Greetings to ALL

[Red State]

Hi ALL, I'm a fan of the old Ford tractors....although they have often proven to be anything but a gracious fan to me but I still love them. I own a 600 and recently bought my first diesel 1700. I am not sure where to post on this board but am certain that I will be treated well and welcomed with sound wisdom and friendship from what I've read the past few days. You all have proven to me that you are top notch people from the many threads I've enjoyed reading about our love of tractors.

To all the 1700 brothers....I absolutely love mine and the older gent I bought it from promised that I could do anything I wanted with this old tractor (my first tractor that is actually younger than I) HA!!!! Anyway, I've done much with it already and am contemplating fixin' her up real good. I have found a new seat (factory) for $69.oo and plan to take the fenders off and paint them as close to factory as possible. The original BLUE is in surprisingly good shape so I may leave that as is. Next will be replacing the lights (if I can get any of the old ones to work). The horn still works and the main gauge works BUT the Hot and Cold gauge does not. I also plan to put lawn tires on it cuz I'll NEVER have her in rough spots or need to dig in so the turf tires should serve me well (even on my huntin' place).

Well, that is about it (other than learning what this and that lever is). Had to call upon my neighbor (a John Deere guy) to tell me what one of the foot pedals are. Turns out that it is to engage BOTH back tires when one starts spinning. We both agreed that we'd prefer both operate simultaneously to begin with so if anyone can explain WHY they did it this way, I'd appreciate it. I love the strong, quick and surprisingly smooth lift on it but when lowering, it is terribly slow (unless you have something as heavy as a 5' bushog). I read one thread where the owner said that he could drink a cup of coffee while waiting for the lift to drop so if anyone could explain where some sort of DROP adjustment is, I'd appreciate it. Don't want it too fast for a kid to get hurt or something but I would like to have it drop on command without pre-planning the move. HA!!!!

I look forward to hearing from the wise folks that I feel I know already after reading their posts....Godspeed!

~Michael (AKA Red State)
PS: my Ford 1700 is either '80 or '81 model

 

[The kid]

Welcome Michael to TractorByNet and greetings from Tennessee.

 

[Red State]

Welcome Michael to TractorByNet and greetings from Tennessee.

Thank you! so much! Good to break the ice with a fellow SOUTHERNER! Wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Red State]

So, what do you drive? I'm partial to old Fords but that is only when they are working and not making me WORK. HA!!!

 

[Wakey]

Welcome to TBN Michael.

 

[Larro Darro]

Welcome from NW Florida. You will find lots of smart people here. Any tractor questions you have, some one will know the answer.

I have drove my share of Fords. The best looking one was a 73 F150. Wish I had hung on to that one. The worst one was a Currier. Can't remember the year, but she was named the Rice-a-Roni because Henry Ford always swore he would never sell a car of truck made in Japan. I paid $450 for the truck, then when the engine died, I paid more for the wrecked Currier {Wrecked Rice} that I took an engine from.

But for years I treated trucks like the plains Indians treated horses. I would ride them until they died, then cut them up and use what I could of the parts. And I would buy the next one to come along in my price range. Which back then was pretty low. These days I'm driving a 98 Tacoma with 117K. Just getting broke in good.

 

[creekbend]

Welcome aboard. It would be in your best interest to obtain an Operator's Manual for your Make and Model. Best wishes.

 

[Red State]

I'VE RESPONDED TO ALL WITHIN THE BOLD RED:
_________________________________________________

WAKEY WROTE: Welcome to TBN Michael.
THANKS! GOOD TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF GREATNESS.
__________________________________________________


LARRO DARRO WROTE: Welcome from NW Florida. You will find lots of smart people here. Any tractor questions you have, some one will know the answer.

