Should I buy this '59 871?

Hello All - This is the first of what I am sure will be many posts to come in the future. I am in the market for my first tractor and have
decided that I would like a late '50s or early '60s ford tractor. I have been keenly watching classifieds for the past couple of months
and came across a 1959 Ford (I think it is an 871) with a select-o-speeds transmission. The engine has recently been rebuilt and the body
has been straightened and repainted, but the transmission is locked. I haven't taken the time yet to go the couple of hours and look at it,
but I did speak with the current owner. He sad he was simply running is mower last fall and it stopped and that is where it has sat for
the last 6-8 months. He is asking $2,000 for it, but it sounds like he would take considerably less for it, but I have to figure out if I
can find someone to fix it that knows these SOS transmissions and secondly...how am I going to get it up on my trailer if it doesn't roll.
The owner did say it pull the lever to release the transmission, but it still isn't going anywhere. I have attached a picture of the
tractor's overall exterior condition.

BTW - I am planning to use out tractor for light loader worker, mowing, maybe a little bit of plowing.

Thanks for any insight!

Ken

You would have to figure out what went wrong with the select-o-speed trans for sure. I had one for many years and it had the right gear for just about task. I liked it quite a bit, others may not. For light loader work, mowing, moldboard plowing, snow plowing its a good set up. Heavy or constant loader useage, not sure how they hold up, with all the constant forward and reverse. Mine was without a loader, but it did the above, and cut, raked, and baled 3000 bales a season for years, plus ran a rotary mower quite a bit, prior to it was a NYS thruway tractor on mowing detail, it saw a lot of hours and performed flawlessly until someone changed the fluid in the trans and used the wrong kind, it stopped while I was running it, like the one you are looking at. It was later given away, sat in a fence row and probably scrapped, wish I had one today still, I liked it that much, power steering. one set of remotes, independent PTO, it was a pleasure to operate, slightly jumpy, but not excessive like some mention here, no different than letting out the clutch to fast on a 4 or 5 speed in my opinion.

S-0-S resources, that's hard to comment on accurately, as parts and mechanics familiar with them are not abundant. It could be a real challenge to repair, but I recently saw one for sale, that stated the S-0-S trans was just completely rebuilt, meaning clutch bands relined and many other things as well. I remember not being able to find someone to work on one in 1980, mine specifically, and we sold them new in thousand series, our mechanics had retired or the one who knew these well had passed away. Lot of them were built and are still working. Better to find one in operating condition or walk away if you are not up to the challenge of one of these, given the situation with them. You will need the manual on these to work on one.

I'm a fan of these, know how well the later ones performed from operating one for years, but I'm at a loss as to what options one has for parts, how to learn to repair or rebuild one at the present time. Most will tell you to keep your money and run "away" from one like this, worth scrap value only, if that. This forum is one good resource for technical information on these, I can't comment beyond that.

RUN do not walk away from this one. The SOS when working are fine but when not working become big money pits fast and it is easy to get in to one and cost you $3000 plus just in parts to fix them. Find an 8501 or 861 both have 5 speeds and the later has live PTO which is good to have

In my opinion, a non functional tractor is a parts tractor.

To me a mid - late 1950s Ford parts tractor is worth $500 - $1500, depending upon tires, rims, accessories, etc.

Dean

We've got 15 tractors with select o speed transmissions and really like them. We use 4 of them quite a bit and they are very handy for the work your talking about. We also tractor pull a couple and they will hold quite a bit of power. The worst problem with the red transmissions is the overrunning clutch which allows it to coast in 5th 6th and 9th. Seems like mowing in 5th or 6th is about right so going down hill we just drag the brake a little to keep it from free wheeling.

If the transmission is whats locked up it should roll with the disconnect undone. All it does is slide a coupler between the trans output and pinion shaft so when its disconnected it shouldn't matter what shape the trans is in it should still roll. If it is working right and disconnected and still won't roll it sounds like a rear end problem.

I'd say the price is high for what it is and since it has a problem. I would feel alright at 750-1000.

Can you troubleshoot problems, read technical manuals, locate parts and rebuild transmissions?
Can you do it on transmissions where many new parts are no longer available?
Do you have storage for extra transmissions and parts of transmissions just in case?
If you answer yes to all of the above then I would say you are a good candidate to buy that tractor.

The scrap yards were cleaned out of 5 speed tranys years ago to replace the SOSs But not you can find a few 5 speeds, I would try to buy it right and swap it out with a 5 speed

I doesn't have to be a 5 speed. A 4 speed will fit in the same "hole"

Welcome to the forum!
I was thinking the same as Ford9000puller, if the disengage
is disengaged, it should roll even if the trans is locked.

I'm not an SOS expert, but maybe the other guys could answer,
what would make an SOS "lock up" going across the field?

One other suggestion, before you buy a tractor with an SOS, find
an owner/seller that is willing to let you drive and work with one.
They are different from any other tractor I've ever driven.

Not arguing here but my interpretation of it "locking up" while running was the TLC and or input shaft gave out at that moment.
Tractor would come to an abrupt halt as though it had locked up.
Ken and I did one TLC/input on a 971. It wasn't a bad job.

Not taken as an argument at all UltraDog.
It was an honest question on my part as I don't know.
I've only owned one SOS, 1964 4000 row crop.
Would the TLC make it not roll with the rear disconnected?

If it's your first tractor, I would want a tractor that had a reasonable chance you could start out with a good experience.

These tractors, as you can read here or either loved or hated, same with the Case brand tractor fitted with case-O-matic transmission or the massey ferguson with the multi-power transmission.

When working they were great, when not working, they were locked up or free wheeling down a hill somewhere.

Many would not let a kid drive them if they had any hills, could not be trusted as they might not have any motor braking.

Just my two cents: I would not buy it as my first and only tractor, unless you get a smoking deal buying it, have a proven mechanic lined up who knows these transmissions forward backwards or have a manual transmission lined up for the mechanic to replace the current transmission.

You're about five to six hundred miles west of me. However, I've worked on SOS transmissions. BTW, I don't see any photo attached.

Some questions and comments for you:

1. Is the owner saying he's disconnected the traction disconnect and it still won't roll?

2. If so, has he truly gotten it disconnected? If he has and the tractor still won't roll, it's got final drive problems rather than transmission problems.

3. Did/does the PTO still work and drive a load? If so you can eliminate TLC/input shaft problems.

4. $2000.00 is too much for any Ford non-runner of that vintage, SOS or otherwise. $1000.00 would be a good plenty unless it can be determined what the problem and cure is and it's relatively inexpensive to fix.

5. Not all issues with an SOS transmission are costly. I've fixed them for ten cents worth of parts. However, the one you're looking at likely isn't going to be that easy.

(quoted from post at 22:37:36 05/11/15)
I'm not an SOS expert, but maybe the other guys could answer,
what would make an SOS "lock up" going across the field?

Click to expand...

Whenever the S-O-S transmission doesn't have any hydraulic pressure it defaults to being in "Park". So there could be any number of things that could make one "lock up" going across the field, like stripped splines on the input shaft, or the pump died, or an internal line ruptured or popped out of place, and as others have said, a failure in the rear end would produce similar symptoms with the addition of not being able to roll even with the traction disconnect in the disconnected position.