Ford Tractors ???

Some of you folks suggested Ford tractors. There is a 3000 close by that is said to be 48HP (tractor data says 35) couple of 4000's but a few hundred miles away. What is a 3055 and a 4100? Are they just an improvement of the 3000 and 4000 or something to stay away from? Any idea if all ford tractors (mid 60's to mid 70's) were made in the States and exported or farmed out to other countries?

Dave

The ford 3000 is indeed about 35 HP, not 48. My brother had one and it was a good reliable tractor, but he traded it on a ford 3930 to get 4wd. The 4000 is closer to 48HP. Over here Ford used the same numbers for many years and so there can be many variations, all with the same number on them. Those oddball numbers I have never heard of and I am guessing you are right that it is a european thing

Fords could be from plants in the U.S., Antwerp,
or Basildon. Checking the s/n will tell you where
they were made - s/n starts with an A for Antwerp,
B for Basildon, and C for U.S. A 3000 should be 38
h.p. at the PTO, probably about 48 at the
flywheel. I can't tell you what a 3055 is... maybe
a European model? There was a 3500 industrial
variant of the 3000, and possibly a 3550 as a
later model. A 4100 could be one of two things...
(take a look on the Ford forum - this was
discussed about a week ago) From '67 to '75, there
were both utility (or all-purpose) and rowcrop
versions of the 4000. The utility was technically
a 4100 and the rowcrop a 4200, but both wore
decals that said 4000. Later on ('76 through '81),
the 4100 was it's own model, with a 183 c.i. 3-
cylinder (diesel only) rated at 48 pto h.p. Those
will have decals that label them as 4100's.

Here's a link to the discussion I mentioned.
4000 vs. 4100 discussion

Dave here is a web site that will be a help to you. It is called tractor data. It has all kind of tractor data and specs.
Tractor Data

i dunno where yall gettin your info from but my '62 Ford 2000 was 36 hp...3000 are 45hp plus and the 5000 was close to 55hp
'65 up thousand series share engines in different sizes such as 3000 3055 etc but trans,axles,pumps are different.

The 3000 is about 40 PTO hp and 48 engine hp...
IIRC, the 3055 is an early derivative of the 3000 that used the 4000's double reduction (planetary) rear axle. It retained the 3000's engine and power spec.
The 4100 is a bit later model ('76-'81) that used the 4600 rear, the 3600 front axle and an oddball 183 cid engine. Not that it's a bad engine... it was just a one off for that model and probably not so well supported today. I wouldn't worry about the 3055. I wouldn't really worry about the 4100 either. I'd just plan on installing a 201 engine should the need arise...
All Ford's after 1965 were 'world' tractors assembled from components manufactured at various plants with final assembly done at Basildon UK for the UK and world market, at Antwerp, Belgium for the European market and at Highland Park and later Romeo Michigan for the North American market...
ALL engines were assembled at Basildon. Most transmissions were done at Basildon. S-O-S transmissions at Highland Park. Lift covers I believe were done at Antwerp... and so on. There's few worries with those tractors if they're in good working order.

Rod

Nebraska Test #881 - 3000 diesel/8speed: 39.2 PTO h.p., 35.7 drawbar h.p.
test #882 - 3000 diesel/Select-O-Speed: 38.0 PTO h.p.
test #893 - 4000 diesel/8-speed: 46.7 PTO h.p.
test #879 - 5000 diesel/8-speed: 55.9 PTO h.p. (this was the '65-early '68 model 5000 w/ the 233 engine - later models had a 256 with 67 PTO h.p.)

all we ever farmed with was gas tractors so thats what i base my answers on.
Ford 3000

Tractor Data
Manufacturer: Ford

Fuel: gasoline

Aspiration: natural

Cylinders: 3

Valves: -unknown-
Bore/Stroke: 4.20x3.80 inches [107 x 97 mm]

Displacement: 158 ci [2.6 L]

Power: 47 hp [35.0 kW]

Cooling: liquid

Coolant: 13.8 qts [13.1 L]

Air cleaner: dry

Compression: 8:1

Rated RPMs: 2100

Firing order: 1-2-3

Starter volts: 12

Oil capacity: 8 qts [7.6 L]

Sparkplug gap: 0.023-0.027

Point gap: 0.022-0.028

Ford 4000
Manufacturer: Ford

Fuel: gasoline

Aspiration: natural

Type: vertical L-head

Cylinders: 4

Valves: -unknown-
Bore/Stroke: 3.90x3.60 inches [99 x 91 mm]

Displacement: 172 ci [2.8 L]

Power: 55 hp [41.0 kW]

Cooling: liquid

Coolant: 14 qts [13.2 L]

Compression: 7.5:1

Rated RPMs: 2200

Firing order: 1-2-4-3

Starter type: -unknown-

Ford 5000
Manufacturer: Ford

Fuel: gasoline

Cylinders: 4

Valves: -unknown-
Bore/Stroke: 4.2126x4.2126 inches [107 x 107 mm]

Displacement: 233 ci [3.8 L]

Power: 69 hp [51.5 kW]

Cooling: liquid

Coolant: 15.3 qts [14.5 L]

Compression: 8.0:1

Rated RPMs: 2100

Firing order: 1-3-4-2

Starter type: -unknown-
Oil capacity: 8 qts [7.6 L]

Intake valve clearance: 0.014-0.016 (hot)

Exhaust valve clearance: 0.017-0.019 (hot)

This looks like what's on external_link, which is notorious for errors. It seems that (among other things) they often list flywheel h.p. instead of PTO h.p., which is most commonly used.
Nebraska Test #1051 Ford 3000 gas/6-speed 38.3 PTO h.p., 32.2 drawbar h.p.
Test #885 3000 gas/Select-O-Speed 36.4 PTO h.p.
69 h.p. for a 5000 gas could be either flywheel on a 233 c.i. or PTO on a 256-powered version... not sure. Don't have those Nebraska tests handy. (not in the reference book I usually use, but may have them someplace)

i'm mostly relying on whats left of my memory from sales literature i read like the wish book from sears and roebuck...i remember the first bad word i ever said against Ford was the day i saw a white Commander...that still has to be the ugliest tractor i ever saw...i dont trust any of the data on these so called test site because its generally based on one tractor per category...they test a lemon and the whole series gets a bad rap.
not worth arguing about...just my .02

Dave, Around 1963 my dad bought a new ford 6000 with SOS. It spent more time in the shop than it did in the field. It had a red paint job. A year or two later, ford gave my dad another 6000 with a blue paint job. It wasn't much better. Not sure when the SOS was invented, but because of my dad's bad experience with the tranny, you couldn't give me a Ford with a SOS. Perhaps others could tell you when or if Ford ever fixed the SOS or took it out of production.
George

SOS came out in '59. Rushed into production to beat JD and IH to having a powershift, and it cost Ford. Revised in '62, and a much better tranny then (IF maintained). The 6000's were problems partly because they used the tranny developed for 45 h.p., 4-cylinder tractors with a 6-cylinder making near 70 h.p., and with up to 9500 pounds of weight. The 3-cylinder 2/3/4000's and 5000's with the SOS have a better reputation (again, IF they've been maintained), especially the 5000 - it had the heaviest, strongest version of the SOS. The were optional until 1975.