First Tractor!, '69 Ford 3400, few questions

bswampy · Apr 6, 2011

Hi Guys,

I recently purchased my first tractor, a 1969 Ford 3400. Got it for $4400 with loader, brush hog, and weight box.

Picture is about 6 weeks old so all that snow is gone, thank god!!

Overall its in decent shape, fires right up, all the hydraulics work, PTO works fine, even the breaks work. It reads 1600 hours but the guy I brought it from said the meter just broke a few hours back (so he says...im sure lots of hour meters have just recently stopped working

)

So its totally usable right now and Im been having fun getting the hang of the loader, but there are a few things I want to start working on.

1. It needs a lot of choke to idle. Full choke to start, 2/3 to idle, and about 1/2 to run it slightly above idle. At full throttle I can push choke in all the way and it will stay running but as soon as a let the throttle down it quits. Various places online say I should start with troubleshooting fuel flow. Can someone give me some basic starting points form troubleshooting fuel flow?

2. I have hand and foot throttles. The foot throttle works as expected, similar to a car's gas pedal, press it down - revs up, let go- idles back, but the hand lever does the same thing. I pull the lever down and it revs up (way up, higher than the foot throttle) but when I let go of it returns to same location. Is it supposed to do this or is it supposed to stay put where I leave it?

3. Hydraulic specs. I have one hydraulic remote valve that runs off the main pump with 4.8 GPM specs. I also have another pump on front for the loader with either 13 or 19 GPM specs. 13 GPM meets the specs of way more attachments than 4.8, so I wondering if there is a way to run attachments off of the front pump instead of main pump?

I will be picking up a Ford service manual soon as well as some Sea Foam.

Thanks!

Brian

HakanTh · Apr 6, 2011

Looks like you have got yourself a nice assembly there.:thumbsup:

I do not know much about gas tractors or what suitable hydraulic equipment there is for you in the USA, I can only contribute with an answer concerning the throttle, hope it helps.

The hand throttle should stay were it is released. If you rev the engine to say 1500 rpm and release the lever, the engine should continue running at 1500 rpm. If you then rev up the engine with the foot throttle to some 2000 rpm and release it, engine should drop to 1500 rpm and stay there.
There is most probably a problem at the "friction brake" that should hold the hand throttle. The end of the lever is threaded, a nut and a spring make a force on a steel plate and a cork friction disc. This arrangement must produce a force that can hold the torque produced by the foot throttle return spring. The solution to your problem might be as easy as tightening the nut, however the cork surface may be damaged/dirty/oily and it is easy to renew:

A. Unscrew the nut and remove spring and washers.
B. Unscrew and remove the screw and nut that clamps the steel plate to the lever.
C. You should now be able to lift the lever and remove the steel plate.
D. Scrape off the old cork plate (it is on the tractor).
E. Clean the surface where the cork was and the surface on the steel plate.
F. Cut a disc out of a cork gasket sheet and glue in place.
G. Put things back in place.
H. Tighten the nut until it holds the hand throttle.

The problem with foot throttle not reving up enough is probably solved by adjusting its linkage.

Watch this for details:
New Holland 3400 3 CYL UTILITY TRACTOR

Choose:
Fuel System...
and
09C04 THROTTLE & FOOT ACCELERATOR CONTROLS - 2120, 3120 (65/4-71) 2110, 3400, 3500, 3550, 4110, 4400, 4410, 4500