6000 Series SOS

[Weissman4]

Hey Guys & Gals (If there is any out there) I recently found a Ford 6000 Series Diesel tractor up for sale here locally, and I am interested in buying it. Unfortunately, there is a few issues with it, but I wanted to seek some opinions on it first. The tractor starts and runs good, pto engages, 3 point lifts and lowers. The owner states that 2 gears in trans don?t always engage, and has a few leaks. Needs a battery and power steering hose/line replaced. Does anyone think the transmission issue is internal or a linkage issue? Would you stay away from this buy with the reputation of the SOS's. The owner is asking $1800.00.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Bern]

Does the owner know which two gears don't work? Have you taken it for a test drive yourself to confirm that the issue is limited to only two gears?

 

[Weissman4]

Bern from what I understand it is 3 and 5 that don't engage / slip out. He stats that it seems like it goes into neutral, but when you idle up and goes back in. I am going to try an go out and drive it with my father-in-law and see what exactly is going on.

Here is a video of the tractor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rybrSMKPo

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Scott PA]

Take a pen and paper with you. Ride the brake pedals to put it under a load in all the gears, you will find that under load some more won't work and you can write it down to troubleshoot. It will cost more to repair it than it is worth so depends if you really want a 6000 for a showpiece or not.

 

[Weissman4]

Scott I will try that and see what happens. I?m not wanting to restore it. I have plenty of farmalls for that I just need it to clean up a place I recently bought. Like run a 3 point 5ft disc, drag, and move gravel.

 

[showcrop]

A 6000 could be one of the best buys today in old tractors. They are known as one of the worst tractors ever built, so they don't usually bring much, but in the last year or two there is a lot of collector interest in them which is pushing prices up. If in testing it out you find that it has enough working gears to get your job done, and you can get the owner to come down a little, you could likely get your work done and sell it for a little more than you pay for it when done with it.

 

[Zeke Boniface]

I have a five speed SOS 3000D (band 1 doesn't engage) which I bought that way a few years ago. It has two slow gears, 1&2, two medium gears, 5&6, and one half-fast gear, 9. I usually keep a 3 point scoop on it, and use it as sort of a motorized wheelbarrow. Pretty handy. I paid a couple hundred more than the owner is asking for the 6000. I can't vouch for the stability of a tranny with any other combination of missing gears.

Zeke B.

 

[Larry NCKS]

(quoted from post at 15:37:15 03/03/20) The owner states that 2 gears in trans don?t always engage,

An SOS transmission has 4 clutches (early ones had 3 hydraulic and 1 sprague. I'm not sure this ORC transmission was ever used in a 6000) and 3 bands.

For any ratio to fail, one of those 7 components had to fail. Depending on which one failed, a minimum of 4 ratios have to be affected.

Would you stay away from this buy with the reputation of the SOS's.

The SOS reputation you're talking about is greatly over exaggerated. By the time the DDC transmission came out, 1962 at the latest, they were as bullet proof as any other transmission. The problems in the very first SOS were quickly corrected and the bad reputation was no longer deserved!

 

[Scott PA]

It is not the best choice to rely on for regular use. It may need worked on more than it gets used.

 

[Bern]

Excellent post Larry. Your comments about failure analysis, as well as the SOS reputation were spot on.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Before we talk too glowingly about their reputation...
There is one small fact about the 6000s that should at least get a passing mention:
Only about 10% of them are still in use.

 

[Larry NCKS]

Thanks, Bern!

 

[Bern]

Keep in mind it wasn't just the SOS transmission that earned the 6000 a poor reputation. When Ford recalled those tractors in 1962, darn near every area of the tractor was rebuilt, including the engine, transmission, rear axle, hydraulic system, even the generator! What makes the 6000 so unique is how pitiful the entire machine was when it was first introduced.