select-o-speed

I am thinking about buying an early 4000 ford
tractor (4 cylinder). I am interested in a select-
o-speed. it will be used for tractor rides mowing
hay and plowing. would the transmission stand up to
farm class tractor pulling on occasion as well?

Likely. A 4000 would have the 2nd generation SOS, which is very good when taken care of.

If it has been properly maintained over the years and everything is adjusted properly then yes, it should do fine at a tractor pull. Some folks swear by the S-O-S for pulling.

I have the later 3 cylinder 4000 with a S-O-S tranny, and I have pulled a number of stumps out with it and I probably put more stress on it with repeated jerks on the chain I was pulling them with than a typical tractor pull run would provide. The tires should lose traction well before you stress the transmission to the point of causing any damage. I don't have a diffy lock on mine and use the separate brake pedals to force the power away from the wheel that is slipping and a couple of times I have slipped and applied both brakes at the same time to the point of killing the engine, but it didn't seem to make one bit of difference to the transmission.

With all that being said, they are 50 year old tractors, and unless you are the original owner and have been the only one to ever run it, you don't know what kind of abuse or lack of proper maintenance it might have had at some point in its history, so something may be lurking inside waiting to give out on you. A tractor that you use to pull with should not be your only source of running your farm if your farm is your lively hood. It should be something that you can do without for a while if something does decide to give out on you when you're pulling. I have seen some fools take their only tractor to a tractor pull and break something on it and then have to buy another tractor or pay someone else to come in and work their land because they need to plant or harvest the next week and the parts to fix the broken tractor will take days or weeks to arrive.

My main tractor right now is a 66 4000 with the 8 speed and an ac wd so I have backups. My farming chores consist of helping the neighbors on occasion or attending the localplow/harvest events.

Competing in a transfer sled tractor pull is usually not hard on a tractor because for the most part you lighten your tractor to get into the lightest weight class possible, so you will loose traction and spin out before there is significant stress on anything. You would be pulling at around 4,000-4500 lb class. If rules allow you could start out in 7 then shift down to 6 or five. I read somewhere that skipping a gear when shifting the SOS is a smoother shift than just one because fewer parts in the transmission are moving. You can remove one of the selector side covers and move "stop pins" to make the selector go to where you want it to.

My brother pulled his 4cyl 4000 many times with no trouble. He ran 4000 and 4500. We also pulled a couple 6000's and now I run a 5200 with a select o speed, 18.4-38s, and a turbo. Have had nothing but good luck with them. We think they do a better job than a standard transmission. Beat several 600+ cube Minnes with a stock 6000 at 7500 and 8500lbs. We are kind of partial to select o speeds though. I guess thats why we have 10 of them. The only downside is shifting from 5th to 4th, if you wait too long and it is pulling down the hesitation is to long and it can get a little exciting when it hits 4th.

What are the tips and tricks to the more power question with the 4000? Without getting to carried away. My 3 cylinder needs help too

We rebuilt the throttle linkage to get more rpms out of the 961 we pulled and I did port and polish the head which made a big difference. That tractor ran real well and we took several wins at 4000 and 4500 with it running against 77 Olivers, Farmall H"s and WD Allis"s. Those things would not hurt you when you wanted to use it otherwise. We have since put a corn picker on the 961.