Truro411
New member
Hi all. Love the forum!
I'm looking to upgrade from the beat up 8N I own and have spotted a Ford 3000 at the local dealer here in New Brunswick. Could use some advice on things to check and what you all think of the pricing.
The unit has been sitting on the lot since last summer. It's a '74 diesel 8 spd with live pto, diff lock and the remote hydraulics on the rear. It has 4800+ hours with half decent tires showing some weather cracking in the center of the tread. Rims are a little rusty, especially around one tire valve. I believe they are filled with calcium.
When I stopped by early last week it would not turn over - idiot lights but no solenoid click, nothing. They had a mechanic out from the main shop and he replaced the voltage regulator and the battery, according to the salesman. When I arrived about 4 hours later it was cold (as cold as a mid June is here in Canada - about 68F that day, so not very). It turned over and started right up. On start up there was no smoke. It ran smooth and steady. It shutdown cleanly and started right up several times after driving around for a while.
Things I checked:
Looked everywhere for leaks, including the ground around where it sat. It's been in the same spot for a long time and no sign of any leaks. There are some "wet spots" on the chassis but no dripping.
I ran the RPMs up to about 15-1600 and let the clutch out slowly in 8th with the brakes on and it stalled out. Same thing in 2nd bogged the engine down and it moved begrudgingly. So, seems clutch and brakes are in ok shape.
All I could really do to check the PTO was engage and disengage it. There was no grinding with the clutch in when I engaged the PTO lever. It spun up when I let the clutch out and came to a fairly quick stop when I engaged the clutch again. Best guess is the clutch is not stuck, no idea of the shape of it.
Same story with the 3pt...not much to check it with. When I arrived it was up so I assume it is not in bad enough shape to fall on its own - not really a test. I put my 280lb frame on it and it did not budge with the engine off. I did rise and fall smoothly and quietly with the position control.
It drove smooth in several gears, forward and reverse, low and high range. No clunks, or whines, or shimmies. The only thing odd was the diff lock. I engaged it and sort of expected to be able to feel it trying to turn with it locked but there was no difference...not too sure on this one.
In my opinion it's in fairly good shape for a 74. I'm just not sure about the price. On first visit they told me $4000. So when I went back and they had it running we haggled a bit with me at 3k and them holding strong at 4k. We ended up at 4k taxes in (13%, so actual price about $3550). I was thinking going into this I'd be willing to spend about $3500.
What do you guys think? Am I lowballing this guy or is 4k about right?
I'm taking a run in tomorrow to see if we can chisel a few dollars off. Anything else you guys can think of that I can look for in such a limited scenario?
Pics below:
I'm looking to upgrade from the beat up 8N I own and have spotted a Ford 3000 at the local dealer here in New Brunswick. Could use some advice on things to check and what you all think of the pricing.
The unit has been sitting on the lot since last summer. It's a '74 diesel 8 spd with live pto, diff lock and the remote hydraulics on the rear. It has 4800+ hours with half decent tires showing some weather cracking in the center of the tread. Rims are a little rusty, especially around one tire valve. I believe they are filled with calcium.
When I stopped by early last week it would not turn over - idiot lights but no solenoid click, nothing. They had a mechanic out from the main shop and he replaced the voltage regulator and the battery, according to the salesman. When I arrived about 4 hours later it was cold (as cold as a mid June is here in Canada - about 68F that day, so not very). It turned over and started right up. On start up there was no smoke. It ran smooth and steady. It shutdown cleanly and started right up several times after driving around for a while.
Things I checked:
Looked everywhere for leaks, including the ground around where it sat. It's been in the same spot for a long time and no sign of any leaks. There are some "wet spots" on the chassis but no dripping.
I ran the RPMs up to about 15-1600 and let the clutch out slowly in 8th with the brakes on and it stalled out. Same thing in 2nd bogged the engine down and it moved begrudgingly. So, seems clutch and brakes are in ok shape.
All I could really do to check the PTO was engage and disengage it. There was no grinding with the clutch in when I engaged the PTO lever. It spun up when I let the clutch out and came to a fairly quick stop when I engaged the clutch again. Best guess is the clutch is not stuck, no idea of the shape of it.
Same story with the 3pt...not much to check it with. When I arrived it was up so I assume it is not in bad enough shape to fall on its own - not really a test. I put my 280lb frame on it and it did not budge with the engine off. I did rise and fall smoothly and quietly with the position control.
It drove smooth in several gears, forward and reverse, low and high range. No clunks, or whines, or shimmies. The only thing odd was the diff lock. I engaged it and sort of expected to be able to feel it trying to turn with it locked but there was no difference...not too sure on this one.
In my opinion it's in fairly good shape for a 74. I'm just not sure about the price. On first visit they told me $4000. So when I went back and they had it running we haggled a bit with me at 3k and them holding strong at 4k. We ended up at 4k taxes in (13%, so actual price about $3550). I was thinking going into this I'd be willing to spend about $3500.
What do you guys think? Am I lowballing this guy or is 4k about right?
I'm taking a run in tomorrow to see if we can chisel a few dollars off. Anything else you guys can think of that I can look for in such a limited scenario?
Pics below:
an uncommon find on a ford.. 
