1970 Ford 3000 won’t move but goes into gear

[4Liberty]

I would try the PTO to assure you have power back through the rear end. A fellow had a similar problem on one of these forums several years ago. I had a hunch he had a broken axle and asked him to apply each brake pedal separately at a time and sure enough the tractor moved. But this was on a Farmall Super C where the brakes are on the bull pinion shaft.

Being your Ford's brakes are on the end of the axle, not sure how you accomplish stopping one axle if it is broken between the differential and brake. If it had a differential lock to make both rear wheels turn that would be a different story, but don't believe the 3000 had a differential lock. None the less, guessing you may have a broken axle on one side or the other.

This is a good point. My uncle had a 3000 and there was a diff lock pedal on the right side at the back of the foot board. If you press that pedal with it in gear and running the tractor should move and would point to a broken axle being suspect.

 

[JimR]

Almost 2 years ago now I was plowing the garden and just one random pass I backed up and then went to go forward again and the tractor hasn’t moved since , no noise no nothing and clutch was pulling good and then just poor nothing , fast forward I split the tractor just got the new clutch in and flywheel resurfaced and the exact same thing ! Still will not move but goes into gear when pressing the clutch in. It feels the exact same as it did so I’m guessing it wasn’t the clutch in the first place , if anybody knows what might be the culprit please help !

Sounds just like my old Ford 8N that let me down twice when I owned it. The tractor broke a rear axle shaft in half. There was no noise, no jerk or anything. Jack up one side and spin the tire. You will know if it is connected to the rear end or not. If you feel it turning parts inside then let it down and jack up the other side. One-time I even sheared all the ring gear rivets. PS: I should have read all the posts before replying. At least you found your problem. I used grade 8 bolts and nuts on the 8N ring gear when it sheared the rivets.

 

[Dunno]

I’d be careful of putting in too strong of a bolt in there. I’m assuming they are also a shear-pin type of device, maybe not. Grade 8 will hold for sure, but what else might break from a torque overload when those don’t give? I use the softest bolts to hold auger bits on the post hole digger so they shear before anything else gets broken in the drive line.

 

[JimR]

I’d be careful of putting in too strong of a bolt in there. I’m assuming they are also a shear-pin type of device, maybe not. Grade 8 will hold for sure, but what else might break from a torque overload when those don’t give? I use the softest bolts to hold auger bits on the post hole digger so they shear before anything else gets broken in the drive line.

The local Ford dealer back then told me to use them. He had them in stock. They were low head style bolts. He said that is what their service department uses for all sheared rivets

 

[S854]

One last question… does anyone know what bolt or stud they use to attach the ring gear back onto the differential ? It’s 12 of them

Never had any tractor apart to the degree you have now… however… I have replaced the ring gear bolts in the final drive on the sidecar shown in my avatar… the factory had recently gone from grade 5 to 12.9 as they were having issues with the #5 bolts shearing and tearing up the case…

The new bolts were installed with red loctite per manufacturer recommendation…

My guess is: the ring bolts aren’t a sacrificial fastener…

 

[walnutman]

Could have been a cascading failure where either they weren't torqued correctly by the factory or previous owner or one or two bolts were defective or... the bolts were over torqued.
If one or two fail the rest are doing all the work and then they let go.

 

[JimR]

One last question , so turned out it wasn’t the clutch AT ALL , but it’s got a new one now haha it stripped every bolt or stud on the ring gear , have no clue how , but everything else looked great in the rear end , does anyone know what bolt or stud they use to attach the ring gear back onto the differential ? It’s 12 of them

I wish that I could remember what I used 40 years ago for bolts. These bolts are not supposed to be sacrificial. All that I can say is measure the holes and get bolts that will fit fairly snug in the holes. The ones that I used had no threads where it went through the housing and ring gear. I also used LocTite on them.

 

[KelbyCostner3388]

Have you checked all the Clutch Linkage? Sounds like a Major Break in the Driveline. Good Luck.

It was a major break , it had broken every stud in the ring gear on the differential haha going to get new bolts today and should be good !

 

[JimR]

It was a major break , it had broken every stud in the ring gear on the differential haha going to get new bolts today and should be good !

Good luck with your repair.

 

[S854]

Any chance you might post a couple pics of the tractor while you have it apart? I’ve never had one apart, but I’m impressed by those who just “split it in half”…

(I really need to replace a couple bits in my Massey’s power steering box… I spend more time fretting about the work than I do actually doing the work…)