Ford 3000 Diesel vs Gas

[Tupperville]

There is a Ford 3000 diesel with a loader within 1 hour from my home.
I don't see the hours listed in the ad and it appears to be a snow pusher.
I never owned a diesel, is this something I should avoid?
What should I look for or ask?

 

[used red MN]

I never owned a diesel, is this something I should avoid?
What should I look for or ask?

That is a rather open ended question if you don’t tell us where you live as far as your climate and what you will be using the tractor for.

 

[Tupperville]

That is a rather open ended question if you don’t tell us where you live as far as your climate and what you will be using the tractor for.

I'm across the Detroit River in Ontario, Canada, I can drive 20 minutes and see the American side of the river.

I have never owned a diesel tractor and was just curios about problems they may or may not give.

I won't be doing any snow removal but I believe that snow blower comes with the tractor.

 

[Wdj]

I have a 3400 diesel with the Simms injector pump. One of the best cold starting I've been around. But it rarely gets below the 20s here.

 

[pomester]

There is a Ford 3000 diesel with a loader within 1 hour from my home.
I don't see the hours listed in the ad and it appears to be a snow pusher.
I never owned a diesel, is this something I should avoid?
What should I look for or ask?

My experience gas vs diesel is that condition is everything in regards to diesel. If compression is good and the injection pump/injectors in good condition, then the engine starts and runs to great satisfaction. The 3000 is something on the order of 50 years old - how are things? When work is needed, doing it right gets expensive quickly.

Gas engines are more tolerant of less than optimum mechanicals. And 'light' (in-frame rings and a valve job sort of stuff) overhauls will often get you back to work with minimal expense. Example: a gas engine valve job is often just a matter of grinding the valves and seats, with a diesel it's more likely to be necessary to replace the seats and valves to keep the combustion chamber within specifications.

Diesels stink. Depending on your situation, it may not be a factor, but if your shop is your tractor shed or the tractor is stored in the same area... well, I get tired of the stink and the oily exhaust film on everything.

Diesels are nominally more efficient, everything else being equal, but with the price differential between gasoline and diesel right now, I think your fuel costs per unit of work favors gasoline for this size of tractor.

I certainly wouldn't be scared of a Ford 3 cylinder diesel, but I'd check condition very carefully as a quality overhaul would likely be more than the purchase price of the tractor.

 

[Tupperville]

I was at my uncles farm where my tractor is and he was filling up his diesel john Deere when I stopped to say hi.

I never noticed how loud they are, on our farm my father never had a diesel tractor until he began collecting tractors and he brought an oliver 66 diesel from western canada.

 

[a49deere]

My vote is for the diesel. They may be a little ornery in the cold weather, but they make heaters that fix that. They are better than gas a far as fuel economy and if plowing or brush hogging, they will shine as far as torque goes. Had a MF 135 gas until i bought a ford 3910, never missed the MF after!

 

[a49deere]

My experience gas vs diesel is that condition is everything in regards to diesel. If compression is good and the injection pump/injectors in good condition, then the engine starts and runs to great satisfaction. The 3000 is something on the order of 50 years old - how are things? When work is needed, doing it right gets expensive quickly.

Gas engines are more tolerant of less than optimum mechanicals. And 'light' (in-frame rings and a valve job sort of stuff) overhauls will often get you back to work with minimal expense. Example: a gas engine valve job is often just a matter of grinding the valves and seats, with a diesel it's more likely to be necessary to replace the seats and valves to keep the combustion chamber within specifications.

Diesels stink. Depending on your situation, it may not be a factor, but if your shop is your tractor shed or the tractor is stored in the same area... well, I get tired of the stink and the oily exhaust film on everything.

Diesels are nominally more efficient, everything else being equal, but with the price differential between gasoline and diesel right now, I think your fuel costs per unit of work favors gasoline for this size of tractor.

I certainly wouldn't be scared of a Ford 3 cylinder diesel, but I'd check condition very carefully as a quality overhaul would likely be more than the purchase price of the tractor.

A diesel engine will last ten times longer than a gas engine if taken care of!

 

[pomester]

A diesel engine will last ten times longer than a gas engine if taken care of!

Like I said, 'condition is everything...'

 

[Eman85]

It's over 50 years old, how bad could it be? Seriously like others said about condition. If you buy it make a place to plug it in and have a block heater on it. No heater and you'll be cranking the battery dead in very cold weather.

 

[Tupperville]

It's over 50 years old, how bad could it be? Seriously like others said about condition. If you buy it make a place to plug it in and have a block heater on it. No heater and you'll be cranking the battery dead in very cold weather.

 

[Tupperville]

I never thought of having to plug it in. The pole barn I rented has no hydro.

I passed on the tractor anyway, the instrument panel was missing and could not see how many hours were on it.

The loader was not a Ford loader or even a good aftermarket add-on.

It had other issues.

 

[Sean in PA]

The instrument clusters on the Ford tractors of that era never lasted too long, so even if it had one that was working, it would most likely have been a replacement, so original hours would still be unknown.