New Toy Ford 8N

[Raider Bill]

Got a new toy. No idea what year nor have I heard it run. Guy I bought it from took it as collateral on a loan a year ago. Parked it here and never tried to start it again. Battery's dead and I'm thinking the gas is bad. Still 6v. Next trip to Tenn will probably convert it to 12v and get it running.



  

  

  

  

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Not a bad looking 8n. It's a post 1950 model as it has the side mount distributor, and proofmeter on the dash.

[pappy19]

Great old tractors and still work just fine. Easy to restore. Have fun with it.

Pap

[thecfarm]

Nothing a matter with a 6 volt system. We had a 1954 and it started fine. Not something that like to be started in cold temps,like below 10°. I have no idea what youre had for a tranny. Some of them was a little too fast in first gear.

[Paul_H]

They are a good looking tractor,nice lines.

[21incher]

That is one fine looking piece of history. I think there is a guy in the Farm Show magazine that sells a V8 conversion kit If you ever need more power.

[thecfarm]

The V8 was made for belt power.

[Wudman]

Scuff up the points, give him a fresh drink and put that thing to work.  Unless you need lights to work at night, the 6 volt system will be fine.  We have a 48 on the farm.  Great little tractors.  In cold weather, you use it to pull the diesels to get them started.  Parts are still readily available.  There are still a lot of them in this part of the woods.  Some have been restored, but many are still working.

Wudman

[Al_Smith]

You can hang a rebuilt 56 amp 12 volt rebuilt Delco integral alternator on that thing for 29.95 from O'reilys ,use the Ford pulley .Put a ballast resister in series with the coil and it will always start .Then again leave it 6 volt and it might start .

[thecfarm]

I really don't see how a 6 volt system got a bad rap. As said the tractor was parked when it got cold. But summer time and early winter that '54 would start. My father cut wood a few times in early winter when there was a little snow on the ground. But as slow as it turns over,a person that was never around it would think it would never start.

[beenthere]

Looks to be in great shape. Have fun fixing it up, and it can pull a lot of wood out.
They are a joy to work in the woods and on pretty hilly ground.
What is nice about the 8N Ford is the right/left brake pedals are on one side, opposite the clutch pedal. Not like earlier Fords and like my TO30 Ferguson that you had to be clever with the left foot and heel to use the clutch and left brake at the same time. And in the woods, that can happen fairly often.

There are aftermarket drawbar hitches to bolt onto the rear under the PTO. Much better than the bar across the 3 ph arms (IMO).

I'd put something in front of that radiator if going in the woods with it. ;)

[WmFritz]

Just about a twin to my '59 Ferguson. I use it all winter long for snow plowing the driveway... most of the summer around the mill.  The tires look to be in great shape.

[LAZERDAN]

Got one just like it.  I ain't got the jazzy grill guard.   Now you need to visit Dennis                           http://dennis-carpenter.com/dennis-carpenter-parts-catalogs/p/TruckPartsCatalog/          Just like Candy          Lazerdan

[Planman1954]

That 8n looks nice! I've been on my 9n (1943 model) half the day today with a box blade. Got hung up on the largest stump I had to remove. I made the mistake of backing up over the stump, and the box blade would not let go! Three hours later after building a ramp similar to the Romans at Masada...my brother in law brought his tractor over and pulled me out...and then the stump too! Good to go again in the morning.

 
Have fun! Those fords are TOUGH.

[Magicman]

I grew up driving those old 8N's.  We had two and I still love um.   

[Chuck White]

Those little Fords are likely the most overworked tractors ever made!

We had a '54 8N, Dad got it when I was 5 yo, still had it when I left home!

We used it year round!

[thecfarm]

Chunk,'54 8n????? That would of been an NAA. Or least that's what I grew up with and I still have it. It's not running,a rebuilt on the carb would do it.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Good project tractor Raider. It should keep your mind off Pickled Peaches for a while.  :D

[samandothers]

Nice tractor!  Brings back memories of dad's.  My brother has it now and it still works!   Seems I remember steering about as much with the brakes as with the steering wheel with a bush hog or Disk behind it!

