4000 Ford upgrades

What kind of upgrades can I do to my Ford 4000
Its a 1969 all purpose with crab claws. What is some of the best things to do with them. By the way my pto shaft will come out a lot when I start to bush hog. Ive replaced snap rings retainer rings seals everytime. Its the snap ring failing on me. Either way. I want to do some upgrades need ideas. Pictures below. And I have repainted it of course. Ill post pictures of it on here tomorrow. Thank yall.

What do you have in mind for upgrades? More power, more comfort, more utility? They are a pretty good tractor right out of the box, esp. The 3 cylinder diesel. But, I would recommend fixing the PTO before a bearing,shaft or gear gets ruined.

Ben

If you pulling the pto shaft out while brush hogging the mowers slip shaft to to tight and binding

I have been reading your posts with interest. I have been around those tractors since the introduction in 1964 and have never come across failing linkage rods. The force on the rods is mainly tension as they lift the arms. I have seen the threaded parts wear out after many years of use but never break or bend.

There are two possible areas that will cause failure, if the attachment point where the rod links to the arms is fitted the wrong way round, one side has a long slot the other a short one, and the other is if there is too much sideways movement, but in your case, in the pictures, I see neither of these. I see you are using sway bars to prevent sideways movement, the same tractors over here would use turnbuckles and chains to prevent that, with the attachment point being closer to the tractor.

Saying that, however, we used very heavy two furrow reversible ploughs, three furrow reversible ploughs, rear mounted fork lifts lifting around 1 ton and many more very heavy implements with no problems what so ever.

Think I would look at your implement and the attachment before trying to modify the linkage. Check that your sway bars allow free travel over the whole of the arc of the lift arms.

Regarding the PTO shaft, as said, you need to get that sorted urgently. The shaft goes into a multi-plate hydraulic clutch pack in the rear axle on this tractor, not a splined coupling. There is a thrust washer in the clutch pack that has to be lined up when refitting the shaft so it is not a case of just pushing the shaft back. Check your circlip grooves in the hub and make sure the shaft on the implement slides freely and does not bind up at either end of its travel. Make sure it is the correct length too as said by others.

An update you could get would be a ROPS ..roll over protection system.. you say you are doing some bush hogs work if the terrain you are mowing has some steep hillsides it could be a wise addition. I am sure you know what I am talking about a rectangular structure that generally connects to the rear axle housings. Here is an example in the link, this is not a certified model which I do not know what that gains you in the end other then it meets certain standards and its design has been tested to provide protection. A good comfortable seat is another upgrade. I will add a tractor is not like another vehicle that you fancy up with chrome wheels and fancy chrome covers on the bolts. Lastly is ..Crab Claws.. a local name for the type of tires it has or is that a name you just made up? Well the real name is actually called R1 or more commonly called ..agriculture lug.. type. I will have to admit that name is quite interesting.
ROPS example