I have drove my share of Fords. The best looking one was a 73 F150. Wish I had hung on to that one. The worst one was a Currier. Can't remember the year, but she was named the Rice-a-Roni because Henry Ford always swore he would never sell a car of truck made in Japan. I paid $450 for the truck, then when the engine died, I paid more for the wrecked Currier {Wrecked Rice} that I took an engine from.

But for years I treated trucks like the plains Indians treated horses. I would ride them until they died, then cut them up and use what I could of the parts. And I would buy the next one to come along in my price range. Which back then was pretty low. These days I'm driving a 98 Tacoma with 117K. Just getting broke in good.

I HAVE ALREADY MET SOME VERY SMART FOLKS & AM GLAD TO ADD YOU TO THE LIST. I HAVE HAD A 76 BLUE 2DR LTD WITH A 302 AND A BROWN LUXURY '72 MODEL LTD. SHOULD HAVE HELD ON TO THE '72 MODEL. AS FOR TRUCKS, I LOVE CHEVY. I CURRENTLY 0WN A '99 SUBURBAN 4X4 & A '99 SILERADO 4X4. B0TH ARE VERY COMFY & GET PRETTY DARN GOOD GAS MILEAGE....WOULDN'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR EITHER ONE (ALTHOUGH I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A '72 FORD BRONCO 4X4) SO SOME TRADING COULD BE ARRANGED IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ONE. HA!!! IN TRACTORS, I'M FORD ALL THE WAY THOUGH. I'VE HAD AN 8N AND CURRENTLY HAVE A 600 WITH A RECENTLY ADDED FORD 1700.

I REMEMBER THE OLD CURRIERS....THE FORD VERSION OF THE LUV. MY BUDDY HAD BOTH IN HIGH SCHOOL AND YOU'D SWEAR IT WAS AN ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE. ha!!! THEN WE EXPERIMENTED WITH AN OLD BUG BEATLE (UNTIL WE WISED UP AND WENT IN TOGETHER ON AN OLD KOREAN VINTAGE ARMY JEEP). WE LITERALLY CLIMED TREES WITH THAT POOR THING! *(TILL WE RODE IT DOWN THAT IS). FUNNY YOU MENTIONING NATIVE AMERICANS AND THEIR HORSES...WE WERE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME WAY.

IT ISN'T JUST TOYOTAS THAT ARE JUST GETTING BROKE IN AT OVER 100,000 MILES....BOTH MY CHEVY 4X4'S HAVE OVER THAT AND ARE FANTASTIC! THE FAMILY GOES TO FL TWICE A YEAR IN IT AND TO THE SMOKIES AT LEAST TWO OR THREE TIMES (CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THE MOUNTAINS).
__________________________________________________


CREEKBEND WROTE: Welcome aboard. It would be in your best interest to obtain an Operator's Manual for your Make and Model. Best wishes.
FUNNY YOU MENTIONED THAT...I'LL HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT MODEL IT IS FIRST. I'M NOT 100% SURE I KNOW WHAT MODEL MY OLD RED 600 IS. GOOD IDEA THOUGH. AN OWNER'S MANUAL WOULD BENEFIT ME GREATLY JUST IN KNOW WHAT FLUIDS IT ONCE TOOK. NOT SURE IF I COULD EVEN GET IT ANYMORE BUT IT WOULD BE GREAT TO AT LEAST MATCH IT UP AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE.

BY THE WAY, I LOVE THAT SAYING OF YOURS (The PUPIL who does not surpass his Master, fails his Master.) I ENJOYED READING THAT ALMOST AS MUCH AS I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS OF WEST NC / EAST TN. I BELIEVE YOUR AREA IS MORE LIKE EAST TO MIDDLE TN. STILL VERY BEAUTIFUL...


