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SE Wisconsin | I have a decent lead on a Ford 8700 that I am thinking of buying for cutting hay and round baling. What are the good and bad of this machine?
Thanks
Tim |
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| Have had one for years and have yet to have a problem with it. N/A engine but adding a turbo is easy and really wakes it up. Shifting can be erratic if the linkage is worn. |
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Lincoln County. NC | Neighbor has one he bought new and put a M&W turbo kit on almost immediately. Last time I drove it was about 1990 and it had 12,000 hours on it then. It has had an easier life in recent years, and I won't say it has been troublefree, but man, that tractor has done a pile of work. I believe it has the original engine block, pretty good for a parent bore engine. |
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WCOH | My neighbor ran one to almost 17,000 hrs. on original engine. |
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nc IA | Dad had one on the farm as our primary tractor, never did much other then oil and filter changes over a period of years. Wish I had it back. Dual power seemed less trouble then the T/A of the day, and the cab was fair. Shifting was not exactly the greatest, but workable. |
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Southcentral WI | Tractors are very reliable. 401 cid engine did give problems if coolant wasn't changed/flushed every so often, do mine at every 3 years. Cylinder walls will pit if not maintained. Can get a boatload of power out of that engine, rest of tractor will take it also. Basically the same as an original 8000 ford from the sixties, block right on thru, with the exception that there's dual power on the tranny now.....ten times better than any TA out there. Reliable. Have 12000 hours on mine, seem to rebuild every 4000 hours actually, and maintenance isn't a problem here, she just gets tired at those intervals. But for haywork, shouldnt be any issues.
Dave |
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SE Wisconsin | thank you very much for the info. The tractor we are looking at just had the engine redone at the dealer. We are going to try cutting and baling with it this weekend. We will see what happens.
Thanks
Tim |
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| I can't imagine how you'd wear that engine down in 4000 hours unless you gave the smoke screw about 2 full turns upwards? I've got a couple of 3 cylinders of the same geometry, one of which has had the snot pucked out if since day one. It's got broken rings on one hole right now, and to be honest it's had them since 2 years now... but that's probably the result of having run it with a bad valve for a while too... For what I do with it now it's good enough until I get around to fixing it... but the point being that there is a reason for it's poor health.
The other one is running strong at 7-8000 hours as are all of my 4 cylinders.
Rod |
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WCOH | I gave our 8000 two turns out this spring, sure smoothed out the blower work. Still had fact. wires on it. |
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Southcentral WI | Yes, the 9700 I'm talking about has had the screw turned out. She really puts out the power when fresh though. Used to run a 900 forage harvester, do all the tillage, manure handling, and to get 5-600 hrs a year on this machine was nothing. Now it's relegated to simple duties, I'm honestly afraid to put too much load on it at this time....pulls a 27' field cultivator just fine, we'll see about fall tillage this year, however with my off farm job, taking home a newer mfwd is no problem.......
Dave |
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8700 Ford Tractor?
