Repair or Replace

I have a 1956 Ford 640 that I bought in 2005 for $1000. I currently use it about 20-25 hours a year to grade the drive and bush hog some. The old thing starts and runs very good but it uses about a quart of oil every 60 hours of use and does not smoke. The tractor will need some attention soon so I am trying to decide which would be best : repair it or replace it.

I have a collection of hand tools, gear pullers, jacks, impact gun, air compressor, stick welder, tractor manual and so on. I do not have a press or a torch.

Three things that concern me the most is the lift/hydraulics, axle seals and PTO in that order.

The lift is getting weak and “sometimes” only wants to go half way up with a light grader blade. If you pull up on the adjustable top link it will continue rising but seems as if it has a sticky spot in the middle of the action. Other times it acts fine. The hydraulics also leak off over a short time frame and they have to have the air bled out of them every day you use it. I think I could rebuild all of this as I could take it to the neighbors to use his press and torch if needed.

The axle seals are starting to leak as well as the PTO shaft. I think I could replace the bearings and seals as long as I do not need a torch to get the axles out because I could sponge off the neighbor once again.

Here is the overall condition of the tractor:
It has a new tune up, a rebuilt starter and a good seat, lights fuel system, charging system (12v) and new gauges.
Sheet metal is OK with a little bondo around the front emblem.
Radiator needs replaced but is currently not leaking with the use of some stop leak.
Front wheel and spindle bearings need replaced.
Tie rods need replaced as they are sloppy.
Front tires need replaced.
Needs a new steering wheel.
Probably needs a clutch and pressure plate and rear main seal.
Needs lift and pump work.
Needs wheel seals and probably brakes.
Needs rear tires and rims as the best tire was bought in 1998 (looks good but cannot find a mate to it ) and one of the rims had to be patched due to rust so I figure the other is not far away from needing replaced also.
Needs a new over run coupler as the old one is very wobbly on the PTO shaft.

Other than that it is in mint condition! Ha ha

What is my best option repair (how much $$$) or trade it in on something (either now or later when it is dead)?

If I am to trade it in can anyone suggest a better Ford tractor (simple electronics)with independent PTO that will fit my bumper hitch style 18 foot trailer with two 3500 lb axles pulled by a 4x4 crew cab F150.

I would probably stick with the devil I know instead of the one I don't.
How long do you think you'll need the tractor?
You've had it 8 years for $1000, that sounds pretty cheap!
Another $1000 in repairs you would still be ahead money and be good for
many more years of use.
That $1000 figure doesn't include rebuilding the engine of course, but if you
use it 20 hours a year and it burns a quart in 60 hours, that's 3 years/quart.
The oil should be changed before its down a quart. LOL
The repairs you described could be done a little at a time as well, so no big
money out lay at one time.
What ever you decide, good luck!

I'm just not one to replace things that can be fixed.
If you buy something else,what's the guarantee that there won't be just as much wrong with it?

I would go with fixing it.

I'm pretty sure you can cover all that for around 1500 bucks in parts if you don't do the engine.

If you like wrenching it a great project. I just finished a 960 and had about 1300 in parts doing a similar refurb. Around here I think you would be looking at around 3K to buy a decent 4 cyl gas ford good condition.

-Paul

If you were closer to me, I would be glad to give you your thousand back even though you wore the poor tractor out.

Unless you get something with 400 hours on it and $15,000 or
more, you will just be buying the next set of problems.

Either choice is right, whatever you want to do.

Paul

Newer little 4X4 Diesel tractors are cool! My son
got a 4320 compact John Deere. I can't hardly get
myself to hook the WD45 to the bushhog anymore. The
cab sure was nice blading snow.Vic

Unless you buy a new tractor you may wind up with bigger problems. Like others have said fix a little at a time. Jim

It used to be normal to every morning have to ad a quart of oil before starting field work and then possibly at noon have to ad more oil.

If you have the tools and are mechanicly inclined it really isn't that much work to get it all fixed, looking at your list it looks like you don't need to do everything all at one time. Buy a good shop manual, fix the leaks and the lift cylinder problem first and the rest when you get time. I have tractors all the way back to 1946 and had em torn down more times than I can count but I would much rather do the work to keep em running than to make payments to the bank for something new.

I with the rest here. If it is doing what you want it to I would fix a little as you go as long as it doesn't make you crazy using it in the meantime due to having some machine personality issues. A quart of oil every 60 hours is nothing to worry about considering the low hours it gets over a year.
Tires are expensive, but even a new machine will need them some day.
Is the clutch doing something to make you think it is getting ready to check out? A new one is a task, but not all that pricy if you have the skills and tools to do it.

Greg

I always have my eye out for a parts machine sometimes you can find one better than you are using.
Ron

The chances of you finding a tractor in markedly better condition for the $1500.00 or so dollars it will take to fix the Ford are pretty slim. It's that simple. You could pay to have the engine overhauled and still come out way into the black. It's that simple.

If you have money to burn and want something else that's different. This is the excuse you need. But you're not going to do it for $1000-1500 bucks.

Fix the lift and whatever other annoying operational things are wrong with it.

The engine has a LOT of life left in it. If it makes good power and doesn't smoke bad, it's fine. You can buy hundreds of gallons of oil for what it will cost to rebuild.

Let's see... 60 hours is 2-3 years of use for you. Let's be generous and say 1 quart of oil every 2 years. Even if you used the tractor for 50 years it's only 25 quarts of oil, about $100 for the expensive stuff.

FYI, my 8n uses a quart of oil every 6-8 hrs. of
mowing. Only put about 50 hrs. on it a year. Been
doing this for 6 years and isn't close to getting
any repairs. 20w50 did slow the consumption down
some. I'm in MI, but the tractor rarely runs in the
winter.

Brother has our 640 that grandfather purchased and spend a lot of time and money rebuilding it. Had similar problems except for the PTO but no bondo, and matched tires. Still he would have sent it down the road if it wasn't a family tractor. Did all the work himself; way too much time and money. Unless you have a lot of free time and like working on stuff, find something else. If a Ford, suggest a model 4000. The 3000 would have enough power but I'm not that fond of 3 cyl engines; others may disagree.

Let's see... you paid $1000 for a $4000 tractor. You put nothing into it, did nothing to it. It burns less oil than some model's rebuilt engines.... sorry, I forgot... what was the question???