Sell at a loss now or later

[4570Man]

Have you got a picture of the back side of the wheel? That doesn't look like promising conditions for a repair.

 

[square1]

Mine broke exactly as yours did. Had it machined, drilled, pinned, welded, and faced (trued face of flange to axis of axle) 3 years ago. Cost < $300 but I did the disassembly and reassembly. It no longer gets 700~800 pound logs chained to the bucket it but works well for everything else i.e snow removal, bucket full of wood, carrying saws & tools into the wood lot,... everything but maxing out the FEL capacity. I've accumulated some tools and changed some technique so the 3-point does the heavy lifting now.

I have the prints and specs for the original axle if you're considering having a new axle made. PM me and I'll get them to you.

The replacement axle Ford introduced as a cure for this issue in 1979 ~ 1980 (I could never pinpoint the time or serial number the fix was implemented) is oversized in diameter. It is not a one part swap. It involves several components and is quite pricey!

If it's a strong runner and mechanically sound other than the axle you'll have no trouble selling it as a parts tractor, but $3500 is steep in that condition. If repaired (it looks in better shape than mine) I'd guess it would bring in the $6~7k range very easily.

 

[bspeedy]

Doesn't look like a bad machine overall. Has some desirable features - loader, 4x4, rops (rops was not standard on those). 1900 hours is not too many if well kept. i don't love that it has been repainted, but it looks nice enough. I agree that it is a 6-7k tractor if repaired. I think it's worth 2000 to 2500 as it sits. The loader should be worth 1000 to 1500. If you can't disassembly it yourself, you are really at the mercy of someone's shop rate for the teardown and reassembly.

 

[bspeedy]

Also has rear wheel weights - a nice option. Grille is not all bashed up like most. Bucket is in good shape. I'd fix it, but I can do the teardown / assembly myself. If you absolutely can't, or if there are other issues that you haven't mentioned, OR if you just want out of it because you're ticked off... I'd advise you to take 3 grand if someone offers it to you. That's a fair deal for them and really not too bad for a broken tractor. If you lived closer, I'd probably be dumb enough to try it myself...

 

[Wolfy]

The Ford 1100 to 1900 2wd and 4wd series were all great tractors. Only the 4wd 1700 had the weak front axle, which was resolved for late 1700 and all 1710 tractors. A lot of great advice has been given. I think fixing it and selling it will net you more profit than selling as is. Another option would be to find a solid 2wd axle and install that.