my "new" 1300 Ford

[chumly2071]

Well, since recently it seems like it is en vogue to post up purchase of more experienced Ford iron... ;-)

I just picked up a 1979 Ford 1300 FWA diesel. Tractor appears to be in very good shape, and is showing only 291 hours on it. Everything works as it should, and the little 2 cyl starts and runs like a top every time. It does seem a little noisy on startup, but from what I have found online, this appears to be a normal thing?

Anyways... It came with the factory 770 loader, a 48" Ford finish mower, and the 48" woods brush mower. I want to start building some attachments for it like a guide wheeled rear blade for light snow removal, a small grader box similar to the one in the thread Ron's Grader, and possibly adapt a quick attach to the loader arms so that I can remove the bucket to allow me to store it in my shed quickly and easily. If I get around to the QA, I want to also adapt a set of forks for unloading my pickup truck. I'm also thinking of ideas on how to add a folding ROPS to it. If anyone has some pics of a factory installation, I'd like to see how they attached the unit to the tractor.

A couple things I have noticed already:

Given the ability to find the components, how difficult is it to convert this little beast to power assist steering? any thoughts on potential sources (used/salvage I am assuming) and cost?

Secondly, the 8.3-24 and 4-12 tires are great for traction, but are going to play **** with my yard. What are the options for finding tires and wheels that will maintain my front to rear gearing for the FWA, and be wider and a little less aggressive? Anyone know off the top of their head the bolt patterns for the wheels/axles? I am also hesitant to go crazy changing, as I am concerned about potential axle stresses due to additional leverage loads on the axle assemblies.

Hopefully, my attachment projects will be a source of entertainment for you all, and I'd like to thank JC-Jetro for his informative posts on this tractor series. If it wasn't for his information (and others of you contributing to the posts), I would have probably passed on this unit due to its age. he is like Geico... He saved me a bunch of money on my tractor purchase!!!

 

[AndyMA]

Machline looks in great shape. Enjoy. Are you sure with a machine this small you want to go through the trouble and expense of adding power steering assist. How hard does it steer. To change to turf tires I believe you need new rims and tires in a matched set of 4. I'd scour dealers for a used set.

Andy

 

[JC-jetro]

((

Well, since recently it seems like it is en vogue to post up purchase of more experienced Ford iron... ;-)

I just picked up a 1979 Ford 1300 FWA diesel. Tractor appears to be in very good shape, and is showing only 291 hours on it. Everything works as it should, and the little 2 cyl starts and runs like a top every time. It does seem a little noisy on startup, but from what I have found online, this appears to be a normal thing?

Ihe is like Geico... He saved me a bunch of money on my tractor purchase!!!

Chumly,

Wow, What a find !!! that's diamond in the rough. It really looks good with a very good compliment of features. The paint looks to be original except the wheels and loader and at 291(Is the engine overhauled?) hrs this thing must have been in hibernation most of it's life, this thing needs to be broken in even yet. I hate the tractors that are beat with all the problems but are dunk in a big vat of Ford blue before they sell it. Congrats...

As far as power steering..... I'm with Andy on that. You will not be doing a lot of digging with that machine or carrying a very heavy load in a 4 foot bucket. I don't know how much you paid for your tractor but expect to be paying dearly for a power steering kit. Add on after market for you machine is basically a double acting piston, spool valve and some hyd plumbing, it just hydraulically assists your steering rod .The fact you have loader, should have a hydraulic block that should make the plumbing quite a bit easier, can even Tee off with simple fittings. I just keep my eyes peeled for component stuff, to be able to add a home made Power steering system if you want to pursue it. I think I'll just build some sort of ballast box in the back to give you some help with the steering , I just call that Non-power assisted steering if you can call that

I would not worry about a bit of the start up noise, it is because of 2 cyl engine, it's just like a little "Johnny popper" at no cost to you, it'll get better when it warms up.

Quick attach need to be all done home made as I have not seen for 770 loader.

If you were close I would love to swap my turf with your ag tires, I'm needing a bit more traction. You have to change the rims for sure, I'll check craigslist, might get lucky,the new rims are not cheap and you need t o change all four.

I've built a few thing that might give you idea. I think I might just keep the bucket the way they are and and rig up a pallet fork that hooks on to the bucket. If you got a welder, some metal scrap pile and port-a-band saw and a bit of time is all you need to come up with some workable design.

I just make sure I change do all the fluid, the front drive oil is not part of the hyd oil system. Don't miss the oil in the injector pump. Internal engine part are expensive and harder to come by but the rest are easy. At 290 hrs , I would not worry about that at all. I'll pick up a set of Nitrile HF metric o-rings and that cover just about everything and at a whopping $10, can't go wrong with that. Many of lift system part, hyd pump are shared with many of other 1000 series tractors so part can be cross referenced easy, some are even the same as TC-30s that guarantee many more years of part availability. If I were you, I would not get a bigger that 4 foot tiller for it, the hp is not way up there but you have solid power and machine for a lot of heavy duty work within it's capabilities.

By the way, I've been called many things but not a "Geico" yet, I'll just gladly add it to my repertoire. I'm not green but for sure share a lot of feature with the little guy, lol

JC,

ROPS arttacement, I'm looking to get one or maybe make one.

 

[PDD]

Hi Chumly, I have a Ford 1300 too. It`s hard to find parts for them and dealer info is not always reliable. Not positive of the year on mine but an older model that had a factory 4 bladed fan.

The water pump went on it, after a bunch of hassle I found the newer model water pump that takes a 6 bladed fan will fit. The four bladed fan will not fit that water pump so you have to get a new fan also if you run into that problem.

Also the dealers parts books had an incorrect part number for the fan belt, NAPA store had the correct one.

Dealer should be able to tell you what turf tires and rims fit what, as I recall the 1500 and 1700 series tires will also fit the 1300.

Nice little tractors but dated.

 

[chumly2071]

Thanks for the info. That was part of why I chose this tractor over a lot newer one... I was finding that to get a comparable newer tractor, as equipped, I was either looking at units with huge amounts of hours on them, junk, or take the risk of a private labled chinese tractor, and then trying to outfit them. Based on the reports from owners like you an JC-jetro, I took the gamble on the older, seemingly well built machine. I hope I was right, and by a lot of accounts to support it, I think I will be happy for some time.

 

[joes_427_vette]

Very nice find. If I were you I wouldn't pass on finding used parts at a good price. What ever parts I have searched for on a 1200 series must be considered " gold standard " by used parts dealers prices. Good luck.

 

[blewey]

Thanks Chumly for your pictures. I picked up a 1300 and it is in much rougher shape, but from your pics I could tell that my tractor is complete. It just needs to be dipped in vats of blue and white paint. cheers!

 

[RobertN]

There were some folks here getting PS conversions, aftermarket. Seems to me threads are in owning/operating? I thought I saw a couple manufactures advertising here. For some reason, $600 or so rings a bell, but I could be off...

Given the ability to find the components, how difficult is it to convert this little beast to power assist steering? any thoughts on potential sources (used/salvage I am assuming) and cost?