ford 4500 diesel

can anyone tell me if a ford 4500 diesel with loader is a good tractor? if so how much are they worth? the cylinder head is off tractor but dont know what is wrong with it. i assuming a engine at worse case....

I've got a 4400 gas for sale @ $5000 running like a top with loader.

You know intuitively that a non running tractor can not be tested in any way and isn't worth 1/3 what it would if it ran.
That said, they are good machines. What tranny does it have? There were 3 or four different options. Least of which was the Selectospeed.
Did it have a back hoe on it all it's life or was it just a loader tractor. Loader tractor probably safer than a TLB but could have beat it up just the same. Tires, tin, paint??
Worth $1000 - $1500 as is, sight unseen.
For parts at least. Loader if it's not all cracked up is worth most of that.

A bigger question might be how much it will cost to fix the engine. Even if the tractor was only $500 but the engine would cost 5 or $6000 to have rebuilt, is the overall package worth it or could you find a complete running tractor for less? What if it needs other work on the trans. or hyd's., etc.? Try and get some more information. Dave

Perhaps that much, perhaps not. The one I just bought went from 3500 to 3200 to 2500 before I finally decided to buy it (having looked at the prices of steering parts for the other one). The one I just bought is a loader/3 point with a running gas engine, loader cylinders in good shape (better than the other one), really bald rear tires, a beat up nose (impressive to manage on a 4500 nose - somebody dangled something heavy against it a lot) and no evident leaks, etc. And not least, working steering.

That might indicate that Ultradog is shooting a bit high (in this economy) for sight unseen and a known "needs work" (and possibly dead) engine. Or I got a deal. Or I missed some big thing that will bite me in the rear (that certainly happens).

With a dead engine, you can't evaluate hydraulics, transmission, rear end, etc. etc. which makes it a real pig in a poke. Aim low. Sometimes not buying the fixer-upper is the best deal of all. If you need to replace the engine, I think they are reasonably common (though you'll need to swap over the oil pan if you get one from an ag tractor), but reasonably common (generally) and actually available (without long-distance travel/shipping) depend on what used tractor part sources [b:b89af443a6]near you[/b:b89af443a6] actually have.