Ford 1700 4wd Front Axle and Loader Advice

wcarson · Apr 1, 2014

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum....thank you all in advance for any wisdom or advice you can pass along. Last fall I bought a very nice low hour (550hr) 1980 Ford 1700 4wd. It's in great condition and was well cared for. It runs great and starts immediately every time, has great power, and works flawlessly for the little mowing I've done with it. It does not have a loader- when I bought it, I didn't think I would need a loader enough to justify having one. Since then, I have realized that I do need a loader and I'm in the process of deciding what avenue to pursue. I would be using it for moving some gravel, hay, etc- basically light to medium duty and nothing too heavy duty.

I have read numerous accounts of the front axles breaking on the 1700 4wd models when used with FEL's. Unfortunately it seems that it is very expensive to upgrade to the newer thicker axles- something like $1500 (or more) per axle. The loader will likely cost me around $2000 to buy a used one. At this point, I have many questions and have several potential avenues to take.

Here are my options:
1. Put on a FEL and use it until an axle breaks, then upgrade to the newer thicker axles. I'll have huge $$ invested at the end of the day.
2. Sell the tractor and buy another tractor (not another 1700) with a FEL and no front axle issues. Probably much cheaper.

I love the tractor, and I hate to sell it- it's a great little unit. Does anyone know how common the front axle breakage issue it with the 4wd 1700 tractors using FEL's? In other words, if there are hundreds out there being used all the time with FEL's, and there are 4 or 5 people who have had issues, that's a pretty low rate of failure. But if the odds are 25 or 50% (or more) of having a failure, that's pretty high! Anyone have any advice on this?

Is there a way to tell easily if the upgrade has been done? My front axle housings are pretty nice and not scratched up, so I am wondering if a prior owner may have done this upgrade already to the heavier axles..?? I'm not sure how to tell if it may have been done.

Does anyone have any personal experience with another fix? Some on this forum have mentioned welded repairs to broken front axles, but I'm not sure if these were subsequently used with FEL's. If you have had reliable service from a repaired front axle while using a loader, please let me know! Another person on this forum seems to have swapped his front axle with a 1900 front axle. Does anyone have any experience with this?

THANK YOU all again for any advice you have! As you can probably tell, I love my 1700 tractor, and I'm trying to investigate all ways to make this work without having to sell it for something else. That being said, if there is no way around a $3000 axle upgrade in addition to the loader cost, I would do way better just cutting my losses, selling the 1700, and getting something else.

Sincerely,
W. Carson
Clovis, CA

rayikeo2 · Apr 2, 2014

You have a great tractor now with 4 wheel drive. I would leave it as is and buy a second tractor with a front loader, something older and cheap that runs good. You can have 2 tractors for less money than you would spend on an upgrade. Keep the 1700 in the prime shape it is in. It will hold it's value. As a second thought, you can purchase a 3 point dump bucket for the 1700 for less than $200. It will move dirt and rocks from the rear 3 point, just back into the pile. I have one for the small amount of loading I need to do. It's not as handy as a front loader but it works for me. Hay bale spikes are available for big round bales.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...w=3+point+implements+,+tractor+scoop&_sacat=0

wcarson · Apr 3, 2014

Rayikeo2,

Thanks...Great idea...I had not thought seriously about the rear bucket option- that would solve most of the potential problems, and it would be very cost effective. I will give it serious consideration. Thanks again!

rayikeo2 · Apr 3, 2014

Welcome to the forum. Many of us here have Ford 1700 tractors. Mine has 1100 hours and runs great. Any questions you have can be answered here, all you have to do is ask. To keep the 4 wheel drive in shape, grease the top zert on each hub frequently with plenty of chassis grease. Any other questions will be answered quickly with expert user advise.

JC-jetro · Apr 4, 2014

Like Ray said, I would not try to put a loader on that tractor . It'll be cost prohibitive unless you use a low quality Chinese stuff that you'll end up regretting very quickly. I don't think inherently there is nothing wrong with the front axle of Ford 1700 with FWA or without. Problem is when people use tractor as if they are Dozers. Got to use right tool for the right application. For me , I would not want to have a loader without sub-mount as dynamic nature of forces in transit with loader on can cause havoc on clutch housing and so on. That's why I chose to buy a proper loader tractor. Older ones might be had cheaper but newer ones go almost as much as a new rig , so I ended up with a new machine.

Now use a dirt scoop and you get a real crick in your neck but that sure beats manual labor. I recommend it specially with dry stuff such as crushed rock. with wet stuff you need to have a hoe or something to push the stuff off.

JC,

rayikeo2 · Apr 4, 2014

HI jc, My scoop is a Ford brand and is slightly different than the one you pictured and has a dump lever that I can operate from the seat. I couldn't tell if the one pictured dumps or not. I can dump it without leaving the seat. Maybe that is the dump lever attached to the rope in the picture. Ray

wcarson · Apr 5, 2014

Thanks for the input guys- I really appreciate it.

square1 · Apr 5, 2014

From another site:

I also had a front spindle break on my Dads Ford 1700. After seeing the high cost for the update from Ford and fighting with my local dealer I had a local machine shop drill and dowel the spindle and weld it back together. That was about 10 years ago. I think it cost me $30.00. Good Luck!

square1 · Apr 5, 2014

Last fall I bought a very nice low hour (550hr) 1980 Ford 1700 4wd.

My understanding from reading up on the axle issues before purchasing my 1700 is the axle was made heavier in the 1980 model year. I wouldn't let axle concerns prevent installing a loader IF you can find one. Welcome to the 1700 Club

View attachment 369022

wcarson · Apr 5, 2014

Square1,

That's great news....I have spent many hours now searching and trying to find what year the switch to the heavier axle was made, and I haven't found any definite info. My serial number is U 705975, so my machine is early to mid year 1980 model. If I know with some certainty that it has the heavier axles, I will actively pursue a FEL. It's kind of hard to find good info on these older tractors. I've noted that the front axle final drive housings on both sides of my tractor are pretty nice and look like they have been recently replaced or painted and the axle hubs look pretty nice as well. That led me to wonder if the axles have been replaced at some point in the past, but I can't find any good information on how to find out. Do you know what the diameter of the old vs. new axles are? That being said, if you are pretty sure that in 1980 the switch was made, maybe I'm OK either way and have the heavier axles. Thanks so much for your input!