select o speed opinion

[tool kat]

I am thinking about buying a non running 871 diesel select o speed. Is the tranny a good thing, or should I run, not walk for the exit? What about the engine? Durable? Well thought of? I have heard the transmission is a POS, others have said they are ok. Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Tool Kat

 

[crazy8]

I have a 871 sos . Its a very good comfortable, handling tractor. I also like the range of speeds it has. No need for sherman add ons. I havent had any problems with the tranny. The problem is not many people know how to repair them if there is a problem.I have newer and older tractors ,but the 871 is the one i always grab.Mine Is not a diesel
so I cant tell you about it.

 

[Dunk]

There were some serious problems with the early SOS.

Good mechinics will still tell you to run, not walk, away from them them.

I think the truth is that Ford corrected the problems in the latter years of the SOS.

No, I don't know what those years would be, but I may can look them up in the AM.

 

[old]

Well if its cheap enough maybe, but since it doesn't run you have no idea if the transmission is good or not and if its not it can be a money pit. Some people swear by them and others hate them. My self I will not own one unless its dirt cheap but thats because I also don't know how to work on them and don't really plan to learn. Also if the engine doesn't run a diesel can be costly to fix depending on what is wrong with it
Hobby farm

 

[Dean]

Tool:

Though I like the S-O-S transmission, I consider a non running tractor, S-O-S or otherwise, a parts tractor worth $500 - $1,000 at most.

Non running, you cannot determine the condition of the engine let alone the transmission.

Dean

 

[balatonm]

I have a 4000 D with the SOS transmision and won't trade it for the world.

 

[ZANE]

The 871 diesel has one design improvement???? That I don't like although it does cut down on vibations of the engine that the earlier diesls suffered from. The crankshaft has a set of "balancer" gears and weights on it. The bearings for the balancers are small needle bearings and are very short lived. When I worked at the Ford tractor dealership here in Talladega years ago I could hear one of them coming a mile away. Sounded like a fire truck going to a fire. When the bearings and shaft and balancers got worn the gears that drove them began to separte and made a heck of a noise. It cost an arm and a leg to replace the balancers and that was no guarantee that would completely stop the noise since the cranshaft gear got worn in the process too and it was really expensive to fix it so it didn't make any noise. It did however reduce the vibration of tne engine a lot and the fuel tanks would last a lot longer without the mounting brackets eating holes in the tanks. I have removed the balancers and shafts completely and left them out and there didn't seem to be any more vibration in the engine then than the older engines that didn't have the balancers. Heck, you could alway braze up the holes in the tanks!

The Selecto Speed transmissions that have the hash marks on the shifter window are the ones that give the most problems. There is or was an overrunning or one way sprag clutch in that transmission that wore out pretty quickly. I'd say about every 500 hours of operation. The harder it worked the quicker it wore out. These tractors with the hash marks on the shifter will free wheel when in the hash marked gears. If you are going down hill pulling a heavy load you had better have good brakes or shift into a gear no matter what the speed that had no hash marks. Hash marked gears go fast down hill!!!!!!

Zane

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have a 801 with sos. certain jobs it works great. but cleaning corals in a small pen old 8n 4speed work best. one thing that makes me nervous is cost of repairs. looking at the repair manual it looks like a complicated tranny. ford dealer told me was about 5000 dollars for a rebuild. and about 2700 to conwert it to a manual. has its good points and bad good luck. rj in wyo