I know there are a few guys here (Skipped_Link) that have them. My knowledge is very limited and one popped up for $6500 when I was out of state. It's gone now of course, but what are the desirable years and features? They look to be a handy size and if another pops up, which is extremely unlikely here, I'd like to snag it. Obviously price is a little different where I'm at and we pay a premium, so I won't be getting arse_sidewards mill like deals, but what should I look for or steer clear of?
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Hough wheel loaders
- Thread starter AK_F250
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arse_sidewards
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What model?
I wouldn't pay $6500 for mine but I also don't live in AK.
They're just normal front end loaders of their era. The small old ones are built like reversed tractors and fork lifts. You get a larger one and they have four wheel drive and as they get newer you go from rear steer to articulated. Skid steers pretty quickly replaced the small ones so you won't find small ones that aren't old.
What everyone said about spending just as much time getting mine un-stuck as using it is true. I'm sure the tiny solid rear tires with a counterweight on top aren't helping.
Unless you have almost exclusively pavement and hard pack like me I would hold out for a 4wd machine or an antiquated skid steer like 486 has. A lot of the older skid steers are ~20hp and the HF predator can be made to work.
I wouldn't pay $6500 for mine but I also don't live in AK.
They're just normal front end loaders of their era. The small old ones are built like reversed tractors and fork lifts. You get a larger one and they have four wheel drive and as they get newer you go from rear steer to articulated. Skid steers pretty quickly replaced the small ones so you won't find small ones that aren't old.
What everyone said about spending just as much time getting mine un-stuck as using it is true. I'm sure the tiny solid rear tires with a counterweight on top aren't helping.
Unless you have almost exclusively pavement and hard pack like me I would hold out for a 4wd machine or an antiquated skid steer like 486 has. A lot of the older skid steers are ~20hp and the HF predator can be made to work.
I should have stated the purpose. I have a cat 257d for skid loader duty, but it lives at the cabin most of the summer and I'd like a beater that can move dirt or pick up something heavy on the occasion that I need it to be there. Nothing worse than a small 15 minute project that's a 6 hour round trip to get the equipment to finish. I have an oliver track loader but that fucking thing tears up everything within sight and it's not worth the convenience when the cleanup takes an hour. I have a deere mini kicking around at the house most of the time too but it cant pick as much as I'd like. I mainly want the damn thing to start and work when I need it which is why I'm asking about the good, bad and ugly.
The one that popped up for sale was the reverse design that you're talking about so I'd assume 2wd. That would be fine for my needs though, it would all be flatish work on D1 or grass.
The one that popped up for sale was the reverse design that you're talking about so I'd assume 2wd. That would be fine for my needs though, it would all be flatish work on D1 or grass.
arse_sidewards
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I'm not sure it would actually be better than the track loader on grass. Mine leaves pretty substantial ruts anywhere it goes and if you try and turn hard you sink and then you wind up fucking around and after that you've torn up the grass just as much as you would with a track loader turning in place.
Maintenance is dependent on the life it's lived like any other 50-70yo piece of equipment. I had very good luck with mine being in good running condition. I've done a few hoses, complete re-wire (like 5 wires, lol), ignition tune up, re-broached the pump coupling and a starter.
These things are not digging machines. They are material handling machines. It would be fine scooping bulk material from piles on a warehouse floor. You basically have to hit a pile at speed to get a bucket then curl to break it out. You can't push into a pile. I'm paraphrasing the operator's manual here.
If you already have a small tractor I would put a spade nose and some teeth on the bucket for digging and cobble a forklift mast onto the rear for lifting.
Maintenance is dependent on the life it's lived like any other 50-70yo piece of equipment. I had very good luck with mine being in good running condition. I've done a few hoses, complete re-wire (like 5 wires, lol), ignition tune up, re-broached the pump coupling and a starter.
These things are not digging machines. They are material handling machines. It would be fine scooping bulk material from piles on a warehouse floor. You basically have to hit a pile at speed to get a bucket then curl to break it out. You can't push into a pile. I'm paraphrasing the operator's manual here.
If you already have a small tractor I would put a spade nose and some teeth on the bucket for digging and cobble a forklift mast onto the rear for lifting.
Skipped_Link
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Sounds like you have or have access to much better & newer machines, which is good, since you can gather that up for a big project,
So are you looking for a classic machine for just the old/kind of neat factor? or just the fact it'll do a good enough job in a pinch & don't want to buy another $40k skid steer to have one at each property?
