Ford 3000 tire and model year questions

[rod330]

I recently purchased a Ford 3000 that needs some new tires. The rears are 13.6-28 Firestone Traction Field & Road which appears to be an optional R1 size according to the owners manual. The front tires are Armstrong 3 ribs marked 7.50L-15 but the rim measures 16" in diameter. Tractordata.com and the owners manual indicated 5.50-16 or 6.00-16 as the standard front sizes. I presumed the "-15" on the Armstrong sidewall indicates a 15" tire so I'm a bit confused how it's on a 16" rim. Should I be shopping for 7.50L-15 tires or one the standard 16" tires?

As a former Firestone employee, I'm loyal to that brand. According to the Firestone web site, the two rear choices are:
* Performer 85 Radial
* Super All Traction II Bias
* Traction Field & Road Bias

I will be using this tractor for brush hogging about 40 acres twice a year, occasional finish mowing and occasional use during the winter with a rear blade on a concrete driveway. What are your recommendations for a rear tire?

Lastly, the seller advertised it as a 1965 but the serial number suggested it's from 1975. Any feedback on this?
It's an 8 speed gasser with diff lock. Photos can be seen at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rod330/sets/72157655980828665

Serial C474382
Model C10230
Production code 5H07B
Engine 5G30C
Transmission 5F30C
Rear Axle 5F13B
D2NN7006A on transmission

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[smstonypoint]

First, congratulations on your purchase -- that's a good-looking tractor. How many hours on the meter?

Photos can be deceiving, but I don't see a pressing need for new tires, especially if you aren't going to be doing any tillage. The right rear in particular looks like it has a lot of useful life left in it. Do the tires have dry rot that is not visible in the photos?

I agree that the serial # indicates a 1975 model.

Steve

 

[sawtooth]

That body style is definitely a 1968-75 tractor and if taken care of should last for many years to come. As for the wheels how are you measuring them? To get the true wheel size I believe you must remove the tire and measure inside below the lip of the rim. If I remember correctly the outside of the wheel you see when the tire is mounted will be around 1" bigger than the actual size measured inside. I would probably stay with the sizes that are in it now as they are a good fit for that tractor.

 

[sawtooth]

By the way Firestone are awesome tires. That's all I buy now and love them. The Field and Road are the style that came with it. The Super All Traction are great to just depends which you like best.

 

[rod330]

Thanks for the quick responses! I'm thrilled to be the 3rd owner of this little jewel. It has 1470 hours on the working meter. The previous owner's son took the tractor to a local shop who installed a new battery, new carb and changed the fluids. It had been sitting for a couple of years since his father passed away. I paid $5100 which included the 5' LandPride brush hog and the 6' Ford finish mower (both in great shape). He included two sets of new blades for the finish mower. From what I can tell, it's had excellent care and always stored indoors. The seller was honest about everything so I felt pretty good about the deal-- perhaps I paid a little too much but I wanted something a little nicer than the usual rust buckets that were showing up on Craigslist. It starts instantly and everything seems to work just fine.

The front tires and the left rear tire are badly weather checked. The right rear is pretty nice and I'm told it's about four years old. Part of my brush hogging will require trailering the tractor about 3 hours to a rural area of Pennsylvania so I want to minimize the chances of a tire failure while I'm away from civilization. The fronts certainly need to be replaced and maybe a matching Firestone Traction Field & Road for the left rear.

 

[sawtooth]

The Firestones tires are very tough also. For the fronts get the Tri-ribbed design as I feel they offer the best performance for what you will be doing.

 

[rod330]

I called the nearest Firestone Ag tire dealer who tells me the Traction Field and Road rear tires were discontinued some time ago. That's very odd since Firestone's web site still lists them. Anyway, he claims the Super All Traction II are the only bias tires Firestone offers in this size. Rather than tubes, he suggested tubeless with some kind of "sealer" substance costing $20 / front and $75 / rear tire.

 

[whis]

its impossible to put 15 inch tire on 16 inch wheel

 

[rod330]

its impossible to put 15 inch tire on 16 inch wheel

Please see SawTooth's first response above...tire salesman explained it the same way so it appears I have a 15" rim after all.

 

[sawtooth]

I called the nearest Firestone Ag tire dealer who tells me the Traction Field and Road rear tires were discontinued some time ago. That's very odd since Firestone's web site still lists them. Anyway, he claims the Super All Traction II are the only bias tires Firestone offers in this size. Rather than tubes, he suggested tubeless with some kind of "sealer" substance costing $20 / front and $75 / rear tire.

I ran into that also when I bought my 14.9x28 super all tracs a couple years back. Guess I figured they still made some sizes in the field and road but guess not. Kinda a bummer as I like the old school look for these old Ford tractors. But I must say the newer design performs very well.