smadjuster
New User
Hi - New here and know almost nothing about tractors but am a decent mechanic and willing to learn. I am in the market for a small backhoe to cut a small house/cabin pad into a hillside, cut a small driveway/road and dig foundation trenches on a plot of gently-sloped land in Colorado (mostly sand). I am looking for a cheap, but decent used backhoe to do the job next spring, and I don't care if it takes weeks to get the job done - not in a hurry. So I am looking to find a smaller, inexpensive piece to do the job, then keep it around for snow removal, etc. A project tractor that I can get running over this winter would be fine. I ran across what I think is a Ford 660 with loader and Sherman backhoe attachment. According to the owner, it has 758 hours on the meter. One swing arm ram on the hoe is bent. It does not run, but turns over. While trying to get it running, he pulled the carb off and left it hanging, now for three years. The u-shaped exhaust section has broken and the exhaust is off, but he says the manifold is okay. He also tried new parts in the distributor. It needs one rear tire. He tried to read the serial number for me and thinks the top number is '40803' and the bottom number '160018', but hard to read. He wants $1500 for it, and my guess is that if this thing won't run, at least I can sell the attachments and part out the tractor? He claims the last owner told him the attachments work fine. I am a confident mechanic and would have to rely on a machinist for some major overhaul, if needed. Would value your opinions, please. I cannot figure out how to attach images here or I would. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.[/img]