# Just bought some birthday presents for the new lady (69 Ford 3400) in my life.



## Grandpasghost (Mar 22, 2021)

*Hi All;
*New to the forum and technically a first time tractor owner. I grew up ranching near Walden Co, drilled oil, worked construction and currently farm so I’ve lost count of how many hours I’ve logged in different seats. I picked up a Ford 3400 this weekend for $4500. Even with the issues I notice off the bat that’s a steel for our area. She was born March 24 1969 on day shift. She’s lived a hard life with the Scot County TN DOT before bouncing farm to farm and is far from getting retired to the awning in my front yard. For what I paid for her I’m confident I’ll get more than my moneys worth out of her before I die and then my boys can fight about her.
First project is some basic maintenance. I’ve got parts showing up all week to replace ignition components (plugs, wires, points, cap, rotor) fluid flush and all new filters. Next on the list will be disassembling the steering. Right now she is toed out 4” because several rod ends are trash. Third big thing is going to be the 3 link. You’ll see what Im talking about from the pictures. I’m guessing it’s a transplant rear end and they just rigged something up to get by thats hung out for 20+ years.
Eventually I may decide to convert her to a backhoe but for now she is going to work her butt off. We do pastured pork and poltry and the 12 acres we have was neglected for 20 ish years.


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## Grandpasghost (Mar 22, 2021)

If somebody happens to have a whole 3 point assembly in the East Tn region they are willing to part with let me know. The hydraulic mash up is cool and all but I’d prefer a gravity drop since my wife will be running the brush hog mostly. What I’m missing is the whole thing that goes between the diff and the seat.


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## Grandpasghost (Mar 22, 2021)

The deck plate/ top plate!!! It was bugging me that I couldn’t remember the name! I found a complete one off a 71 3000 gasser with a cracked block near by. Now I’ve got extra hydraulic parts to do something with.


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## HarveyW (Sep 15, 2014)

Hello Grandpasghost, welcome to the forum. 

You might consider swapping the entire rear end of the 3000 onto your tractor. OR, put the engine and loader from your tractor onto the 3000. OR just live with the tractor you have.


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## Grandpasghost (Mar 22, 2021)

HarveyW said:


> Hello Grandpasghost, welcome to the forum.
> 
> You might consider swapping the entire rear end of the 3000 onto your tractor. OR, put the engine and loader from your tractor onto the 3000. OR just live with the tractor you have.


Where is the fun in living with it lol?
I’m going to split her this winter or sooner if the clutch gives up. I’m already talking to the brothers that own the tractor grave yard in my area about buying the back end. $11,000 including what I paid for the tractor and 4 months with my boys in the shop and I’ll have a tractor able to do anything a new $40,000 one can do that will last longer.


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## Grandpasghost (Mar 22, 2021)

Busy couple weeks gearing up for the summer crunch on the farm but I got a little wrench turning in on Butter Cup. Correct tie rod ends are in the mail. The mechanical engineer neighbor and I have plans for the 3 point mash up and I still haven’t tracked down the perfect back side for her. I’m being real gentle like with the clutch so she lasts until the winter months.








Taught the boys how to adjust brakes, identify leaks and hit things with a hammer before giving up and getting the smoke wench to remove stubborn bolts. If somebody knows a place to order the loader hydraulic filter that’s the correct one for the 730 on it I’d appreciate it.


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## Grandpasghost (Mar 22, 2021)

Steering is back together and adjusted correctly. Whoever messed with it last needs their head examined for thinking what they did made sense. Oil and filters changed, the transmission and gear end looked like chocolate milk but cover plates were off and everything mechanically is in good shape. Thing 2 and I sanded a couple spots on the loader to see if they were cosmetic or structural problems. His inherited OCD made him the perfect candidate for painting the sanded spots. I’m trying to figure out why the power steering pump reservoir becomes pressurized (shoots milky oil out of the cap vent) after I shut the tractor off 🤦‍♂️. I’m wondering if it’s the heat from the power steering making the residual water in the system expand 🤔🤔😒. I’m open to suggestions because I’m stumped on this one.








Neighbor and I had a chance to math out the hydraulic hitch system on the tractor. The more I look at it the more I’m debating just keeping it, who doesn’t want to be able to lift the back of their tractor off the ground. I also decided to risk it and pull the tractor in to the second story of the 1890 barn at the place. Not a single creak or crack even with the boys functioning hydraulics and turning the wheels wile I tinkered on things during the rainstorms. Whole thing is made out of rough cut red oak and way over built so I wasn’t that concerned. Coupe sheets of 3/4” ply wood and some bracing on some dry rotted beams and I should be ok to split her in the barn this winter. Until then my wife kicked my tractor out Sunday because she needed a place to the store hay she found a sweet deal on to feed the animals we don’t yet have 🤨.








Since she evicted Butter Cup (I’m a Marine and a former roughneck so the name probably doesn’t mean what your thinking it does) I made her learn to drive it. She moved probably 12 yards of dirt and tooled around on the hills getting stuck and back out and I never once felt the need to jump off my perch on the 3 point arms. I did make a couple faces when she ground the gears and then almost crashed in to the barn but she did great for
having her cherry popped.








Old girl has already worked off her purchase price for what she’s been asked to do compared to what rental costs are in our area and she is still running like a top. I still haven’t found a source for the loader filter in the frame pillar and have lost a little faith in my local NH dealership (two wrong filters so far.) there is a third one I ordered and I’ll find out Friday if it works. So far the other two NH says should fit that 730 series loader were too small. 
In other news, I’ve tracked down a 70 4000 diesel with a blown motor on a neighbors back 40 that he wants gone (if I can get through the swamp to get it.) I may still continue with my plan to convert the back end and use the loader hydraulic tie in to control extra goodies like a hydraulic third link. Changing the back end to a 4000 also opens the opportunity of adding an oil cooler and a bigger volume front hydraulic pump when the current one gives out so I can have cool toys like a flail mower 😍. It would be one of the super small 4 ft ones and I’m sure I’ll have to fabricate some things. To cope with the required gallon per minute rate I may even get crazy and fabricate some additional tank space in the loader system. Even with all that it would be a huge soil building tool and I can’t copy and paste what’s in my head to my kids without finding some crazy projects like I grew up doing. Climbing in side of a bailer with a lit smoke wrench at age 9 and dodging thrown tools builds character I’m told.


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