eBay/Craigslist Bought a Ford 3000 Diesel Today off Craigslist

[Gale Hawkins]

The shop where I took the 3000 Ford called so the son and I when by first thing Sat morning to see what the guy had to show us that he found.

All was good with the axle he had out after he removed the bearing. He had both rear wheels off and just the drum removed on the left side. The brake shoes look new but need to be replaced due to being oil soaked for years. He is going to order the new bearings, inner/outer seals and new brake shoes. He talked through the steps to mount and set the preload on the new bearings. He has had the 3000 for less than a week when we visited the shop at his invite on Saturday. He is going to inspect for oil in the bell housing next and we will address that if there is any. Today seems to be the last day of summer finally so I am in no rush for the Ford so I want to only have to deal with external issues in the driveway. He said the 3000 looks and sounds very nice and shows little wear to be 51 years old so I expect the tractor must have been retired from more field work long ago. I am excited to get brakes that will lock up and turn on a dime.

Friday I talked with the local shop that has had the 265 MF since Aug for fuel line and power steering leaks. I was told it would be a month before they would get it into the shop but they have had repeated delays. I had told them to forget changing the UTF so they could get it back faster. Friday they were waiting for the hydraulic oil filter to come in then so they could change the UTF they said it should be good to go. Hey they are handy for parts and stuff at least. There is another 3-4 man shop that are good on old iron as well so for service work if needed in the future we have better and the 5 mile away shop.

 

[Steave]

I haven't had a chance to start my brake work on the 3000 yet. I forgot how to drive with having brakes so I'll have to learn all over. When I had it apart to install the inner seal on the axle I went by the specs in my repair manual for the adjusting the end play of the axle using a dial indicator. I was surprised at how little wear there was. It adjust using shims but will have to familiarize myself on that part.

Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress. The ole fords are hard to kill and I still use mine what it was intended for. Plowing, discing, planting, cultivating, brush cutting,.....etc. It lives outside with a rubber mat covering the instrument panel and seat and shows it but still works.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have not driven the 3000 but the shop owner said he got the tractor back together with strong brakes now. It has a power steering line leaking so I told him to fix it while it's still at the shop then I will test drive it.

At his suggestion we went back all new OEM parts from the local New Holland dealership. He placed the order which I paid by credit card and he picked up the parts as he requested. Parts only were about $1050 but he did turn the drums and reuse them.

He said the rear main seal and front transmission seals were still not leak.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Went by and paid New Holland dealer for a few more parts like a fuel shut off, etc and picked up a copy for the $1K round of parts. It was the new locking nuts that drove up the price so much. An online dealer had them for $172 each and I only had to pay $320 for both so there was some savings at the local dealer.

Official New Holland Online Parts Store and Online Parts Catalog for New Holland and Ford Tractors.

I did save $700 by going with an aftermarket electrical wiring harness since I got the new one for what just the sales tax would have ran on an OEM harness.
While it is there I decided to let him install the new wiring harness, generator and voltage regulator as well to get the indicator lights all working and to dry up some fuel and power steering seeps.

Today he did loan me his set of bushing drivers so I can knock out and replace the 8 bronze bushings on the gauge wheels on the BUSH HOG RDTH84 finish mower. I hope we have a few nice days soon.

 

[Jstpssng]

I'm looking forward to seeing this when you get it all completed.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Just read all six pages. Enjoyable read so I subscribed.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I guess it will look about the same since most of the work is internal but it has to have great brakes and the safety neutral switch working before I start teaching my daughter how to drive and use it.

While it is a 51 year old tractor it is just a tad larger than the 800's I grew up driving. Not sure that I will find one but I may look for a 711 Ford FEL but most have been scraped or should have been scraped. The JD B310 backhoe is just to long and wide to work in the horse lot to level with dirt, sand or handle a bale of hay. I would not keep it on the tractor much but would like a simple way to lift small light loads. It has a two way valve already on the tractor so a trip bucket would be the most simple but I would miss the control a two way bucket offers. I expect finding the mounting hardware would be a bear.

During the mowing season I will just keep the 7 foot finish mower on most of the time.

I will get it cleaned up again when I get it home and get some photos again. I noticed it is beading water well yesterday.

 

[fried1765]

Went by and paid New Holland dealer for a few more parts like a fuel shut off, etc and picked up a copy for the $1K round of parts. It was the new locking nuts that drove up the price so much. An online dealer had them for $172 each and I only had to pay $320 for both so there was some savings at the local dealer.

Official New Holland Online Parts Store and Online Parts Catalog for New Holland and Ford Tractors.

I did save $700 by going with an aftermarket electrical wiring harness since I got the new one for what just the sales tax would have ran on an OEM harness.
While it is there I decided to let him install the new wiring harness, generator and voltage regulator as well to get the indicator lights all working and to dry up some fuel and power steering seeps.

Today he did loan me his set of bushing drivers so I can knock out and replace the 8 bronze bushings on the gauge wheels on the BUSH HOG RDTH84 finish mower. I hope we have a few nice days soon.

The axle wheel bearing (?) lock nuts were $160 each from the dealer?
Wow !!!
I bought one on line last year for some $ number (I don't recall exact amount) way less than that.
My problem was finding the right large socket, without modifying one from my set.
I bought a cheap socket on line, and cut the center out of it to slide over the axle. Worked great!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The axle wheel bearing (?) lock nuts were $160 each from the dealer?
Wow !!!
I bought one on line last year for some $ number (I don't recall exact amount) way less than that.
My problem was finding the right large socket, without modifying one from my set.
I bought a cheap socket on line, and cut the center out of it to slide over the axle. Worked great!

I am sure there are other options but since several people have reported oil seal failure after a few few years the the guy seems to know his stuff I just run with his advice on parts and thankfully the labor is not as much. It is for my daughter so I am hoping it will be good for another 40-50 years.

Now I am looking at 711 and 722 single arm FEL options. They are so dated (you can see the 1965 date on the parts manual that is on eBay) many seem to have been scraped by now. I can see the advantage of a curling bucket (722) but I only have two remotes at this time (seem to be factory) so I would have to come up with and option for the single action lift arm. The 711 is a more clean option. It would be cool to find a nice one with all of the attachments. Because our 3 cylinder engine the 3.5 inch depth at the main pin box does not seem as common as the 5" for the 4 cylinder Fords.

Ford Farm Tractor Loader Series 711 722 Parts Book Jan 1965 PA9231 & supplement | eBay


We have the big backhoe but working with the mini horses it would be nice to have the narrow bucket to get into the horse run-ins from time to time and little jobs were we did not want to mess with the heavy backhoe.

How is your brake job holding up? I really want this to be the last time forever. Well I expect during its next 51 years it will only see 5%-10% of the hours of the first 51 years.

 

[Soundguy]

I have an 850 with a 722 loader and woods backhoe. it's cumbersome to drive, but nice.

If you have 2 remotes, you can run the curl and lift cyl.