Ford 330 or 391 ?

[Anonymous-0]

Which would be the better motor in a Ford grain truck? The 330 sounds like it would be to small, but is it compariable to the 350 Chevy.
How does the 330 stand up durablity wise? I just dont know much about Ford products so I am asking the most intelligent board I know of.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I forgot to add, 16' grain box, 2 1/2 ton truck. It holds about 275-300 bu corn. Thanks again.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The 330 is for an industrial application so would be a stronger engine. I'm not sure if it's a big block or not. I think U-haul had 330's in some of their trucks. I don't know much about the Fords but with GM the 366 is a big block and was used in bigger trucks than the 350. The 330 Ford might be a similar comparison. Dave

 

[Bob]

There should be NOTHING wrong with the 391 truck engine, either.

 

[kc4ee]

There's actually 2 330 engines, the 330MD and the 330HD. The 330HD has the heavy duty crankshaft and the sodium cooled valves and has the reputation of being one very tough engine. The 391 has all the same stuff but has the reputation of breaking crankshafts. The nod would go to the 391 for power and 300HD for durability. the 330MD is more akin to the car and pickup engines and is less desireable.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Either engine is good. Question with the little one is, how far and fast do you need to run loaded ? I have a couple of old grain trucks that carry a 300-350 bu load with a 304 and 318 engine that do the job just fine if there is no great need to run much more than 40 mph loaded.

Most of those old guys with a 2 spd axle having about 8-9/1 low and 6/1 high ratio. will move a lot of weight, just not very fast.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

Our 1971 Ford F-600 came with a 330 in it... was a durable engine, but low on power for the 325 bushels of wheat we hauled with it - 3rd gear to get up most hills, all the way down to 2nd on the bigger hills.

It has since been replaced with a 361 and we hardly ever need to shift, and it"s only from 4 high to 4 low on the hills.

On the other hand, I truly prefer the 62 Ford with the inline 6 - nice smooth power, lugs up the hills no problem, just have to shift more often - but way better on fuel!

 

[Leland]

The 391 will last a lot longer ,they were built to be abused ,a farmer put a 390 he had laying around in a f750 and it did not like 400 bushel loads died rather quickly .

 

[Doug in IL]

The 330, 361 and 391 are all big block FE series engines

 

[Roy Suomi]

I've got a 330 in my F-600...It's a pig...Wish I had a 361 like my older one had...

 

[Fudd@work]

We have lots of 391 stuff that we would like to get rid of. Used blocks, cranks, intake and exhaust manifolds. Probably enough to put an engine together. We upgraded to new trucks with Cummins so we have lots of parts laying around. Probably a pickup full. We are in Denver, CO.