Pics of my new (to me) 1700 and some questions

[pclausen]

One thing I noticed while cutting the field and that the clutch does not appear to be a double clutch. What I mean is that when I depress the clutch just enough to stop forward motion, the PTO stops spinning as well. On my dad's 1910 Ford, when you press the clutch in just enough to stop forward motion, the PTO continues to spin until you push the clutch in all the way.

Is this just something I need to adjust, or does the 1700 not have a double clutch like the 1910? It is very annoying that the mower stops spinning when feathering the clutch a little around trees and when switching into reverse. It is also a lot more strain of everything to constantly having to spin the mower rotors back up speed, every time the clutch is pushed in just a little.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter:

I found this which seems to answer your question:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/new-holland-owning-operating/88133-ford-1700-power-take-off.html

-Stu

 

[FairfaxStu]

The jist of it is this which I think is hilarious:

Yes.. pretty easilly, You load the 1700 up, and take it to a dealer that has a 1920, then unload the 1700, drive the 1920 up on the trailer, hand the dealer about 7000$, and then drive home and unload. You now have a 2-stage clutch, and thus, live pto.
Depending on your dealers location, you might be able to do this 'parts swap' in an hour or so.

Soundguy

Dunno what he means by parts swap, however.
-Stu

 

[pclausen]

Thanks Stu. Not exactly the answer I was hoping for, but at least now I know that the 1700 is a single clutch tractor with no live PTO functionality.

The only real issue with when I need to slow down and/or back up slowly up against trees/bushes, where I would normally feather the clutch on dad's 1910. This is a non issue on my JD as it has electrohydraulic activated PTO, so it just maintains a constant PTO speed regardless of what I do with the clutch.

I'm typically mowing in range 3, gear 2 and can quickly switch back and fourth between 2 and reverse without loosing much PTO speed. I try just dropping down to range 1 when I need to slow down instead of feathering the clutch like I have always done on my other tractors. Not a big deal.

 

[FairfaxStu]

I still just wonder about what Soundguy meant. Seems like there may be a fairly easy way to convert it. While it will seem trivial to most everbody here, my Cub had a "feature" where it would turn off the PTO for the mowing deck everytime you hit reverse. Needless to say I corrected the manufacturers mistake.
-Stu

 

[pacerron]

I still just wonder about what Soundguy meant. Seems like there may be a fairly easy way to convert it. While it will seem trivial to most everbody here, my Cub had a "feature" where it would turn off the PTO for the mowing deck everytime you hit reverse. Needless to say I corrected the manufacturers mistake.
-Stu

I think he was just saying, that swap the parts meant trade in the 1700 plus 7K and take home the 1920 which has a 2 stage clutch.

For a little more you could get a Ford with a "Live Power takeoff" meaning a separate lever to control the PTO regardless of the clutch position.
Those models including the Ford I have, built in the mid 80's, have a PTO brake.. When you move the lever to off the PTO stops immediately.
Sounded like a good idea at the time, but if you don't throttle back to idle with something like a bush hog on, your wear out the brake fast.
Also with the engine stopped you can't turn the PTO by hand a little to line up the splines of a piece of equipment.

 

[pacerron]

While it will seem trivial to most everbody here, my Cub had a "feature" where it would turn off the PTO for the mowing deck everytime you hit reverse. Needless to say I corrected the manufacturers mistake.
-Stu

That's nothing. John Deere lawn tractors shutdown the engine if you have the mower engaged and try to reverse. You have to give the engine permission to run by pushing down a yellow switch on the dash every time you back up. And don't raise up to scratch something or the seat will shut the engine down. Not mistakes, safety mandates.
I'd fix ours but my wife uses it a lot and I don't want her to be hurt by something I did as a man thing.
Ron

 

[FairfaxStu]

Wow, that hits a new level of insanity by manufacturers looking to CYA. Mine also had the "feature" where if you got off the seat, it would shut down the motor. I fixed that one as well because every bump I hit would cause it to shutdown for a sec and then backfire like a shotgun. Needless to say, I became so embarassed by it, that I had to disable it. As a youngster, I used to mow my parent's house (over 3 acres) and my grandparents place (about 4 acres) every week. I tried to get my ex old lady involved but she was not comfortable on the tractor. For grins, I did the math and she would have to mow my current yard (3/4 acre) for some 32 years to catch up with me in experience.

As a man that is starting to get up there in years, I now hire it done. My lawn service now comes in and mows it twice in about 20 minutes. The ExMark Lazer Z is a truly bad boy.
-Stu

 

[pclausen]

Ok, I finally had some time to work on the hood. Here's a shot showing some of the rust. It was in pretty bad shape...

After some initial sandblasting

More sandblasting

More still. Getting those original stickers blasted off was a real pain!

Getting the underside

Finally ready to paint!

After initial coat

While that was going on, I was using the tractor on another lot to smooth out the ground for seeding grass. This tractor does a great job pulling my 8' rake.

I did notice that when I have it raised, it "bounces" up and down. Could that be a draft adjustment issue, or do I have an issue with my hydraulic pump? I noticed the same thing with the (much heavier) Woods mower, but somehow it seems more pronounced with the lighter rake for some reason. Any ideas?

 

[pacerron]

Peter said:
I did notice that when I have it raised, it "bounces" up and down. Could that be a draft adjustment issue, or do I have an issue with my hydraulic pump? I noticed the same thing with the (much heavier) Woods mower, but somehow it seems more pronounced with the lighter rake for some reason. Any ideas?

I don't really know anything about that tractor, but I would think that if the implements don't slowly drop to the ground on their own when raised, that your hydraulic pump is ok.

Does that tractor have 2 sets of holes on the back for the upper link?
It looks in the picture that your upper link and lower links are no where near parallel. Attachments will lift more level with the ground position if the links are parallel.
If you can get the tractor end of the upper link higher and the implement end lower, perhaps by raising the rear rake wheels a little, it might not bounce as much when it is raised up in the transport position. I think the rake wheels are meant to be more for a depth gauge control rather than transport.

The category sizes of hitches also have different distances between the upper and lower lift bars. Some have 2-3 holes on the tractor a few inches apart for the upper link
so they can be compatible with various size category pins on the implements.
My CNH even came with 2 sizes of pin doughnuts for the lower links that are easily changed.
Ron