Ford Select O speed

[plow hand]

What is the true story behind the selling of the select O Speed shifting to John Deere? Thanks.

 

[John Harmon]

I don't know but I'm glad Ford did one thing right if in fact they sold Select-o-Speed to some one.I had a Ford 2000 with Select-o-Speed and it was used as a Loader Tractor.I don;t believe we abused it as It was traded for an AC D15 w/AC Loader and the D15 was used for the same purpose.with no breakage and down time. The Select-O-Speed was a constant repair bill in my opinion. Granted the D15 was a manual trans mission but it got banged on good as the Ford was also. I liked the little ford but not the Select-o-Speed Trans.

 

[Dean]

Ford did not "sell" any Select-O-Speed technology to JD but I have heard that one of the engineers involved in the design of the S-O-S later left Ford to join JD.

Dean

 

[formerly ny bill]

i mentioned to my travelling mechanic that there was a ford 860 with s-o-s in the local scrap yard. he said that was a good place for one. lol.

 

[Dean]

Not likely.

The Ford 860 was made between late 1954 and late 1957 and ALL of them had 5 speed constant mesh transmissions. The S-O-S transmission was not sold until 1959.

Dean

 

[Goose]

Some 25 years ago when I was Buildings and Grounds Supervisor for a public school district, we had a 971 Ford with SOS. We used it mostly to blade snow and to run a 7', two blade mower, and it was ideal for the way we used it.

But, there was a local fellow with an independent shop who was about the only one around who could work on SOS. Every spring I had him fine tune it and considered it money well spent.

 

[RodinNS]

Ford never sold anything related to the jerk-a-matic to Deere. The story goes that one of Ford's engineers left for a job with Deere... and there he was responsible for the development of Deere's powershift... and no doubt was wise to the S-O-S's failings well enough to have fixed them in the new Deere design. The S-O-S was in many ways well ahead of it's time. It took IH nearly another 25 years to come up with a Torque-Amp that would hold together, nevermind a powershift... so Ford wasn't alone with their experiments.

Rod

 

[Green Envy]

The engineer's name is Harold Bock and was/is still alive last I knew which was over a year ago. He told upper Ford management the SOS was not ready and refused to put the SOS into production. So he was fired and then JD hired him. Unlike what most people think, JD did not hire him away from Ford. And so knowing the SOS was going to fail, he told JD they didn't have to worry and they could take their time and develop a transmission that worked. The other misinformation that seems to be common is Harold Bock designed the SOS and later on the powershift. Not true. He was chief engineer in both cases but the design work was done by other engineers.

Also, later Ford ended up paying JD royalties for 6000 Ford built.

All of that which I have state is info I got from a reliable individual who was well know in the JD world and who talked to Harold himself.

 

[JDseller]

It would have been an 871 or 881 not a 860 SOS.

 

[Bob]

Funny, you know so much about him and don't know how his name is spelled... it's Brock.
Article

 

[MarkB_MI]

Ford did it first. Deere recognized a good thing and did it better.

As maligned as is the SOS, there are still a lot of these fifty-year-old tractors in service.

 

[Dean]

When young, I spent many hours on a nearly new 971 and currently own a 64 4000 S-O-S, which I love.

Though the early ones had issues, the later ones are just about bullet proof given normal maintenance.

Dean

 

[buickanddeere]

The primary story is some Deere haters "finding" something to blame Deere for.

 

[formerly ny bill]

maybe an 861?

 

[RodinNS]

I don't think you understand Ford model nomenclature of the day.
840= 172 engine, unility chassis and 4 speed transmission.
850= 172, utility, 5 speed with non-live PTO
860= 172, utility, 5 speed WITH LIVE PTO.

The xx1 series was a model revision in 1958 that carried the same features. In 1959 they added the S-O-S transmission and I think the diesel engines either that year or 58... but the model numbers for the S-O-S tractors became: 871 for 172 engine, utility chassis, S-O-S and IND 540 PTO.
The 881 was the same except it had (I think) a 2 speed PTO...
The rowcrops were the 9xx series tractors.
The smaller ones were the 5xx (offset) with 134 engine. 6xx with 134 engine and utility chassis and the 7xx which had the regular rowcrop chassis with 134 engine.

Rod

 

[Billy NY]

I would agree, I grew up on a '64 4000 s-o-s, it did all the chores, from snow plowing with a front blade, to side sickle bar and rotary mowing, + cut hay with a 535 mower conditioner and baled with a 532 ford baler. This tractor was previously owned by the NYS Thruway, used for mowing along the highway, so it had probably 10 years doing that, prior us owning it. It had a side or mid mount sickle on it, which you don't see very often. I ran it for years after and that transmission was never any trouble at all. Power steering, independent PTO, was easy to operate, and a great one for a kid to learn on. I would agree, probably not so good for a loader tractor where a later model with a shuttle or similar transmission would be a better match. We were also a ford dealer and sold many thousand series tractors, some were S-0-S, their early predecessors gave em a bad rap, there was a gear for every task, that was the best thing about them.

 

[Green Envy]

Ok smartass.

 

[Anonymous-0]

jd is far from perfect, the 30/40 series suffered with hard starting, atrocious fuel consumption and no low end torque, most of their tillage equip. was poor also especially their diggers, plows and chisel plows

 

[thurlow]

Makes one wonder how they managed to stay in business..........

 

[thurlow]

WOW.........and after all of 18 posts!!!!!

 

[Fullthrottle]

In the 70's my dad bought an 871 that had been involved in a fatal rollover accident to use as a spare tractor. Think he gave about $500 for it. Put a new steering wheel on it and we used it ever since. Every one in a 50 mile radius has borrowed it and the S-O-S still works perfect. The rest of the tractor is pretty much worn out now and I don't think the transmission has been serviced more than twice in all those years. Guess it was a good one. We used to repair them at our shop but haven't worked on one in years. Think they are a love or hate type and most folks that own one fix them themselves. I don't remember them being all that hard to repair either, just not as simple as 4 or 5 speed.

 

[formerly ny bill]

"I don't think you understand Ford model nomenclature of the day."

no argument there- i grew up with farmalls.

i'll try to get another look at the ford if they haven't moved it to greener pastures. it said 8something SOS on the hood, which i noticed because even with my limited ford knowledge, i thought there couldn't be too many left around that were the early (non-thousand) series with SOS