My neighbor has been dragging me around looking at crawler/loader/backhoes lately. Only one has looked good from a crawler POV, although it needs some reworking of the clamshell bucket. He decided against it, though.
I was up for the one needing bucket repair, a JD350, as it has rebuilt everything right down to the rails and pads. Except that clamshell part of the Drott bucket. But, he couldn't see past the screwed up clamshell. Oh, well.
Along the way, the discussions have been about just what he wants to accomplish with one. The end result is he really needs a tractor, not a crawler, based unit. He wants to run it up and down the road from the horse barn to the river all the time, and wheels would be a lot better.
He found a nice little JD300 and it ought to be here tomorrow. Pix when it gets here.
So, a new toy in the neighborhood. Good. Now I know where to go borrow a backhoe should I ever need one!
We're pretty well set around here now. We were missing a backhoe and a road grader. I'm still looking for a grader. One of those Allis or Farmall (uh, oh. Bad words around here) ones that are modified farm tractors would do.
It's not that hard of a road to maintain. Heck, I do OK now with the 420 cutting the ditches once a year and the M with tin blade and stone rake the rest of the time.
But, something with the blade in the center would make the job easier.
Later!
Stan