THANKS TO ALL FOR THE WARM WELCOME THUS FAR. RIGHT NOW, I'M STILL LEARNING HOW TO USE THE FORUM AND FIND MY WAY AROUND (MUCH LIKE HOW I'M LEARNING ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT MY VERY FIRST DIESEL TRACTOR). RIGHT NOW, I LOVE IT! THE LIFT IS STRONG AND FAST, IT WORKS WELL IN ALL GEARS (HIGH AND LOW) AND IT LOOKS PRETTY DARN GOOD TOO. I PLAN TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL BLUE BUT WOULD LIKE TO TOUCH UP AND REPAINT THE WHITE FENDERS. RIGHT NOW, HOWEVER, I NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THE LIFT TO GO DOWN FASTER WHEN HANDLING A LIGHT LOAD SUCH AS MY 4' BOX BLADE AND 3' FINISHING MOWER.....AND DON'T EVEN GET ME GOING ON THE HOG LIFT. THAT THING WON'T GO DOWN UNLESS YOU GET ALL THE KIDS TO GRAB AND HANG ON TO IT. ha!!!! I WORKED IT ALL DAY FOR TWO DAYS WITH NO PROBLEM BUT IT DID GET A BIT TESTY WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE HUNTING GROUNDS WHERE I HAD LET THE FIELDS GROW UP FROM LAST YEAR. WITH ALL THE RAIN AND COOLER WEATHER, THE WEEDS GREW ASTRONOMICALLY THIS YEAR. I BELIEVE IT OVER HEATED A BIT DUE TO THE DEBRIS SO I'LL HAVE TO REALLY GIVE IT A ONCE OVER NOW (OIL FILTER, BREATHER, RADIATOR, ETC). MAY EVEN REMOVE THE THERMOSTAT (UNLESS SOMEONE HERE ADVISES ME OTHERWISE). I JUST FIGURED AN OPEN GASKET WHERE THE THERMOSTAT IS SUPPOSE TO BE WILL ALLOW A GREAT FLOW OF COOLANT AT ALL TIMES. I TOOK A RISK GETTING THIS TRACTOR BECAUSE I HAD HEARD SOME BAD THINGS ON THE HEAD CRACKING OR THE GASKETS LEAKING DUE TO WARPAGE BUT SO FAR, I SIMPLY LOVE THIS SMALLER TRACTOR WITH A BIG WORKING APPETITE. PERHAPS SOME OF THOSE 1700 GUYS HERE CAN DIRECT ME TO THE CORRECT BOARD OR PIPE IN WITH SOME OF THEIR WISDOM WITHIN THIS THREAD.

AGAIN, THANKS TO ALL FOR THE WARM WELCOME AND WALKS DOWN MEMORY LANE.

~RED

 

[Red State]

JUST TO CLARIFY....THE OVERHEATING IS NOT A BAD GASKET OR CRACKED HEAD. I'VE LOOKED AT THAT EXTENSIVELY. I BELIEVE IT IS SIMPLY THE DEBRIS AND BLOCKAGES AFTER GETTING INTO THE THICK WITH ALL THAT DUST, BUGS, SEEDS, CHAFF AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ALL ELSE. BESIDES, IT IS VERY HOT AND MUGGY AND I TRULY BELIEVE THE TRACTOR AND I BOTH GOT TOO DARN HOT. I WORKED IT FOR HOURS TODAY MOVING A BIG PILE OF SAND DOWN THE DRIVE-WAY AND IT DID JUST WONDERFULLY (OTHER THAN THE SLOW LIFT DOWN AND THE LEVEL BY WHICH IT DOESN'T WANT TO BARE DOWN INTO THE GROUND). I BELIEVE IF I HAD A FRONT IN LOADER, IT WOULD GIVE ME SERIOUS PROBLEMS.

OK, ENOUGH SAID....DON'T WANNA HOG THE THREAD.

 

[Red State]

I've figured a few things out since my posts above and have tried to start a thread in a more approprate place than this introduction thread.

Thanks to all who provided me with such a warm welcome. Fill free to post on my FIRST true thread about the wonderful 1700 Ford Diesel!!!!

Maroon and Gray....ALL THE WAY! Go DAWGS!!!