ford 1700?

[mike paulson]

hi fellas, i am looking to purchase a very nice 1700 ford with bucket loader. are these good tractors and how is parts availability? thanks much

 

[JC-jetro]

hi fellas, i am looking to purchase a very nice 1700 ford with bucket loader. are these good tractors and how is parts availability? thanks much

Mike,

I have one and love it. it does have limitation like anything else. It is quite capable for the purposes it is intended to. I have a ton of comments on it on this board and few threads I started when I bought mine. Do use the search on this board with my handle and you'll get hrs of reading and many illustrations. if you have specific question ask and 1700 owners here will oblige.

Welcome to TBN Blue,

JC,

 

[Mudfarmer]

I bought a Ford 1700 in 1980 and finally traded it in in 2009. It was always in great working condition: Reliable, parts readily available, versatile. Negatives - no power steering (a relative negative) does not have an independent PTO - when the clutch is depressed to stop wheels, the PTO (if engaged) stops as well. I found that only to be a problem when I was making hay, running a baler. Only design defect I know of was that the original front axles were weak and did not hold up under heavy loader use. I serially broke both of the front axles (right and left) in the first ten years. The replacement was a "heavy duty" axle and I had no further problems. I did not feel the cost of repair was exorbitant at the time. Hope this helps.
Mf

 

[mike paulson]

Mike,

I have one and love it. it does have limitation like anything else. It is quite capable for the purposes it is intended to. I have a ton of comments on it on this board and few threads I started when I bought mine. Do use the search on this board with my handle and you'll get hrs of reading and many illustrations. if you have specific question ask and 1700 owners here will oblige.

Welcome to TBN Blue,

JC,

hey JC, yes i see there is tons of info on this tractor and parts availabilty is ample. i went onto Messicks tractor parts and they have just about everything from castings right down to nuts and bolts, also New Holland has anything one would need to keep a 1700 running.
also alot of stuff aftermarket online. some of the stuff is alittle pricey but thats just japanese parts for just about anything.
i was alittle worried by the responses i got on another site about the 1700, but these were from the old die hard Ameican made only Ford guy's.
i will be picking up this neat little machine this week.

 

[RickB]

hey JC, yes i see there is tons of info on this tractor and parts availabilty is ample. i went onto Messicks tractor parts and they have just about everything from castings right down to nuts and bolts, also New Holland has anything one would need to keep a 1700 running..

You are dreaming, my friend.

also alot of stuff aftermarket online. some of the stuff is alittle pricey but thats just japanese parts for just about anything.
i was alittle worried by the responses i got on another site about the 1700, but these were from the old die hard Ameican made only Ford guy's. ..

Actually, the most negative comment you recieved was from myself. I have 16 years experience at a New Holland dealership and am currently the parts manager there. I probably have a better handle on this issue than you do.
Aftermarket sources for engine parts, sheetmetal; and major castings for a 1700 are practically non-existent.

i will be picking up this neat little machine this week.

Best of luck. I hope you don't need anything more than basic wear & service items for it.

 

[JC-jetro]

hey JC, yes i see there is tons of info on this tractor and parts availabilty is ample. i went onto Messicks tractor parts and they have just about everything from castings right down to nuts and bolts, also New Holland has anything one would need to keep a 1700 running.
also alot of stuff aftermarket online. some of the stuff is alittle pricey but thats just japanese parts for just about anything.
i was alittle worried by the responses i got on another site about the 1700, but these were from the old die hard Ameican made only Ford guy's.
i will be picking up this neat little machine this week.

Hey Mike,

Opinions are what we all are entitled to... at the end its part objective and part subjective. I do value solid opinions but always with a grain of salt. Parts availability is really very important. I have not changed any major parts of my engine or transmission. I have been lucky that the previous two owners of my tractor always took care of it, did not abuse it and stored it probably in the last 25 years. I had it in my possession for the last 6 years. I did do a lot of maintenance and preventive stuff on it that most are captured one way or another on this forum. None gave me a heart burn. You do need to be good with wrench as the labor cost will kill you if you don't do it yourself. I have gone thru the whole hyd system, all fluid changes, belts, hoses, front tires, batter and I know I have spent less than $400 all these years combined. You do want to make sure to take care of hyd pump and never allow it to run dry and address lift issue at the first occurrence of the problem as the cost of the pump is exorbitant @ $1100. Newer tractor hyd pumps are not much cheaper but available. You can relatively easy find alternator, starter and all clutch wear item. Actually the clutch disk is interchangeable with several of the new TC models as I have done cross reference check thru my local NH dealer. If you want you can use fram, Wix for oil filter and are readily available in lieu of NH. I took the old radiator hoses and went to my part store and they let me just eyeball and find what was close to original with a bit of trimming. I got all the belt changed and all I have done to take the old one to a store and matched pitch and dia. You can use any in-line fuel filter if you need. You want to make sure to change oil in the injector pump as that's another item that you don't want to replace.

