Ford 4600 2wd to 4wd conversion?

hendrebc · Jan 8, 2019

As the title. Have a 2wd ford 4600 and would be so much more useful if it was 4wd

so it mostly sits in the yard not doing very much.
Dad says he phoned someone in Scotland after a conversion kit a good few years ago but turned out it wasn't for sale

How hard are these kits to find? Would it be expensive to do? Or would I be better off just leaving it as it is and maybe changing it for something that is already 4wd at some point. Just thinking out loud really I don't know were else I could ask anyone who might know :scratchhead:

Thomas5060 · Jan 8, 2019

hendrebc said:
As the title. Have a 2wd ford 4600 and would be so much more useful if it was 4wd so it mostly sits in the yard not doing very much.
Dad says he phoned someone in Scotland after a conversion kit a good few years ago but turned out it wasn't for sale
How hard are these kits to find? Would it be expensive to do? Or would I be better off just leaving it as it is and maybe changing it for something that is already 4wd at some point. Just thinking out loud really I don't know were else I could ask anyone who might know

With the cost/hassle associated with it you would be cheaper and less hassle to buy a 4610 4wd

hendrebc · Jan 8, 2019

Thomas5060 said:
With the cost/hassle associated with it you would be cheaper and less hassle to buy a 4610 4wd

That's what I thought as well.

hendrebc · Jan 8, 2019

Thing is if I was going to replace the 4600 for a 4wd tractor i would buy something bigger about 85hp so it would handle a round bale on the loader easily. Then it would get expensive for a spare tractor to leave on an offlying holding to feed a few bales out. I was hoping a 4wd conversion of the old 4600 be a cheap compromise if it was possible and practical. I didnt think it would be though but you never know without asking.

Boohoo · Jan 8, 2019

If I remember correctly there's 2 or 3 different drop boxes and front axles, if you don't get the right combination you need all sorts of strange tyre sizes to keep the gearing right. The actual conversion isn't that difficult if you've got all the right parts and the time to do it.
@Ransome Cowboy knows a thing or two about converting a 2wd 4600 to 4wd.

Mursal · Jan 8, 2019

Bits and pieces here click
But, best to leave it as it is .........

multi power · Jan 8, 2019

I'd imagine the most difficult part of the conversion would be getting the 3 wheelbarrow loads of rocking horse poo that the kit will cost

Two Tone · Jan 8, 2019

I converted a MF 675 to 4WD a while back. It was easy. I bought a kit from Cambridge Market. I could see it was off a small Massey but wasn’t made by Massey and didn’t know what model it had been on. I’d got a 175 on a Farmhand F11 loader that kept breaking the front axle.
So I bought the kit, just to use the axle on that tractor.
When I got it home, I realised it was in really good condition. As my 675 had a heavy duty axle, I put that on the 175, then fitted the whole 4WD kit to the 675.
I took the wafer box out and fitted the transfer box. Then fitted the axle. We didn’t fit the prop shaft until we worked out what size wheels we needed. We did this by driving it up and down the workshop, counting how many times each end rotated. We knew we could have a 10% lead on the front axle. It turned out that the right size wheels were exactly what MF would have fitted as a 4WD from new.
The hardest job was sorting the steering out. But it wasn’t that difficult and we enjoyed doing the conversion. Absolutely transformed the tractor. Wish I’d kept it.

hendrebc · Jan 8, 2019

Two Tone said:
I converted a MF 675 to 4WD a while back. It was easy. I bought a kit from Cambridge Market. I could see it was off a small Massey but wasn’t made by Massey and didn’t know what model it had been on. I’d got a 175 on a Farmhand F11 loader that kept breaking the front axle.
So I bought the kit, just to use the axle on that tractor.
When I got it home, I realised it was in really good condition. As my 675 had a heavy duty axle, I put that on the 175, then fitted the whole 4WD kit to the 675.
I took the wafer box out and fitted the transfer box. Then fitted the axle. We didn’t fit the prop shaft until we worked out what size wheels we needed. We did this by driving it up and down the workshop, counting how many times each end rotated. We knew we could have a 10% lead on the front axle. It turned out that the right size wheels were exactly what MF would have fitted as a 4WD from new.
The hardest job was sorting the steering out. But it wasn’t that difficult and we enjoyed doing the conversion. Absolutely transformed the tractor. Wish I’d kept it.

