble is correct. My take here is no doubt on the downside, but not outside of what you may encounter. Others should be along with their thoughts.

Whether it is worth it or not to you, is strictly up to you.