Either way, as arse_ said, the front wheel drive machines, (HA, H25, HAH, etc) are pretty useless for digging, with a little talent you could get buy using one for cleanup/top scraping, or as mentioned, running into a pile & moving it around to different locations, (would beat the shit out of a wheel barrow & shovel for spreading out a gravel pile)
You mentioned lifting stuff, My little HA with forks will barely pick a 12-1500lb hay bail onto a low slung trailer, & it's pretty sketchy doing that, I From what I've seen the later HA & H25 will do a little more, maybe handle 1500lbs more comfortably,
Steer clear of the early HA (pre '51 or '52) they had a bucket trip mechanism rather than hydraulics for dumping the bucket, at least '53-up had hydraulics, then even later in the 50's-early 60's the reconfigured the arm/bucket tilt arrangement, at that time they also had "down pressure" which is useless on a front wheel drive machine,
Somewhere in the H25 lineup they switched to hydrostatic drive, not sure how you feel about that, but thought it was worth noting,
Next step in size would be an HAH, it would suffer the same pitfalls as the HA, with the exception if bigger rubber all the way around so they do get around better off the hard pack. Mine is still tricky trying to get a full bucket while scraping/digging, but it is a bit better that the little machine just cause is has a little more weight behind it,
I also think once I get a set of forks on this machine it will pick considerably more weight than the little one, maybe closer to 2k lbs,
The only other Hough machines I have experience with would be the next size up form the HAH, & that would be an HF, this is still a 2wd machine, front steer, rear wheel drive, I think this would be a much better machine for doing any dirt work, since you're not lifting the drive tires off the ground,
The down side is they are getting to be pretty good sized, (roughly 12,000 lbs) at this point a guy could just keep an eye out for an old back-ho, or 4wd machine.
So are you looking for a classic machine for just the old/kind of neat factor? or just the fact it'll do a good enough job in a pinch & don't want to buy another $40k skid steer to have one at each property?
Either way, as arse_ said, the front wheel drive machines, (HA, H25, HAH, etc) are pretty useless for digging, with a little talent you could get buy using one for cleanup/top scraping, or as mentioned, running into a pile & moving it around to different locations, (would beat the shit out of a wheel barrow & shovel for spreading out a gravel pile)
You mentioned lifting stuff, My little HA with forks will barely pick a 12-1500lb hay bail onto a low slung trailer, & it's pretty sketchy doing that, I From what I've seen the later HA & H25 will do a little more, maybe handle 1500lbs more comfortably,
Steer clear of the early HA (pre '51 or '52) they had a bucket trip mechanism rather than hydraulics for dumping the bucket, at least '53-up had hydraulics, then even later in the 50's-early 60's the reconfigured the arm/bucket tilt arrangement, at that time they also had "down pressure" which is useless on a front wheel drive machine,
Somewhere in the H25 lineup they switched to hydrostatic drive, not sure how you feel about that, but thought it was worth noting,
Next step in size would be an HAH, it would suffer the same pitfalls as the HA, with the exception if bigger rubber all the way around so they do get around better off the hard pack. Mine is still tricky trying to get a full bucket while scraping/digging, but it is a bit better that the little machine just cause is has a little more weight behind it,
I also think once I get a set of forks on this machine it will pick considerably more weight than the little one, maybe closer to 2k lbs,
The only other Hough machines I have experience with would be the next size up form the HAH, & that would be an HF, this is still a 2wd machine, front steer, rear wheel drive, I think this would be a much better machine for doing any dirt work, since you're not lifting the drive tires off the ground,
The down side is they are getting to be pretty good sized, (roughly 12,000 lbs) at this point a guy could just keep an eye out for an old back-ho, or 4wd machine.
arse_sidewards
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I'm kinda hoping my lift cylinders start leaking so I have a good excuse to replace them with something 2" wider since there's plenty of room on the H25 which should nearly double the lifting capacity at the expense of speed.
Of course it takes 2+wk to leak down if I leave the bucket raised so there's nearly zero chance of that happening anytime soon.
I disagree that having down pressure is useless. Being able to hit shit with the weight of the machine is nice. Also power down is much slower/more controlled than gravity down which is nice on small machines that spend a lot of time doing forklift tasks. Obviously this is a non-consideration for OP since this isn't his only machine.
Of course it takes 2+wk to leak down if I leave the bucket raised so there's nearly zero chance of that happening anytime soon.
I disagree that having down pressure is useless. Being able to hit shit with the weight of the machine is nice. Also power down is much slower/more controlled than gravity down which is nice on small machines that spend a lot of time doing forklift tasks. Obviously this is a non-consideration for OP since this isn't his only machine.
Probably 10% old cool factor and 90% convenience on the rare occasion I need it. The equipment premium here is insane, that 40k will get you something 10-20 years old that's been run hard and put away wet by a contractor. There's an 01 case 1840 listed now for 20k and they'll probably get it. If I can pick something halfway useful up for a quarter of that I'd be happy.
Thank you both for the info, that gives me an idea of what I'm looking at if one does come up for sale again.
Dethmachinefab
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Try searching for old case w series machines. Much better loader, still find parts, and seem to be priced low.
These are w7's.
These are w7's.
Funny enough we still have a W9 kicking around that was on snow duty until I scored a dot grader for next to nothing at auction. I guess I should have led off by saying that I have no shortage of equipment since dad and I have a problem with dragging worn out iron home to retire on the 160 acre homestead, but I live in the burbs on a half acre, so I need something small. A 580 is pushing the limits of anything useful around the house, and already having a mini on hand that's why the little hough or similar is appealing.
arse_sidewards
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The cable lift bulldozer is cool.
The dozer in the last picture was grandpas in the 50s and 60s, he used it to build many a road and clear homesteads. Happened to spot it on craigslist about 10 years ago, pretty damn cool to own it again. The letourneau scraper that goes with it is in the stand of trees right behind it with 1' birch growing out of the belly. Someday I'll dig that out and get it working again.