Wish you had said that before everyone else persuaded me it was a bad idea

You make it sound like I was hoping everyone else would make it sound

I hadn't thought of the ratio between the front and back wheels. My 4600 has the back wheels of a major of some sort not the original ones that were smaller that would be an added complication I hadn't thought of but not impossible to sort. And if I could find the parts of course which seems like a needle in a haystack and probably expensive. What really put me off was a pm telling me not to do it ford front axles are crap and wear the casting

Doesn't look like I'm going to get my a second loader tractor really cheap

I don't think there is such a thing as cheap tractors anymore after having a look at my father in law's classic tractor magazine at the weekend both mine are worth quite a bit more than they were a few years ago

So now I need to buy another tractor that can handle bales easier. But will probably keep driving over to the other place with my case and spend a long time doing it

unless anyone here knows anything about outwintering cattle

hendrebc · Jan 8, 2019

Another thing that made me hope it was a good idea is the little ford needs a complete rebuild on the front axle. Almost everything I can take off is badly worn

I added up the cost to do it in the agriline catalogue last year and it was going to he about £300 each side

and it needs everything from the engine block to the exhaust that looks like another £200, and probably new back tyres

and it's still a 40+ year old tractor even after all that spent on it

Boohoo · Jan 8, 2019

The axle, dropbox etc don't have to be from a 4600, parts from a 4610 will do the job. There's bound to be something about with a porous engine or rotten cab that would have all the parts you need

hendrebc · Jan 8, 2019

Boohoo said:
The axle, dropbox etc don't have to be from a 4600, parts from a 4610 will do the job. There's bound to be something about with a porous engine or rotten cab that would have all the parts you need

That's more like it

There's a breaker not a million miles away from me I could give him a ring and see if there is something lying around.

Boohoo · Jan 8, 2019

Old picture that I've posted before. This 4600 used to be 2wd. It's now on standard wheels and these wheels are on a 4610 after front axles were swapped.

multi power · Jan 8, 2019

Boohoo said:
The axle, dropbox etc don't have to be from a 4600, parts from a 4610 will do the job. There's bound to be something about with a porous engine or rotten cab that would have all the parts you need

But all the rotten cab porus tractors will be exported already

Boohoo · Jan 8, 2019

multi power said:
But all the rotten cab porus tractors will be exported already

Not the 4wd ones. The axle in the 4600 above is out of a tractor that was converted to 2wd before being exported

multi power · Jan 8, 2019

Boohoo said:
Not the 4wd ones. The axle in the 4600 above is out of a tractor that was converted to 2wd before being exported

So 2wd are wanted for export but not 4wd ?

Boohoo · Jan 8, 2019

multi power said:
So 2wd are wanted for export but not 4wd ?

That seems to be the way, everything that goes for export is as basic as it can be. 2wd, no cab, no weights, narrow wheels etc, etc they take all the good stuff off

Two Tone · Jan 8, 2019

hendrebc said:
Wish you had said that before everyone else persuaded me it was a bad idea
You make it sound like I was hoping everyone else would make it sound
I hadn't thought of the ratio between the front and back wheels. My 4600 has the back wheels of a major of some sort not the original ones that were smaller that would be an added complication I hadn't thought of but not impossible to sort. And if I could find the parts of course which seems like a needle in a haystack and probably expensive. What really put me off was a pm telling me not to do it ford front axles are crap and wear the casting
Doesn't look like I'm going to get my a second loader tractor really cheap I don't think there is such a thing as cheap tractors anymore after having a look at my father in law's classic tractor magazine at the weekend both mine are worth quite a bit more than they were a few years ago
So now I need to buy another tractor that can handle bales easier. But will probably keep driving over to the other place with my case and spend a long time doing it unless anyone here knows anything about outwintering cattle

That MF675 had 13.6 x 36 rear wheels. It needed 12.4 x 24 fronts on the front axle.
I think on a 690, with 38 rears, you need 28 fronts. Though rare, 26s are also available. I’ve actually got some of those here. They came off a sprayer I don’t use any more. The tyres are 100%. I bought new tyres for it then the sprayer suffered a catastrophic problem and was scraped. If anybody wants them, let me know.

Nearly · Jan 9, 2019

itm/Ford-7610/202557090845?hash=item2f2957ec1d:g:Zt4AAOSwliFb-G5Q

Ready to work. But no challenge, apart from writing the cheque.

REStracTORATION · Jan 9, 2019

Get a kit it will be fun if your handy enough,
I'd imagine finding a complete will be the hardest part unless a breaker has a slightly different model that will interchange.
If buying parts individually you may end up with more parts left over than you use.

A genuine conversion kit will fetch good money so expect to pay a premium as the enthusiast's want them, saying that it can still be done you just have to think outside the box a little .

All the best with it

Ford 4600 2wd to 4wd conversion?

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

Share this page