Dead John Deere 855

Welder Dave said: I mentioned sprockets because they are pretty pointed. Click to expand... They have a lot left in them for it it’s used for but I appreciate the heads up. They are worn for sure. But those pictures make them look a little worse than they are.

I don't know how active this sub is, but I have an 855 that's been in the family for 30 years. Hasn't moved in about 10, but was parked just because we didn't use it anymore. Has 1200 hours on it, what are y'alls thoughts?? View attachment IMG_4924.jpeg

NC_JD855 said: I don't know how active this sub is, but I have an 855 that's been in the family for 30 years. Hasn't moved in about 10, but was parked just because we didn't use it anymore. Has 1200 hours on it, what are y'alls thoughts?? View attachment 361808 Click to expand... Looks to be a pretty decent machine. (As far as undercarriage looks). They are good machines when everything is right. They expensive machines when it’s not right lol. Edit…also a pain in the rear when they aren’t right.

NC_JD855 said: I don't know how active this sub is, but I have an 855 that's been in the family for 30 years. Hasn't moved in about 10, but was parked just because we didn't use it anymore. Has 1200 hours on it, what are y'alls thoughts?? View attachment 361808 Click to expand... It looks in pretty poor shape for only 1200 hours. I'd guess the hour meter gas gone around once and it has12,000 hours. The tracks also shouldn't be so loose for extremely low hours. Are you using the forum to try and sell it? If so you need to read the forum rules.

NC_JD855 said: I don't know how active this sub is, but I have an 855 that's been in the family for 30 years. Hasn't moved in about 10, but was parked just because we didn't use it anymore. Has 1200 hours on it, what are y'alls thoughts?? View attachment 361808 Click to expand... It doesn’t look too bad from what you can see in the photo. I would give it a try and see if you can get it going. Very strong, smooth operating machine if everything is working as it should. Where are you located in NC?

While the undercarriage looks to be good the bucket is showing more wear than 1200 hours. Looks to have good potential for a working machine.

A wise man once told me if the pins are held by 7018 one must run. Fast and far away. Unless your getting paid to fix it!

The hyd. hoses look in pretty poor shape too. There's no way that 855 has only 1200 hours. Maybe he was hoping to try and sell it on the forum? 855's were very powerful loaders but astronomical in price if you had to fix a major component. My former had a few for demolition but I think they all ended up being scrapped.

655/755/855 series was dead when they hit the market Komatsu/Japanese excavator made the crawler obsolete

No, they were fairly popular which was kind of their downfall. They proved the increased production of hydrostatic drive. So much so that Cat went hydrostatic drive and rear engine. Some people thought the JD's were superior to Cat's but Cat has a lot more followers and the rear engine gives much better visibility. JCB had a rear engine hydrostatic loader even earlier but they they never caught on. Not sure when Liebherr came out with a hydrostatic loader? JD was in 1976.

Cat was behind everyone no machine is new hi drive was done with farm crawlers from start it was of waste u/c like Cats 2017 D7e throw back & rear engine loaders in 50s with Hough & Eimco. Cat copy Eimco crawler loader arm design in the 60s with the 955

Lots of good info guys. That early hystat isn’t anything special on them. Now days maybe. But these old 55 series Deere cost more than they are worth to fix on the hystat side of things. My 855 will not push with my d6r and it’s got another 10k pounds on it. According to gauges everything is in spec…….. Not knocking ether one. Just stating my experience and deere does not sell but a hand full of parts at most for the 855s. while cat sells most every part I’ve ever needed for any of the old ones. I can’t even buy a dang front idler for mine or even a roller. Leibherr built the Deere track loaders from the b series untill the j or k series. ( I think). Not sure on exact series but I know they built them for Deere for many years.

Understand 55 series were prototypes rushed out for a market disappearing like Cat 863 no reason to carry on next gen. Only seen 2 clean ex Navy 855 in junk yard no dealer support long time ago.

Deere 605 was home built & the 655 up was liebherr

Late 70s/80s Komatsu was king with a 7yd 155 crawler loader

screamincat said: Leibherr built the Deere track loaders from the b series untill the j or k series. Click to expand... Liebherr built the "C" series crawler loader and the 950/1050 C dozer. They became a Deere machine with the "K" series. No letter designation was built in between. All the dozers 850 size and down were always Deere. Easiest way to tell is by the serial number. If it begins with "1T0", it is a Deere. If it begins with an "LU", it is a Liebherr.

As was mentioned the Deere 55 series A and B were well regarded machines when they were in good shape. If they weren't looked after and/or got high hours the cost of parts and repairs was astronomical. That really contributed to their downfall and when Cat came out with rear engine hydrostats with improved visibility and better parts support, it really put the nails in the coffin for JD loaders.

Aside from parting this machine out I don't suggest buying it. It is not feasible to consider running it. The 855 was a beast in its day but JD never made that many of them. The engine should be pretty easy to sell and the transmissions will work in an 850 or early 850b but would have to be resealed at least.

Deere500a said: Late 70s/80s Komatsu was king with a 7yd 155 crawler loader View attachment 361853 Click to expand... They were too heavy and hard on undercarriage components even more so than the Cat 983. Both models had a pretty short lifespan.

Welder Dave said: It looks in pretty poor shape for only 1200 hours. I'd guess the hour meter gas gone around once and it has12,000 hours. The tracks also shouldn't be so loose for extremely low hours. Are you using the forum to try and sell it? If so you need to read the forum rules. Click to expand... No not tryin to sell. Just chiming into the conversation. We have been busy, but I put a new set of batteries in it and she fired right up. Going to need to rebuild the main cylinders since she was squirting fluid as I leveled out the bucket. But she’s alive!! Here’s a still shot from the first second it cranked. I’m very surprised at how smoothly it ran for being abandoned for 20 years.