Mudrig's new Ford 3000

[Mudrig150]

Just picked up a new toy:

A mid 60s 3000 diesel select-o-speed.
I am well aware of the reputation of these machines, but for the work I'm doing and the price it was the best I could get. Eventually I plan on 8 speed swapping it, but for now it's keeping the select-o-speed. Lots of little things to fix and questions to ask.
-The steering cylinder on the right side needs seals, how does the end of the cylinder come off? I know it unthreads but it's tapered so it looks like it'll need a special tool.
-The radiator constantly leaks out of the overflow. Cap seems like it's barely holding pressure, what rating is it supposed to be?
-The blade is coming off because it is SHOT. It's a mess of torch cut steel, fabricobbled brackets, and booger welds. It's a 3 point moldboard stuck onto a modified Dearborn built workmaster blade frame. The hydraulic valve has a lift and what seems to be float position but it doesn't quite act like float. Am I correct in it being just two positions of float and lift? I want to add rear hydraulics eventually for lifting attachments.
-The PTO handle pulled out normally but now it seems the cable is stuck in the engaged position. How do I get access to free the cable up?

Looking forward to getting it all working good again!

 

[Sean in PA]

Congratulations. If the S-O-S runs good in all gears, keep it maintained properly and it should last a long time. Proper maintenance means changing the fluid and the filter regularly and keeping the bands adjusted properly. I had a '73 4000 with the S-O-S for almost 20 years. I put less than 50 hours on it per year, some years less than 20, but I still changed the fluid and filter yearly and adjusted the bands every 2 to 3 years.

How full are you filling the radiator? If you are filling it all of the way up to the top of the upper tank, that is the cause of it spitting out fluid. Run it it until it is good and hot a few times and don't add any coolant to let it find its own level. It needs room for expansion in that top tank when it gets hot. Keep checking the level after it cools down each time. It should stop spitting out coolant when the level gets down to around on or two inches above the core tubes. If it keeps doing it even after the coolant level has gotten down to the top of the core tubes then there is another problem.

If the valve you are asking about is down between your legs while you are sitting on the tractor, there were a few different valves available, some made by Ford and others made by third parties. Some of them had a float position and some of them didn't. Most front blades like that used one way cylinders, with power up and gravity down. Many of the available valves could be configured for one way or two way operation. Are there one or two lines going from the valve to the cylinder on the front blade?

Don't try anything with that PTO cable until you have a copy of the Ford Service Manual or the I&T after market Service Manual. They both have the proper procedure for removing and working on the controls for the S-O-S transmission, including the PTO, which is internal to the trans on the S-O-S. If you start taking things apart without following the proper procedures, it will probably cause more work and possibly more $ spent before you get things back together correctly.

 

[Mudrig150]

Congratulations. If the S-O-S runs good in all gears, keep it maintained properly and it should last a long time. Proper maintenance means changing the fluid and the filter regularly and keeping the bands adjusted properly. I had a '73 4000 with the S-O-S for almost 20 years. I put less than 50 hours on it per year, some years less than 20, but I still changed the fluid and filter yearly and adjusted the bands every 2 to 3 years.

How full are you filling the radiator? If you are filling it all of the way up to the top of the upper tank, that is the cause of it spitting out fluid. Run it it until it is good and hot a few times and don't add any coolant to let it find its own level. It needs room for expansion in that top tank when it gets hot. Keep checking the level after it cools down each time. It should stop spitting out coolant when the level gets down to around on or two inches above the core tubes. If it keeps doing it even after the coolant level has gotten down to the top of the core tubes then there is another problem.

If the valve you are asking about is down between your legs while you are sitting on the tractor, there were a few different valves available, some made by Ford and others made by third parties. Some of them had a float position and some of them didn't. Most front blades like that used one way cylinders, with power up and gravity down. Many of the available valves could be configured for one way or two way operation. Are there one or two lines going from the valve to the cylinder on the front blade?

Don't try anything with that PTO cable until you have a copy of the Ford Service Manual or the I&T after market Service Manual. They both have the proper procedure for removing and working on the controls for the S-O-S transmission, including the PTO, which is internal to the trans on the S-O-S. If you start taking things apart without following the proper procedures, it will probably cause more work and possibly more $ spent before you get things back together correctly.

The radiator seems pretty full to me, the guy said that he kept filling it up every time he ran it so I'm assuming he was filling it all the way up every time.

It's a factory 2 line hydraulic valve, it has a knob that I'm assuming is the drop speed adjustment and then the two positions for lift and lower.

