1959 Ford 871

   / 1959 Ford 871 #1  

fyrmnk

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Aug 7, 2006
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7
Hi all, new to the forums. I'm looking at a 1959 Ford 871 Select O Matic. Has a loader attachment as well. It seems to run well. Had a new head gasket, tune up, and transmission service a year ago. Does need a new front tire, one draw bar, the power steering pump rebuilt, and a battery. Back tires are heavily weather split but have good tread. Hours are unknown. It is being sold for $3700. No visible leaks in the engine.

My questions:

Does that sound like a reasonable price?

Any significant known problems to this model?

Is it a dependable model?

I'm purchasing my first tractor to maintain 20 acres, and for future horses. Thanks!
 
   / 1959 Ford 871 #2  
   / 1959 Ford 871 #3  
fyrmnk said:
Hi all, new to the forums. I'm looking at a 1959 Ford 871 Select O Matic. Has a loader attachment as well. It seems to run well. Had a new head gasket, tune up, and transmission service a year ago. Does need a new front tire, one draw bar, the power steering pump rebuilt, and a battery. Back tires are heavily weather split but have good tread. Hours are unknown. It is being sold for $3700. No visible leaks in the engine.

My questions:

Does that sound like a reasonable price?

Any significant known problems to this model?

Is it a dependable model?
QUOTE]

In my opinion, that tractor is worth more without a loader. Even so, the Select-O-Speed (SOS) transmission is a weak point. If it works perfectly, you will be okay, but many of them have problems with bands and servo valves. Mine used to lock up the rear wheels while coasting downhill for no reason whatsoever. Also, you have to run them for an hour or so and get them hot. That's when problems show up. Consider the SOS transmission like a 1959 automobile with an automatic transmission. Would you expect that transmission to work properly? That's a 2-speed transmission on the car, but the SOS tranny has 10 speeds. That's 5 times as many problems.

The power steering pump and reservoir on my tractor was a continual mess. A rebuilt one was available for around $400, but I rebuilt mine and found out the hoses to the steering cylinder were bad. After $120 worth of hoses, I got it to work, but it never worked like I thought it should.

I think you will find this tractor is more trouble than it is worth. Soon you'll realize you are spending as much time keeping it going as you are using it to get things done. For my money, I'd buy a gray market Yanmar or Shibaura before I'd spend good money on a money-pit tractor.

The reason you can find so many of them for sale is that nobody wants them. I sold mine for $1000 after paying $3000 for it and dumping another $1000 in parts and repairs. I did get a little work done with it, but I was very happy to have $1000 and see the tractor go away on a trailer behind someone else's truck.:D
 
   / 1959 Ford 871 #4  
jinman said:
fyrmnk said:
Hi all, new to the forums. I'm looking at a 1959 Ford 871 Select O Matic. Has a loader attachment as well. It seems to run well. Had a new head gasket, tune up, and transmission service a year ago. Does need a new front tire, one draw bar, the power steering pump rebuilt, and a battery. Back tires are heavily weather split but have good tread. Hours are unknown. It is being sold for $3700. No visible leaks in the engine.

My questions:

Does that sound like a reasonable price?

Any significant known problems to this model?

Is it a dependable model?
QUOTE]

In my opinion, that tractor is worth more without a loader. Even so, the Select-O-Speed (SOS) transmission is a weak point. If it works perfectly, you will be okay, but many of them have problems with bands and servo valves. Mine used to lock up the rear wheels while coasting downhill for no reason whatsoever. Also, you have to run them for an hour or so and get them hot. That's when problems show up. Consider the SOS transmission like a 1959 automobile with an automatic transmission. Would you expect that transmission to work properly? That's a 2-speed transmission on the car, but the SOS tranny has 10 speeds. That's 5 times as many problems.

The power steering pump and reservoir on my tractor was a continual mess. A rebuilt one was available for around $400, but I rebuilt mine and found out the hoses to the steering cylinder were bad. After $120 worth of hoses, I got it to work, but it never worked like I thought it should.

I think you will find this tractor is more trouble than it is worth. Soon you'll realize you are spending as much time keeping it going as you are using it to get things done. For my money, I'd buy a gray market Yanmar or Shibaura before I'd spend good money on a money-pit tractor.

The reason you can find so many of them for sale is that nobody wants them. I sold mine for $1000 after paying $3000 for it and dumping another $1000 in parts and repairs. I did get a little work done with it, but I was very happy to have $1000 and see the tractor go away on a trailer behind someone else's truck.:D

Now there's some very good, very cheap advice!!! "Run Forrest Run!!!!!" :)
 
   / 1959 Ford 871 #5  
My Dad owned the similar row-crop version, the Ford 981 with the Select-O transmission and as Jim notes, it can be a frequent source of problems requiring the maintenance of a very experienced technician, so much so that the dealer here in south-central Michigan had a fellow come up from Ohio to work on theirs. Anyway, several years ago I talked my Dad into getting rid of it. He was down in Florida at the time, so I made all the arrangements and I can tell you, like Jim, I was oh so happy to see that tractor driving off on the dealer's trailer the day they picked it up. It was truly a beautiful Cadillac of a machine in it's day and when everything was running right, but more often then not, just a constant source of aggravation and work for my Dad.
 
   / 1959 Ford 871
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks for the feedback. This is the one listed for $3700 on Tractor House. The seller did say the tranny was serviced a year ago, and also that it had a permanent filter screen that has to be removed and cleaned annually.

Any other feedback on this model? Thanks again.
 
   / 1959 Ford 871 #7  
I have not heard one good thing about that tranny. And it may not be bad but I think parts for it are almost impossible to get. I think Soundguy hopefully will come on and post his recomendations. He is pretty knowledgeable in regards to the tranny.

murph
 
   / 1959 Ford 871
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Thanks for all the info. I'm RUNNING away from this one. Now I'm down to a 1992 1720 Ford with a bucket, and a 1986 Case 485 without. I'll go this route instead of the Select O.

Thanks!
 
   / 1959 Ford 871 #9  
i agree with Jinman.

The tranny, when working, was great.. when not working.. the tractor was a 'parter'.

The later SOS units were decent.. and had the bugs worked out.. the early ones were the units that gave all the SOS units the bad name.. an 871 is an early unit.

it's a gamble. If it really is in good condition.. then it should stay that way with diligent maintenance. For similar money.. I'd get something else for a work tractor... As a collector tractor, an 871 that ran and walked.. I'd be ok with owning for curiosity sake.

NH still sells some sos parts.. at a super premium.. like 300-400 bucks for a 3' shifter cable.. etc. Some used and NOS parts can be picked up at specialty shops, as well as rebuilt trannies.. though i have seen rebuilt trannies go for 2500$.. though some are cheaper.. in t he 1000$ range.

Also.. some repairs can be 50 cent parts... if your mechanic knows what he is doing.

A good 4XXX model will serve you better.. IMHO ( 4000 is nice.. 4600 better.. 4610/II/S even better.

Soundguy
 
   / 1959 Ford 871 #10  
forgot to add one of the better ones....Ford 4630 is a great one too!

Soundguy
 
 
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