The 3000 is a good light to medium weight implement puller, easy to get on and off and plenty of operator space with usually a vertically spring tensioned back seat giving about 4" of deflection....way better than the 1-2" of horizontal spring suspension seats, and these seats are readily available and due to their popularity, a few years ago could be had for $100...no idea as today's prices as I don't need one.
The 8 speed is the preferred transmission, 4 gears and 2 ranges. My 8 speeds have no problem pulling a 6' rotary tiller mounted on the 3 pt. slow enough.e Live PTO is common. Live PTO is a double clutch system whereby the clutch pedal, when fully depressed disengages both clutch discs. When you allow the clutch pedal to rise to mid position, the PTO clutch engages and as you allow the pedal to rise above that the ground driving clutch engages. For putting in post holes in a fence row, this is an ideal setup for digging post holes......even better than an "independent" (engage is manual, regardless of what else is going on as long as the engine is running). However, independent is preferred for a lot of tasks but live holds it's own in these circumstances too.
Some were equipped with front end loaders but I think that the 100 and 1000 series smaller tractors didn't have an adequate front end to support much if any loader work. One of my 4000s had the front axle welded where it had broken under FEL loads and when purchased it had the front end, crankshaft driven hydraulic pump with the tubes (frame) of the loader carrying the fluid inside those tubes rather than using the tractor sump like the 3 pt uses.
I have a '65 diesel and also had a '66 diesel.....used as a trade in for another, larger tractor.....currently have 6 working tractors, 25-65 HP.. These are about as fuel efficient a machine that is available and are bulletproof. The later 3000 series have upgrades that are worth your attention. I also have a 1980 3600 and a 1990 3910.
Power steering is really nice to have and if you find one without it, kits are available (ebay for one) whereby you can add aftermarket power steering. I have one of those on my 3000. The other two came standard with PS.
Usually they are reasonably priced and have few things to fix that are easily accessible, inexpensive, and readily available. New dash assemblies are cheap and popular and a coat of paint and a new dash panel makes you think you are sitting on a new tractor.
I had a couple of older 4 cylinder 4000s and they were slightly larger and heavier than the 3000 with the same things I posted above. The 3000 came out in '65 and was a midsized tractor between the 2000 (older 600 series) and 4000 (older 800 series). The older tractors were 4 cylinder up until the first 3000 was available in '65 and all the 1000 series mentioned dropped down to a 3 cylinder design after that.
