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Grant
03-05-2004 10:25:08
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Re: Case 580b vs Ford 4500 in reply to jhines, 03-04-2004 12:58:18
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Definitely the case. We've used Case backhoes in building homes now for 15 years. They are by far the best in terms of price, value, ease to use, and ease to fix. When they break, which is rare when kept up with maintenance, they are a breeze to fix as far as parts availability and being able to take it apart where it stops. The 580Bs were a good pretty common machine as far as i know. One thing thats also great about the case brand is that for a while there, they badged the old 580s as 480s when a new series came out. So that 80s 580B would match up pretty well with like a early 90's 480F. That means that theres even more parts out there for your machine, if you need them. One thing to make sure of, is that the reverser and hydralic pump isnt bad. That'll take some money to fix if it goes out. One way to check this is to lift the loader up and then reach around and wiggle the bucket on the hoe. If it responds fairly quickly, buy it. you'll get good work from it. If it has a slow response, then it could take 5 or 10 years before you really need to replace it (with light use like you said). Either way, if it feels good to use and you're comfortable with it, then buy it. Like the other guys say, it'll retain its value, and if you take care of it, then you can probably get more reselling it in a few years. One thing to remember though, Backhoes are top heavy machines. They dont react the same way to hills and snow as farm tractors do. Please keep that in mind when you run it. They're great machines, but you dont become invincible when you drive one(especially with 4 wheel drive). Lots of guys forget that. Hope this helps and take care.
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