Fixing Backhoe/Tractors - Anyone??

[Breadfan]

So, I know someone with a '77 Ford 555 Backhoe. It's old, and was running fine up until about a year ago.

Sometime last year something happened to it, so when the key is turned absolutely nothing happens. The battery has juice, and should do *something*. We have a big battery charger too.

Tried jumping the battery straight to the starter, but it would not do anything.

By nothing I mean no clicks, no movement, just silence.

So we want to troubleshoot it, but the BIG problem is that the front boom is lowered. It's covering the side access panels to the engine, making it virtually impossible to work on the engine.

Without access to heavy equipment how would one raise the boom to get access to the engine bay? Or is this a case of "call a repairman"?

I took a look at it last weekend and that has been going through my head all week. Makes me wonder if heavy equipment repairmen have an auxiliary hydraulic pump they use to move stuff in the event of an engine failure...

[Zack]

Starter solenoid

[Breadfan]

Starter solenoid
Thanks Zack!

I have to check again but thought the solenoid was seperate from the starter. If it is seperate, don't we bypass it by jumping straight from the battery to the starter motor?

[69marquis conv]

If you disconnected one or both of the hydraulic lines to either the upper or lower boom you should be able to move it manually with a relative amount of force. Certainly, you would need more than human strength to do it, but it would eliminate having to fight the cylinder(s) under pressure. I don't know how large a 555 is, but if there was no counter-force in the cylinder(s), would an engine crane lift the boom out of the way so you could gain access to the engine & starter?
Be ready with a few buckets to catch the fluid!

[Tallboy]

The first thing I'd do is look at the starter/soleniod, as Zack suggested.

As far as the hydrualic lift cylinder is concerned, you have two options. 1. Get an auxilliary hydraulic pump with a reservoir. Disconnect the lines and hook 'em up to the pump-away you go. 2. Disconnect both lines and let all the fluid drain out. Remove the "supply" line, which should attach to an anodized aluminum block with an o-ring port, or , most commonly, a 37 degree inverted flare JIC fitting. Using an air compressor [a stout one] and a rubber tipped blow-gun, hammer as much air into the cylider as it will take, this should fully extend the chrome rod. You will then have to find a means to support the boom while further diagnosis occurs.

[Blackened300a]

Thanks Zack!

I have to check again but thought the solenoid was seperate from the starter. If it is seperate, don't we bypass it by jumping straight from the battery to the starter motor?

The Solenoid has three contacts, 2 large that go from the battery to your starter and one small from the key switch, use a pair of pliers and touch both large contacts and if the key switch is bad or if the solenoid is bad, this will do the trick. It sounds like a bad key switch, this trick will bypass it, Just make sure the tractor is in neutral!!!

We do this all the time to Macks that has no key or if the keyswitch/solenoid goes bad just to get it running.

[GarageMahal]

So, I know someone with a '77 Ford 555 Backhoe. It's old, and was running fine up until about a year ago.

Sometime last year something happened to it, so when the key is turned absolutely nothing happens. The battery has juice, and should do *something*. We have a big battery charger too.

Tried jumping the battery straight to the starter, but it would not do anything.

By nothing I mean no clicks, no movement, just silence.

So we want to troubleshoot it, but the BIG problem is that the front boom is lowered. It's covering the side access panels to the engine, making it virtually impossible to work on the engine.

Without access to heavy equipment how would one raise the boom to get access to the engine bay? Or is this a case of "call a repairman"?

I took a look at it last weekend and that has been going through my head all week. Makes me wonder if heavy equipment repairmen have an auxiliary hydraulic pump they use to move stuff in the event of an engine failure...


When you jumped power directly to the starter did you use the positive or negative cable end? I'm don't know if this Ford of yours is positive ground but I know my old International is which can cause some confusion when troubleshooting electrical problems. Also check the ground cable, I can't count the number of times I wish I checked that first...

Good luck,
jta

P.S. '77 is not old for a tractor ;) My '53 is just broke in :)

[Breadfan]

Wow thanks for the tips guys! This is great info, I'll get to take another crack at this in a week or so. :)

I still love the wrench set that came with it, the smallest wrench in that set is 1". A 3" box-end wrench that's nearly 3 feet long is a pretty cool piece of metal!

We'll do what we can with boom down, you can get to some things in it's current state. Thanks for hte tips on raising it if it comes to that.

[Breadfan]

Thought I'd ressurrect this thread, we didn't do much with the backhoe during the winter due to the cold weather.

Since it was so nice out this weekend, we decided to go out and take a look.

What we found was a bad keyswitch, and by jumping one of the wires to the solenoid we are able to get it to crank.

It's sat for nearly 2 years and had some diesel in the tank still. When we got it to crank it started in 3 turns of the motor!

Pulled it out, cleaned it up a bit, checked the fluids, and drove it around a few hours.

:banana:

[Mike Poore]

That's cool, Mike. It's hard to kill one of those things. BTW, about the boom? You can lift/move it with a hoist, or lift, by opening the actuating valve (pull the lever) first. That allows the hydraulic fluid to move freely through the valves. :)

[ckadiddle]

Yay. Happy end to the story!