555A SN and general info

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ngilles
420 crawler
420 crawler
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:47 am
Location: Western WI

555A SN and general info

Post by ngilles » Mon Aug 27, 2018 6:10 am

Good Morning All,
I'm looking at buying a 555A crawler loader and trying to find more info. Seller claims it's a 1984. It has 3200 hours on it. I would estimate UC at 50%. I plan to use it to clear fencelines, build trails, grub out stumps etc. Probably less than 100 hours a year. I have a few questions.

1) The SN tag is hard to read. I believe it says 555A 372133T I can't seem to find a SN reference chart for the 555A's online. Can anyone help with that?

2) I've been doing quite a bit of reading on this forum and having a transmission pressure gauge seems to be the best way to see how the torque converter is performing. This machine has one but a few of the gauges have been broken from years past and the trans pressure is one of them. Dealbreaker? Would you walk away and look for another one? Shifts from fwd to rev and back are smooth as well as 1,2,3

3) I did cold startup, engine cracks right off, little smoke. Has a broken "ear" on the front bolt of the exhaust manifold so it's quite loud. Other than that the engine sounds great. Owner has replacement manifold and gasket set.

4) I want to avoid the grease gun driven track adjuster blowout problem others have spoken about. Can anyone tell me what the max pushed out length of the track adjusters would be so I can tell how close it is?

5) Does a 555A of this vintage have dry or wet turning brakes? These seem to be in good working order on the test drive. Just wondering for future maint. work.

I'm sorry for so many questions! New owner pretty serious about buying. I know crawlers are expensive and am willing to do the work, just want to avoid the big problems on initial purchase if I can.

Thanks very much for your help,
Nick in WI
JD 555 "Triple Nickel" (straight 555) Trackloader
Lx565 New Holland Skid Loader
D14 Allis Chalmers 1959

B Town
350 crawler
350 crawler
Posts: 752
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:04 pm
Location: Western Iowa

Re: 555A SN and general info

Post by B Town » Mon Aug 27, 2018 8:44 am

Good morning Nick,

Welcome to the Deere Crawler site. Stan has serial numbers listed for different models in the "John Deere crawler FAQ's" section. If you go to the main page select the FAQ section, the triple nickel serial number section is about 10 or 12 threads down. It appears your crawler is a 1981 according to those serial number breaks.

Yes, your steering clutches are the "wet" type.

Best regards,

ngilles
420 crawler
420 crawler
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:47 am
Location: Western WI

Re: 555A SN and general info

Post by ngilles » Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:48 am

Hi B Town
Thanks for your reply! I had looked at the FAQ's again and did see that thread for the 550's (550 through 550G) that you mentioned, but couldn't find a thread for the 555's. Did I miss something? Sorry for sounding like such a newb! :(

In searching the web for John Deere production numbers I came up with this chart showing that the 555A was only produced in 83 & 84 so I'm still looking to clarify they year. I suppose it doesn't matter so much as long as I have the SN when going for parts. Here's a link to the chart I found.
https://jdauthc.deere.com/en_US/docs/co ... istory.pdf

Thanks for the wet brakes info! I'm glad as it sounds like they last a little longer.

Have a great day!
Nick
JD 555 "Triple Nickel" (straight 555) Trackloader
Lx565 New Holland Skid Loader
D14 Allis Chalmers 1959

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Stan Disbrow
350 crawler
350 crawler
Posts: 2894
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:13 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: 555A SN and general info

Post by Stan Disbrow » Tue Aug 28, 2018 6:27 am

Hi,

For a long time, they offered a bare crawler and so the machine model went with that. Dozers and loaders had their own model numbers. At some point, they dropped the bare crawler and one had to choose between a dozer or a loader machine. They then changed the machine model. The '0' was a dozer and the '5' was the loader. As in 450 vs 455 and, in your case, 550 vs 555. The serial numbers were sequential regardless.

So, look up your serial number in the 550 list for the 555.

And, oddly, the 550/555 was the only crawler to get an 'A' desgination that I know of. The others used no letter for the first series (which we refer to as 'straight') and the first letter to appear was a 'B' for the second series.

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

ngilles
420 crawler
420 crawler
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:47 am
Location: Western WI

Re: 555A SN and general info

Post by ngilles » Wed Aug 29, 2018 4:20 am

Thanks for clarifying Stan! Good info to know. I think I found a great resource for info for the machine! Have great day all!
JD 555 "Triple Nickel" (straight 555) Trackloader
Lx565 New Holland Skid Loader
D14 Allis Chalmers 1959

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