Ford 5000 Odometer

Hello,
I'm looking at purchasing a Ford 5000 with only 2300 hours. My concern is the tractor looks like it may have many more then that. Is it possible that a person can change these hours? Also is there a certin place other then hours that can give me a close "Ball Park" of hours on the tractor?
Thanks,
Craig

Could be that the proof meter has been changed or did not work for a while.
Look at the wear on the pedals and the foot plates. Also the steering wheel. That will give you some idea of how much the tractor was used.

Thanks for the suggestions. The owner said it was the origional guage panel. The items you mentioned looked worn and alot of oil build upgrime on the engin.

I didn't know if someone could reverse the hours for one of these tractors.

Personally I don't think those items mean squat in regards to wear on those tractors.
I think you'd do far better by looking at component wear and unless you look at that you're just buying a pig in a poke anyway.

I'd start with the engine. Look at the oil and antifreeze and make sure they aren't mixing and that the coolant isn't blackened. Make sure the engine starts quickly on a cold morning WITHOUT a block heater... and make sure it hasn't run before you got there... or at least watch for white smoke if it has. If they'd had it running long enough to restart quick but not long enough to appear warm it should still give a good trail of white smoke IF it's worn/poor.

Then you check the front end for slop. Check EVERYTHING. Check that it steers easy at an idle without moving.
Check the clutch. Put it in sixth or better and see if it squalks when you let the clutch out quick. It shouldn't.
Make sure it holds in gear if you can drive it a bit, expecially when it's coasting or not pulling...

I'd also want to pull the hydraulic/rear axle drain plug and check for filings on the plug and general condition of the oil. It should be clean.
Check to see if the hydraulic lift normally and that the system selector works correctly. If it's got remotes, check to see if they kick out the detents at idle or at least make the engine labor some. If not, the pump may be weak...
Also check that the brakes stop her crisp from a good speed WITHOUT chatter. Chatter will also be worse in reverse if they're worn or have the wrong oil on them, at which point they will soon be worn out.

Keep in mind that it's not uncommon for those engines to leak at the rear seal, or at least weep and look dirty. It's also not uncommon for them to slobber at the exhaust manifold if they're not worked hard very often.

I say these things because I can easily show you some Ford's without much wear on the pedals, running boards, steering wheel or drawbar and no leaks that require on hell of a pile of work. I can also show you tractors that have considerable wear on those items (if they even have those items left at all) that are still good working tractors.
Check each one over very carefully...

Rod

Craig,
On these tractors the meter breakdowns are not unusual but there is a number of other ways to keep the hours off this model tractor.
As you have been told rely more on wear indications and your observations than the meter.
I'm sorry to tell you but some people will be less than truthful or dishonest by omission.
A well-worn 5000 is worth about 25-3500 in this area. Maybe he's giving you a fair price. I don't know.

I'll add a couple of things to what Rod said. I would loosen the crankcase drain plug and check for coolant in the pan. I would ask the owner to put a load on the three point, and see how well it holds it up. On a tractor that old you expect it to settle some, but if it is bouncing quickly thats something you will need to repair. also ask for a load on the PTO to insure that it will take it. make sure that the primary clutch will hold well enough to stall the tractor in a high gear.

That strikes me as pretty odd for hours. The tach may work but not the hour meter, it can be a change out dash unit, a used unit, or the cable could have been broken for many years. Over 35-40 years thats less than 100 hours use a year. A guess it could depend on who used it and what it was used for. But, I wouldnt be scared of a cream puff 5000 with 12300 hours and would be scared of one with 2300 hours if it still had the origional oil in it. All depends on how it was maintained.

you can unhook the tach from the engine which would stop it from recoring hours. sounds like it has closer to 12000 then 2000. idk hope i can help.

Absolutly you can change the hours. I'm not familier with the Ford but on my JD 2440 the hour meter Quit so I rolled back the crome edge and built up and filed down the drive gear that was worn. While I had it opened up I set the hours back to zero. My tractor, my hour meter, I can do what ever I want. I'm not planning on selling the tractor but if I ever do I will tell the prospective buyer those are not original hours as I set the meter back to zero when I repaired it. But then he will already know that because of the general wear on the tractor. Mean while I have a 1976 JD 2440 with 600 hours on it.

Lots of those old tractors have been running with broken tach cables for years.

Good write up Rod.
Wonder why these ol" girls keep breaking their tacho cables. I"ve replace more over the years than I can remember.