I do luckily have the manual, I was just curious if there was an easy way to loosen the cable conduit from the dash to get access to pull the cable free.

How does the end of the steering cylinder come off? I've got a seal kit coming for it because there's a big chunk taken out of the seal so it needs replaced.

 

[Sean in PA]

I don't have access to the manual at the moment, so I can't help with removal of the cable. From memory, I think that you need to remove two nuts for the conduit, one on the back of the dash and one at the other end of the conduit where it connects to the transmission top cover, and then turn the PTO handle to unscrew the far end of the cable from the PTO lever on the control valve inside the top of the trans, but I can't remember if you turn it clockwise or counter-clockwise. Again, get a copy of the service manual and verify before doing anything, don't rely on my memory. Be careful when tightening those nuts back up as the piece that the nut behind the dash threads onto is fairly cheap pot metal and the threads are easily stripped.

Sorry, I can't help with the steering cylinder. I've never had to take one of those apart.

 

[Mudrig150]

So the steering cylinder is welded together, but the seal I need to replace is luckily held in with a snap ring.

 

[Mudrig150]

Went to start the 3000 today and wouldn't start, which initially was a bit concerning, but luckily I have enough knowledge of diesels to be able to figure out that the fuel filters and injection pump got full of water, which I drained out. Got it bled and it started straight up.
Radiator cap is bad, confirmed by stealing the cap off my bullnose, which is causing it to continuously leak coolant out of the overflow. Luckily it's not building enough pressure to pop the 7 lb cap; the problem with the old cap is that the rubber doesn't even contact the radiator neck.
Plow is now fully off and WOW, it was HEAVY. 5100 was really feeling the weight carrying it, and the lifting chains were tight as guitar strings. Definitely way too heavy for this little machine to be dragging around full time so I'm happy it's off.
Also, turns out this machine is serial number 102550, so number 2550 off the assembly line.
Just need to clean the fuel system, reseal the one steering cylinder, get a new rad cap, and get the PTO cable freed up and then it'll be a nice little bush hog machine.

 

[Steve in IL]

Based on your last photo, the handle that did control your front cylinder looks just like ours. I'd call it a single spool, 4 position valve. (From the rear position) Up, stay, down, and float. I'd think you could easily replace the hoses to the front cylinder with hoses to rear mounted remotes. You might also want to just remove the front plow sub-frame. It does reduce your ground clearance, but it might also protect the belly of the tractor, if you're mowing in nasty conditions. Also, your grill guard looks to be modified to mount to that sub frame. Usually, those guards have legs on either side, so they mount to the front axle.

 

[Mudrig150]

Based on your last photo, the handle that did control your front cylinder looks just like ours. I'd call it a single spool, 4 position valve. (From the rear position) Up, stay, down, and float. I'd think you could easily replace the hoses to the front cylinder with hoses to rear mounted remotes. You might also want to just remove the front plow sub-frame. It does reduce your ground clearance, but it might also protect the belly of the tractor, if you're mowing in nasty conditions. Also, your grill guard looks to be modified to mount to that sub frame. Usually, those guards have legs on either side, so they mount to the front axle.

I'm going to be removing the plow subframe eventually, but right now I don't have any caps for the lines to plug them, so it's being left on.
As far as the brush guard goes, it's literally just hanging on the blade cylinder to get it out of the shed where it's been sitting for nearly 6 years. It's for a 20 series subcompact so the bracket doesn't fit the tractor on its own, and I'll need a separate bracket for the mount on the guard to attach to.

 

[Mudrig150]

Was driving up around the scrap pile about 2 weeks ago and caught a cultivator wing laying in the grass with my UTV, so I decided then that the 3000 would be on bush hogging duty once it was ready.This little 5 footer was on the back of my brother's 655, and I was initially going to run it through all this, but 16 horsepower (and it being down on power on top of that) isn't really enough to cut grass this thick so it struggled. I ended up giving up after going maybe 100 yards in low with the engine nearly dying.
Sealed up the steering cylinder, which was a total pain because the plastic rod guide absolutely WOULD NOT come out. Ended up having to break it to remove it, and then the seal came right out afterward. Filled up the reservoir with the last of the oil I had, and it doesn't leak anymore luckily.
Bush hog went on, and I ran it for about an hour mowing around the scrap pile, and while doing that I noticed that the tractor HATES full throttle. When you start giving it throttle, it'll start blowing some black smoke and will slowly drop to about 1200 RPM unless you bring the throttle to idle and then throttle it back up. It also seems to run hard like the timing is off, almost like an injector is hanging up. Either way, 1200 RPM is about the most you can get out of it without having to constantly adjust the throttle lever.
It's going to need a fuel system cleaning and a good going through but as of now it's still usable, just a bit slow.

