Tractor Sizing Help with model number

[bluedogmike]

Hello,
I recently purchased a Ford Ind tractor from my city's yearly auction. I work for the Park system and it was our old tractor that I had operated for years. My question is I've been told the records say its a 420 model, yet I find very little info online about that model.

Here is a link to some pictures:

Picasa Web Albums - mikediales - Ford Tractor

Thanks for the help, Mike

 

[whodat526]

it looks to be a 4500 model ford which is just the industrial model 4000

 

[bluedogmike]

it looks to be a 4500 model ford which is just the industrial model 4000

Thanks :thumbsup:

 

[Opti-Mist]

A 4500 was not a KD2 although they share a majority of parts. A KD2 is a newer version circa 1977 per the ID plate in the last picture, maybe a 420? My memory fails and my book is 300 miles away.

 

[whodat526]

yea it could be but all the hards parts (motor, trans, steering system, rearend) will interchange but it has to be one of them cause its to old to be a 445

 

[EquipmentJunkie]

I have some old Ford industrial brochures that I consult for these mysteries. My old Ford brochure has a 4500 in it and your tractor does not appear to be a 4500 due to the loader sub-frame. However, your tractor does appear to be a "hard nose" (casting at front, not sheet metal) but without seeing the grill in the photo, it is difficult to tell for sure.

My guesses based on my analysis of my old Ford brochures:
1) It could be a 3500 tractor with a 735 loader on it. (There should be a 3500 number plate above the "FORD" letters on the raised part of the grill.)

2) I will second the opinion of The Opti-Mist and your story about it being a 420. The 420 is a later model with a "hard nose" and the 735 loader. There is no model designation on the grill, but it would have origninally had a "FORD 420" decal on the loader arm. (Sometimes you can see that evidence of a decal if you look at the loader frame at a low angle along the loader frame...even after a repaint) The plates welded to the outside of the loader arms where the lift cylinder and the dump cylinder mount on your tractor are shaped more like those of the 420 and not the earlier 735 loaders mounted on a 3500 tractor. The 420 is where I would lay my $20 bet.

 

[RickB]

I agree that it is a 420. I serviced an identical tractor last week. The owner called it a 340, but it was not because a 340 has a sheetmetal grille shell and light industrial arched front axle. The hood had 445 decals on it, but it was not because a 445 has fully hydrostatic steering and a hydraulic tank in front of the radiator. The loader had 420 decals on the arms, and when I ran the model number, that's what it was. This one is, too; built in January 1977.

A 3500 would have outboard dry drum brakes.

 

[bluedogmike]

I agree that it is a 420. I serviced an identical tractor last week. The owner called it a 340, but it was not because a 340 has a sheetmetal grille shell and light industrial arched front axle. The hood had 445 decals on it, but it was not because a 445 has fully hydrostatic steering and a hydraulic tank in front of the radiator. The loader had 420 decals on the arms, and when I ran the model number, that's what it was. This one is, too; built in January 1977.

A 3500 would have outboard dry drum brakes.

Thank you for the help, A 420 it is. Any idea of a good part source, need some steering parts? :thumbsup: