An acquaintance asked me to look at his neighbors old Ford tractor. It had not run in a year or two. He believed I may be able to fix it. <O></O> The tractor was a 1938 N. Another guy had put a new distributor, wires and plugs on it. He got frustrated when it wouldnt go and quit working on it. I told the old Gentleman I would do some research on it and see what I could do. <O></O> Our local library did not have a service manual for it. They did have some neat history type books that told the story of Henry Fords initial development in building the tractors. According to these books, Ford used common auto production parts in constructing them. The motor was essentially half of a Mercury flat head V-8. The front wheels are wide five pieces like cars of that era. I noticed when working on the tractor, it has a wishbone just like the one on my Jalopy. I admire Henry Fords practicality why re-invent the wheel?! <O></O> Thankfully, there is a wealth of information about old tractors on the internet. I found out how to clean and re-build the Marvel Schebler carburetor. (Same Guy from Marvel Mystery Oil fame.) Several decades worth of top soil was removed from the carb. A little elbow grease and some compressed air and it was good as new. <O></O> The old Ford fired right up! I really enjoyed learning some history about these old Fords. Tinkering with this relic seemed to transport me back in time and I gained a new appreciation of Henry Ford all over again. It was pretty cool seeing the look of surprise on the old Gentlemans face too. I guess he thought it would never run again.
Sorry Phil, No Pics. It's pretty cruddy looking... old peeling brush painted ODOT yellow. The photo of your car is really cool! 2$ Bill
My mom has an 8 or 9 N sitting in her driveway that I need to get running as it has a snow blade on it. Good tractors even now and those wheels along with most other parts are still available new. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
i have a 53' naa "golden jubilee" first year for power steering and 4cyl with ohv. cool tractor but has the strangest firing order 1-2-4-3! most 4cyl i ever worked on were 1-3-4-2.
Essentially you can make a rod with an old ford tractor and a few other components!!! Where can i find one!!
If I understood the book right, all the N tractors were the same. The number in the model designation just indicated what year it was made 8N being 1938, 9N being 1939 ect. <O</O The 2N was made during the height of Rubber and Copper rationing during WWII. So it had all steel wheels (no rubber tires), no lights or electrics and only a hand crank starter. <O</O Eventually the more recent models got a 4 speed instead of the old 3 speed, but, essentially they were pretty much all the same the book said.
My old 9N had flattie V-8 pistons in it... when I had it at the local machine shop for boring they couldn't find the correct piston rings for it. The old timer sweeping the floor said they used to substitute 3 3/16" pistons for the stockers all the time after the war when parts were hard to find. They'd bore the crap outta the block and sleeve it to size.
I'm glad to hear of another HAMBer helping out a senior with his toys. Gives us all a good reap and I bet it put a huge smile on his face. Well done man. Doc.
Glad to hear you got the old N running. I spent two hours out on my '42 9N last night. I love to see the look on car guys faces when I tell them about the all original '42 Ford I pulled out of my grandfathers barn! Just so we keep this hot rod realated too. Check out this sweet V8 powered Ford tractor. Called Funk Conversions it was a kit sold in the '40's and '50's to put a bit more pep under the hood! Came in straight 6 or flat-head V8 flavors.
The 8N is actually a 1948-52. The 9N is the first version, 1939-41, then came the 2N in 1942. That 4 cyl was also used in the 1940-41 pickups, but with a fuel pump added. There's still THOUSANDS of them in use everywhere. The contemporary Feurguson tractor is the same as the Ford as they shared the development and design (at first). Ford and Feurguson had a falling out and lawsuit going at the time. Steve
Bob Drake carries most parts for the old Ford Tractors, check out his catalog online! You can also google the Flathead engine kit for the tractors, cool stuff.
I have a 1953 NAA as well,..... it's just like you say ! but mine dosn't have power steering,.... Ol' Betsy works hard for a living,... all year round.
Serial numbers weren't year-designated as descirbed. '9N-' was the prefix for the '39-'42 9N, and when 2N production took over the '9N-' prefix was retained. It did change for the 8N's when their production began for the '48 model year. In other words, you won't find a 0N, 1N, etc. Determination of build year comes from knowing where the serial number falls, just like what's done with the cars, as they were numbered consecutively through the years until the prefix changed from 9N to 8N, then it started all over again. Now if I could just get my damn 'front-mount' 2N to fire and start I'd be a happy camper...
8N was my first ride at age 11, hauling raisins out of our vineyard. Was more reliable than anything my father owned, often used it to give his poor old pickup (52 F1) a pull start on cold mornings. They are still used extensively here in San Joaquin Valley vineyards and orchards.
Best advice to make them start more reliable is to shut the gas petcock when ever the motors not running. Ther'e gravity fed and the float seat's not that strong and they flood faster than the east coast in a huricane!!. Also covert them to a 12 volt alt. and starting isn't a chore any more.
Had one myself, wife would always comment on how big a grin I'd have whenever I was driving it. darn near indestructible. Shutting off the petcock after every use is truly the best piece of advise given so far. Little known historical fact on these tractors: After the failed Bay Of Pigs invasion Castro traded the U.S.A. prisoners for old Ford Tractors. Tractors were bought all over the Southeast and promptly sent to Cuba.
The first "drive" for me was a Fordson Major, a later 50s model. If you could call sitting on your dad's lap and tugging at the steering wheel driving. I was only 6 years old and was far from reaching the pedals yet. I wished I had that old Major now but I'll settle for the 51 Merc. That was the first one I could reach the pedals on.
Started driving an 8N when I was 8. I've spent many many hours in the seat. There's a good newsletter called the " N newsletter", lots of tuneup tips and REAL barn find stories.
Like alot of people I learned how to drive on an 8N Ford. Had the desirable 2 speed rear end which gave it a fast road gear. My grandparents let me drive it on the blacktop for an hour a day. Good times.
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