for me it was an excellent purchase at $3100* and 900 hrs on proof meter. In the last 6 years I cleared up my 20 acres, brush hogged as needed and piled up many burn pile that I could have never ever done with a throw away brand new garden tractor of the same monetary investment. I doubt if my rig is going to face a sudden death any time soon the way I take care of it, but again if it happens, so be it. I have already got all the value from my purchase. I'd most likely change the clutch but would not overhaul the engine depending on what I need to purchase for repair.


I'd suggest that you look it over well before you purchase. I have seen several of them that looked like crap but still were running strong at 3000 to 4000 hrs of the proof meter.

JC,


* Of course I put the sweat equity in, but could not get a contractor to maintain my land for me for twice as much of what I paid for my tractor.

 

[RickB]

Availability on this older stuff is hit and miss and miss is more common now than before. I sold a bunch of engine parts for a 1900 a month or so ago; oversize piston & ring sets, undersized crank bearings, gaskets, etc. Exhorbitant prices, but everything showed up in three days. Now we have a customer wanting to rebuild a 1500 and NH doesn't have piston & ring sets available in ANY bore size.

Oh yeah, Messicks' shows the 1500 standard piston & ring kits as available in 3-5 days. There are none in North America and none available worldwide in the CNH system. There are none on the dealer parts locator. CNH doesn't even list a current supplier of these pistons.

4WD parts are scarce and have been for years. Try to find a front driveshaft for a 1900, for example.

 

[mike paulson]

You are dreaming, my friend.


Actually, the most negative comment you recieved was from myself. I have 16 years experience at a New Holland dealership and am currently the parts manager there. I probably have a better handle on this issue than you do.
Aftermarket sources for engine parts, sheetmetal; and major castings for a 1700 are practically non-existent.



Best of luck. I hope you don't need anything more than basic wear & service items for it.

Rick maybe you can show me what i'm missing here? here is the link, click on New Holland then put in 1700 on the tractor search. then click thru the catagories for engine, electrical, etc. link below..are you saying this is all BS?
New Holland Parts Lookup Online Catalog

 

[RickB]

being that we are freinds now Rick maybe you can show me what i'm missing here? here is the link, click on New Holland then put in 1700 on the tractor search. then click thru the catagories for engine, electrical, etc. link below..
New Holland Parts Lookup Online Catalog

Not to be rude, but I don't work for Messick's, I don't base my comments about parts availability on their web content and I don't have to explain why what they indicate as available isn't 100% accurate 100% of the time. They do a pretty good job there and having parts pricing available is helpful in general and certainly doesn't hurt their business. This isn't about me getting in a pi**ing contest with Messick's, or you, for that matter. My comment about pistons for a 1500 was an example that I know about with absolute certainty.

When I write about parts availability my comments are based on what happens when I place an order with New Holland or what information I get out of New Holland's real-time parts data base. That is the best information anyone working at a New Holland dealership can get. If you want to go out and buy a 1700 that's fine. But if you think every part is readily available for that model, you are surely in for a dissappointment. And that is no different than if you were looking at any other brand of CUT of that vintage.

 

[mike paulson]

Not to be rude, but I don't work for Messick's, I don't base my comments about parts availability on their web content and I don't have to explain why what they indicate as available isn't 100% accurate 100% of the time. They do a pretty good job there and having parts pricing available is helpful in general and certainly doesn't hurt their business. This isn't about me getting in a pi**ing contest with Messick's, or you, for that matter. My comment about pistons for a 1500 was an example that I know about with absolute certainty.

When I write about parts availability my comments are based on what happens when I place an order with New Holland or what information I get out of New Holland's real-time parts data base. That is the best information anyone working at a New Holland dealership can get. If you want to go out and buy a 1700 that's fine. But if you think every part is readily available for that model, you are surely in for a dissappointment. And that is no different than if you were looking at any other brand of CUT of that vintage.

well Rick i have to admit you are as right as rain and im glad you made me check this out. i contacted Messicks and parts are impossible to find for these japanese Fords. i will not be making this purchase and will now direct my efforts into finding a good 600 or maybe an 800 Ford now.....thanks to all of you for the input...Mike P