3400 Engine Removal

[KV Bruce]

I have a 1968 3400 gasoline tractor with a Ford front end loader. Can I remove the engine for overhaul without removing the front end loader?? If not, any tips to remove loader would be appreciated.

 

[RickB]

You need to remove the loader. With the bucket atached to the loader frame, the whole thing nearly balances if lifted at the grille guard. Others have posted that with the bucket removed, the loader frame is nearly balanced when lifted from the mast where the rear of the boom is pinned.

 

[Greg Wolodkin]

Removing the loader isn't too bad of a job. If you have another tractor with a loader or backhoe you can use it to lift and remove your 3400's loader. If you don't have another tractor, you can do it on level ground with a floor jack.

Here's what I've done in the past. Be careful and think through every step before you do it.. I know folks who have lost fingers and I'm sure others have hurt themselves far worse working with heavy stuff like this. Use your own best judgement.

Assuming it's a Ford 730 loader, and assuming you don't have another machine to assist you, one basic way to do it involves:

1. Put a few hundred pounds of weight in the bucket to hold it down
2. Remove the four bolts from the spider and disconnect the pump drive shaft from the crankshaft.
3. Put a floor jack under the pipe frame just below the loader's pump, but don't lift yet
4. Block up the rear legs and remove the bolts which hold them to the axle
5. Remove the four bolts that hold the loader frame to the front bolster

At this point you can roll the tractor backwards until the back legs clear the rear axle. Stop before the front axle hits the loader frame. Then jack the loader up to get clearance over the front axle, and back the rest of the way out. On level ground you don't even need the tractor to be running.. you can roll it by hand and stay well clear of the loader frame. Once the tractor is clear put the loader's legs back on the blocks and you're done.

There are definitely other ways to do it as well. Another loader can replace the floor jack, and you may not need to unbolt the spider if the tractor isn't running.

I like wooden blocks better than jack stands for the back legs of the loader. I also found it easier to park the loader where I wanted it and then remove it by backing the tractor out.

Hope this helps-
Greg

 

[KV Bruce]

Thanks for your advice. I"m not sure what model loader I"m working with so I"ll try to attach a photo. I do have a back hoe support that has to be removed as well. Started disassembly today, everything is big and tight!!

 

[Greg Wolodkin]

Looks like a 730. Check the aluminum plate on the inside left front and you'll see a model # like 15-529 or similar. Post that number and we can figure out for sure what it is. But given that it's a Ford loader those removal steps should do it.

Tractor looks to be in really nice shape!
Greg

 

[steve n carol]

(quoted from post at 23:16:56 12/14/11) I have a 1968 3400 gasoline tractor with a Ford front end loader. Can I remove the engine for overhaul without removing the front end loader?? If not, any tips to remove loader would be appreciated.

I was able to leave the loader attached to my 4500 when I split the unit for a clutch replacement. I also used the loader to hoist the engine out for rebuild at the same time....

The front end (group) has to move forward and out of the way. I used a few 4x4's to brace the loader, from the ground, in the raised position. I also placed angle irons (2 of them) over the rams. I used hose clamps as a bit of insurance to keep them in place whilst I placed a load onto the angle iron.

Cribbed up the tranny and yanked the engine with a come-along using the loader frame to attach to...sl

 

[steve n carol]

looking at your picture, if that is the machine in question, you have a grill protector that appears to be attached (welded) to your loader frame. mind does not have that.

Good looking machine...sl

 

[daman]

Ya nice looking unit,what happen to the engine that makes you need to pull it?

 

[KV Bruce]

I siezed the engine while scraping a dirt road. I now know better than to pull the dirt uphill with a fully loaded scraper. The engine is completely stuck, will not turn over, even tried bumping it going down a hill.

 

[daman]

I see wow..did you try soaking it?

 

[steve n carol]

(quoted from post at 09:37:58 12/16/11) I siezed the engine while scraping a dirt road. I now know better than to pull the dirt uphill with a fully loaded scraper. The engine is completely stuck, will not turn over, even tried bumping it going down a hill.

Nothing wrong with pulling dirt uphill....if you can... that's why I have my tractor....sl

 

[KV Bruce]

Data plate is hard to read, but it looks like 19-529. I have removed the hydraulic lines to the back hoe support fitting. Everything is loose, just waiting on my neighbor to help with his back hoe to remove canopy. The engine has been "soaking" since day one.

 

[Greg Wolodkin]

(quoted from post at 17:04:56 12/17/11) Data plate is hard to read, but it looks like 19-529. I have removed the hydraulic lines to the back hoe support fitting. Everything is loose, just waiting on my neighbor to help with his back hoe to remove canopy. The engine has been "soaking" since day one.

Yep, 15-529 is a 730 loader. Mine is the same model number. If you get into it down the road and have questions, drop me a line as I've got the manuals for it.

Greg

 

[KV Bruce]

Thanks again for your help. Like you said, the job wasn"t that bad. Around an hour. I"ll try to attach pics.

 

[Greg Wolodkin]

(quoted from post at 16:55:07 12/25/11) Thanks again for your help. Like you said, the job wasn"t that bad. Around an hour. I"ll try to attach pics.

Nice work. Forgot to mention.. getting it back on is harder but not incredibly so. Just reverse the procedure, basically. But getting all of the bolts lined back up can be tricky. I do the front bolts first. After you get one started, the rest are fairly easy. I found that a pair of pipe clamps and a few thin boards or pieces of steel come in handy to get the back bolts sucked up tight against the axle in order to get them through e.g. the fenders on top and the loader bracked on the bottom. If you don't share fender bolts and just have u-bolts this might not matter much.

Thanks for sharing the pics!
Greg