3 Cyl Diesel Ford - No Start - Please Help

Background; 3 cyl diesel. "RAN WHEN PARKED" claim. I purchased for $2,000. I was told it would turn over, but not fire.

Got it home. Bled all the fuel lines, cleaned everything, when I crank it, nice white puffs come out of exhaust. It is getting fuel.

Looks like brand new battery, brand new starter. Battery was dead, put it on charger overnight, gauge says battery is full in the morning. Put it on tractor, engine spins over for maybe 3 seconds, then battery acts dead. Put charger on battery, charger says battery is dead. What the ????.

Call on-site service. They put charger on, but they say the battery cables are bad (corroded, too long, using crimp-on ends) I replace with 1 gauge, new, just-long-enough cables. Charge battery to full. Turn key, spins over for 3 seconds, and battery acts dead again.

Was advised, correctly on this forum, that battery may look good, but who knows? So I purchased a new battery. Charged it up w/my trusty Sears Charger again. Says full. Put it on the tractor, spins around for 3 seconds, then dies.

Starter looks brand new, but I remove it to have tested. Bring it to a good old-time electric guy, he puts it on bench & tests draw, spin, etc., deems starter in excellent shape. I tell him my story, he asks what type of charger I use (Sears 2/10 amp) at which point he advises me I’m “pissing in the wind” with that charger.
I buy a MOABC (Mother of all battery chargers) and hook it up while battery is on charger. Hour or so, says its charged. Turn key. 3 seconds then nothing.

There is no undue heat in cables, battery or starter.

I ask this forum about pull starting. Hydraulics are down, do the best I can pulling it, hydraulics dragging on ground, what I thought was 4-high was reverse, a real fuster cluck. Also, why, when I turn the wheel to the left, the front tires turn right? I could not wrap my brain around that. Ran into things. Like my wife’s new Durango.

Finally put it in 3rd, pop clutch while moving, engine spins for 3 seconds, then back wheels actually drag.

I’m at my complete witts end, here. Tractor is still sitting in middle of road where it stopped.
Could one of the cylinders be loaded up w/fuel? I have the battery off, will charge at 40amps overnight.

Anything, anything at all, would help at this point.

Is the battery really dead or is it that the engine is binding causing it to stop cranking????

If it is a elect problem you should be able to pull start it. BUT since it still binds when pulling you have some other problem.

I do not feel like it is a cylinder full of fuel/water even though that is the first thing you would look at. The reason is if it was full of a fluid the engine would crank for 3 sec then stop. Next time you tried to crank it would do nothing because the piston would still be up against the fluid.

I would still go through the steps to check this.
Pull the valve cover and take out the injectors.
Try cranking it over. Does it spin. If it stops after 3 sec..... ...
Remove starter and try to turn the engine over with a large screwdriver wedged in the ring rear. Try turning it backwards. Will it move either way.

Check to see if the valves are opening and closing. A stuck or sticky valve could be hitting the piston stopping it. Then over time the spring pulls it back in place so it will crank a short while again.

Once we rule out the engine we can then start taking off stuff to see what will free it up.

Removing the three injectors, does that open to the cylinder itself or just the manifold? I was going to try that, buy was not sure if the injector shot into the cylinder or manifold.

Yes, my stupidity is showing.