 

[Sean in PA]

16 hp??? The 3000 was rated at 35 to 39 PTO hp depending on the transmission and PTO configuration. The Nebraska tests say that the test results were actually between 30 and 37 PTO hp depending on the configuration, diesel vs. gas and which transmission and PTO option it had. But the rated engine rpms for 540 rpm PTO speed is more like 1800 or 1850, not 1200, so you're not spinning the mower at the rpms that it was designed for, which degrades performance tremendously. So if you can get the engine running properly at 1800 to 1850 rpms then it should have plenty of power.

 

[Steve in IL]

16 hp??? The 3000 was rated at 35 to 39 PTO hp depending on the transmission and PTO configuration. The Nebraska tests say that the test results were actually between 30 and 37 PTO hp depending on the configuration, diesel vs. gas and which transmission and PTO option it had. But the rated engine rpms for 540 rpm PTO speed is more like 1800 or 1850, not 1200, so you're not spinning the mower at the rpms that it was designed for, which degrades performance tremendously. So if you can get the engine running properly at 1800 to 1850 rpms then it should have plenty of power.

Sean - He's talking about his bother's JD 655, which is 16hp at the flywheel, and only about 10hp PTO.

 

[Dopp Creek]

View attachment 156953Was driving up around the scrap pile about 2 weeks ago and caught a cultivator wing laying in the grass with my UTV, so I decided then that the 3000 would be on bush hogging duty once it was ready.This little 5 footer was on the back of my brother's 655, and I was initially going to run it through all this, but 16 horsepower (and it being down on power on top of that) isn't really enough to cut grass this thick so it struggled. I ended up giving up after going maybe 100 yards in low with the engine nearly dying.
Sealed up the steering cylinder, which was a total pain because the plastic rod guide absolutely WOULD NOT come out. Ended up having to break it to remove it, and then the seal came right out afterward. Filled up the reservoir with the last of the oil I had, and it doesn't leak anymore luckily.
Bush hog went on, and I ran it for about an hour mowing around the scrap pile, and while doing that I noticed that the tractor HATES full throttle. When you start giving it throttle, it'll start blowing some black smoke and will slowly drop to about 1200 RPM unless you bring the throttle to idle and then throttle it back up. It also seems to run hard like the timing is off, almost like an injector is hanging up. Either way, 1200 RPM is about the most you can get out of it without having to constantly adjust the throttle lever.
It's going to need a fuel system cleaning and a good going through but as of now it's still usable, just a bit slow.

View attachment 156953Was driving up around the scrap pile about 2 weeks ago and caught a cultivator wing laying in the grass with my UTV, so I decided then that the 3000 would be on bush hogging duty once it was ready.This little 5 footer was on the back of my brother's 655, and I was initially going to run it through all this, but 16 horsepower (and it being down on power on top of that) isn't really enough to cut grass this thick so it struggled. I ended up giving up after going maybe 100 yards in low with the engine nearly dying.
Sealed up the steering cylinder, which was a total pain because the plastic rod guide absolutely WOULD NOT come out. Ended up having to break it to remove it, and then the seal came right out afterward. Filled up the reservoir with the last of the oil I had, and it doesn't leak anymore luckily.
Bush hog went on, and I ran it for about an hour mowing around the scrap pile, and while doing that I noticed that the tractor HATES full throttle. When you start giving it throttle, it'll start blowing some black smoke and will slowly drop to about 1200 RPM unless you bring the throttle to idle and then throttle it back up. It also seems to run hard like the timing is off, almost like an injector is hanging up. Either way, 1200 RPM is about the most you can get out of it without having to constantly adjust the throttle lever.
It's going to need a fuel system cleaning and a good going through but as of now it's still usable, just a bit slow.

Regarding your black smoke; what is the condition of your oil bath air cleaner? Secondly, have you changed the oil in the cambox on your injection pump? I have had some erratic behavior from the fuel system when I use tractors that have not had that service.

 

[Mudrig150]

Regarding your black smoke; what is the condition of your oil bath air cleaner? Secondly, have you changed the oil in the cambox on your injection pump? I have had some erratic behavior from the fuel system when I use tractors that have not had that service.

You know, I forgot to check the air cleaner when I had the grille off. I'll have to check it but given how every other fluid looks, it's probably mostly sludge.
Do the CAV pumps even have camboxes being rotary pumps?

 

[Sean in PA]

No, the CAV rotary pumps do not have an oil reservoir like the Simms in-line pumps have.