sherman power digger

I have a 1960 oliver ind. with a sherman 1258 back hoe. it works great but leaks a lot, can the rear spools be rebuilt, are there parts available? I have been told that if I rebuild it it will still leak.any help or ideas..THANKS

Well why do they say it will still leak? If the spools are damaged from rust or scoring then yes it very likely will still leak some. But otherwise a competent mechanic should be able to take care of it. Most spool valve simply have an o ring at each end, pretty simple really

I'm parting out a Sherman Model 1258 that I picked up just last week. I'm asking $300 for the used 6 spool hydraulic control valve and @200 for the combination valve.

In April 1948 Wain-Roy Corporation sold the very first all hydraulic backhoe, mounted to a Ford Model 8N tractor, to the Connecticut Light and Power Company. Wain-Roy made 24 units in 1948. Wain-Roy also made them for Sherman Products of Royal Oak, Michigan, and Ford. Approximately 7000 Wain-Roy Backhoes were manufactured and sold between the fall of 1948 and early 1954, mainly through Ford dealers.

The Shermans organized the meeting between Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson that led to the 9N tractor. They started Sherman Products, Inc. after they were cut out of the implement business. Ford Motor purchased Sherman Products, Inc. in 1961 and began loader-backhoe manufacture in-house in 1963.

This backhoe was made in August of 1959 and was "for use with" an Oliver 880 tractor which refers to the switch frame that had to be cut away from the swing frame.

Even if the early Ford backhoes were Sherman clones, I don't believe Ford supports the components any longer. You might want to check the expendable parts, though.

Bruce Clark