Good afternoon. I just picked up a 1993 3230. I'll use this thread to ask questions as they come my way. Here it is:
https://files.catbox.moe/slb9oa.jpg
So far I've changed the oil, adjusted the throttle so the hand/foot throttles play nice, and greased as many zerks as I could find. I also removed the front bumper (personal aesthetic preference) and yellow triangle (I will never drive on a road).
It runs great and everything seems to work. Except the tach. So I have no idea how many hours is on it but definitely more than the 1410 listed. I've ordered a new instrument cluster from this site.
Questions:
- If I want to run my PTO chipper before I get a working tach is there a good way to estimate RPM? Or just do what sounds okay? Or just hold off?
- Is there a good video or guide on purging the water separator / bleeding the fuel? The manual is a little unclear.
- I get a mild whirring noise when the clutch is let out and in neutral. Is this normal, problematic, or somewhere in between?
- I want to get a hydraulic top link. How do I know what link and hoses to order? (I'm somewhat new to tractors)
- Any vital maintenance I need to do? Oil is gtg, and miraculously the transmission fluid is crystal clear. The manual implies you need to replace injectors yearly--is that for real?
- Finally, are there any online resources for these things? I'm coming up empty handed when I search _anything_ for this tractor and it's incredibly frustrating. For example, my oil filter. I couldn't find a single site online that had oil filter lookups and I eventually worked my way backwards from a bunch of breadcrumbs leading from a '70 dodge charger to a M1 filter at autozone (that appears to be working perfectly by the way). I'm used to model-specific or at least model-range-specific car and truck forums, and with this tractor, it feels like Ford sold ten of them or something. It's kind of bizarre to me.
This post was edited by 2nb on 03/21/2023 at 03:02 pm.
https://files.catbox.moe/slb9oa.jpg
So far I've changed the oil, adjusted the throttle so the hand/foot throttles play nice, and greased as many zerks as I could find. I also removed the front bumper (personal aesthetic preference) and yellow triangle (I will never drive on a road).
It runs great and everything seems to work. Except the tach. So I have no idea how many hours is on it but definitely more than the 1410 listed. I've ordered a new instrument cluster from this site.
Questions:
- If I want to run my PTO chipper before I get a working tach is there a good way to estimate RPM? Or just do what sounds okay? Or just hold off?
- Is there a good video or guide on purging the water separator / bleeding the fuel? The manual is a little unclear.
- I get a mild whirring noise when the clutch is let out and in neutral. Is this normal, problematic, or somewhere in between?
- I want to get a hydraulic top link. How do I know what link and hoses to order? (I'm somewhat new to tractors)
- Any vital maintenance I need to do? Oil is gtg, and miraculously the transmission fluid is crystal clear. The manual implies you need to replace injectors yearly--is that for real?
- Finally, are there any online resources for these things? I'm coming up empty handed when I search _anything_ for this tractor and it's incredibly frustrating. For example, my oil filter. I couldn't find a single site online that had oil filter lookups and I eventually worked my way backwards from a bunch of breadcrumbs leading from a '70 dodge charger to a M1 filter at autozone (that appears to be working perfectly by the way). I'm used to model-specific or at least model-range-specific car and truck forums, and with this tractor, it feels like Ford sold ten of them or something. It's kind of bizarre to me.
This post was edited by 2nb on 03/21/2023 at 03:02 pm.