How to Find the Year of a Ford 555B Backhoe

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Things You'll Need

  • Pencil

  • Paper

The year of your backhoe is apparent in its unit number.

The Ford 555B backhoe has the kind of frame that lets you move dirt, grass and other raw materials with ease. The front loading shovel can lift and carry, while the back arm shovel claw can do that as well as being capable of digging into the ground for construction and building. You can find the specific information about your backhoe, such as the year it was made, right next to the steering wheel.

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Step 1

Get into your backhoe and find the tag next to your steering wheel bearing all of the backhoe's printed information.

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Step 2

Find the "Unit" number, which is a five-digit combination of letters and numbers; a sample "Unit" number is "8c06c." Write the number down with pencil and paper.

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Step 3

Use the date code information from the Ford 555 repair manual to determine the year. In this example from your resource, the "8" digit stands for "1988," the first "c" digit is "March," the "06" digits are the day of the month the backhoe was built, and the second "c" digit means it was finished in the afternoon shift. Write down the date and shift for future reference.

Tip

Use this guide for determining your five-digit Unit number's year information: The first digit is the year; "4" is "1984," "5" is "1985," "6" is "1986," "7" is "1987," "8" is "1988," and "9" is "1989." The second digit is the month; "A" is "January," "B" is "February," "C" is "March," "D" is "April," "E" is "May," "F" is "June," "G" is "July," "H" is "August," "J" is "September," "K" is "October," "L" is "November," and "M" is "December." Note that the letter "I" is not used. The third and fourth digits are the day of the month when it was made; "01" is the first day of the month, "02" is the second day of the month, "03" is the third day of the month, and this continues all the way through "31." The fifth, and final digit, is the time shift when it was made: "A" is Midnight shift, "B" is Day shift and "C" is Afternoon shift.

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