Ford 753 backhoe interchangeability

[Nate7600]

I have a Ford 3500 TLB with a 753 hoe. I have read some articles that claim this hoe can be mounted on other Ford tractors, notably 4400, 4500, 5500, 5550 and even the 550.
This mounts on the 3500 with a subframe.

I doubt that I can simply move this from the 3500 to another tractor without interface issues.
Does anyone know if this can be mounted on any of the above tractors and what additional subframes or other interface pieces may be required.
Also would there be an issue with connecting the hydraulics?

 

[Sean in PA]

The subframe for that tractor mounts to the rear axle and to a bracket that goes around the nose of the tractor. The parts site only lists one part number for the subframe, so whichever tractors it might fit on, the subframe itself is the same.

I don't think that the subframe from a 735 would fit on a 5500 or 5550 because those are longer front-to-back due to having 4 cylinder engines vs. 3 cylinder engines on the rest.

The mount at the rear axle would be the same for all of the models that you listed, except for possibly the 3500, as the 3500 had the smaller axle trumpets with the dry outboard brakes. All of the others had the rear axle with the double reduction gears and the inboard wet brakes, and I believe that the outside dimensions of those axle trumpets, where the U-bolt would connect, are larger. They list two different U-boltss, so my guess is that there are holes in the subframe to accommodate both size axle trumpets.

The front brackets would need to be different for various models of tractor as well. The 3500 has the same front bolster and axle setup as the 4400, so the front bracket should be a direct swap over to a 4400. The 4500 has a different, heavier duty bolster and front axle than the 3500 & 4400, so the front bracket would need to be different for the 4500.

As I said above the 5500 & 5550 were longer, but it is possible that they made a different front brackets for those that was longer to work with the 753's subframe. They do list part numbers for 3 different front brackets, so maybe one is for the 3500 & 4400, one is for the 4500 and the third is for the 5500 & 5550.

Another model that it might swap to is the 3550, which was basically a 3500 with the heavier duty rear axle of the 4000 series, so it should be identical to the 4400 in terms of the mounting points.

 

[Fordfarmer]

I believe the 753 hoe was listed as
fitting several models... I'll have to
check my sales literature when I get home.
I think it would just be the backhoe that
gets moved... the subframe and/or mounting
points stay with the tractor.

 

[UPFord]

On my 4500, the backhoe mounting points were an integral part of the loader frame.

 

[Sean in PA]

(quoted from post at 11:51:08 10/07/23) I believe the 753 hoe was listed as
fitting several models... I'll have to
check my sales literature when I get home.
I think it would just be the backhoe that
gets moved... the subframe and/or mounting
points stay with the tractor.

Some were sold with just a loader and had no subframe for a backhoe. I'm pretty sure I've seen both 4400s and 4500s configured that way.