[Magicman]

The brakes were the only "power" steering that it had, and without a live clutch the bushhog would push you somewhere that you did not want to go.   :-\ 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Raiders 8n looks like it has an overrunning clutch on the PTO shaft so that a brushhog shouldn't push the tractor anyplace.

[sawguy21]

What is that contraption on the front? Home brew brush guard? I grew up in an area of small farms, many less than a quarter section. Those little Fords and Fergusons were extremely popular, inexpensive and reliable as gravity. Learned to drive one pulling a stone boat when I as 12. Dad inherited one on a small farm he bought, I wanted to rebuild it but we decided it was going to be too much. Tires were shot, hydraulics were full of water and the engine bearings were toast. He sold it as is for 1200 bucks. ;D

[sandhills]

My Grandpa had 2 of them and looking back now (hind sight is always 20/20 you know) I wish I would've sold the old '79 Ford pickup and bought one or both on the estate sale  :-\.  You'll have a lot of fun with that!

[Roger2561]

Nice looking tractor. 

A couple of things I like about those tractors; 1)  Simple to work on.  I grew up on an old Farmall Cub and Super "A".  Everything was easy to reach.  No hoods to remove to work on the carb, points, etc...  If it was too cold for the Farmall to start, put a hand crank in the hole below the radiator and crank away.  Usually it only took a turn or 2 to get her going.  2)  They were virtually bullet proof.  Those old tractors would take a kick and keep right on a workin'.  Roger

[Al_Smith]

The little Fords and Fergys are about bullit proof .I have had several 8N's in the past .There was a time in my life I "jockied " machinery .Buy low and flip them .It went pretty good until the price of parts made it non profitable.

However on parts there's enough aftermarket options now you could just about keep those little tractors running forever .

[scgargoyle]

Cool tractor! Old iron is one of my lesser addictions. I'm looking for something to use around here, and the old Fords are really common around here. Some day you'll have to detour through Greenville on your way to/from TN.

[Al_Smith]

This mention of the V8 engines was a product of Funk aviation of Coffeyville Kansas .They offered a conversion kit using either a 95 HP flat head six or a 100 HP Ford 8ba flathead V8 .You might find one at an antique tractor show but they are rather a novelty and rare .

I know a gent who used a 75 HP Opal engine in an 8N that had a cracked block .It was triple the HP and about triple the RPM's and would run 50 MPH down the road .Too much HP it was constantly breaking the rear axles .

[r.man]

Nice tractor, I have a 9N that I am not sentimentally attached to and I think I am going to sell it to buy an 8 mostly to get away from the odd pedals. Too much confusion for my feet when I switch to a normal set up on one of the others.

[Raider Bill]

According to tractor data it is a 1950 "26675"

What are the pros and cons of 12v vs 6v?

Besides a battery and alternator what else would be changed to convert? 

At this point it needs at least a battery.

[Al_Smith]

Well you'd have to change the lights of course .You about either need to install a voltage dropping ballast resister in series with the coil or get a 12 volt coil .Else wise it will eventually burn the points .

In theory if you double the voltage from going from 6 to 12 volts you in theory quadruple the power on the starter (Ohms law )Doesn't really hurt anything except every couple of years you need to change the starter brushs which are pretty cheap .I'm not certain about an 8n but on my Ferguson TO-20 they cost about 3 bucks .

[Al_Smith]

There's another way .If you get a ballast wire from like an old Ford from the junk yard it would work .The good thing about a ballast wire is it gives you 12 on a start up to the coil,hot spark .As the wire heats up it drops down to 6 volts and saves the points.Lots of ways to skin the same cat so to speak .

[gspren]

   I believe there used to be 8 volt batteries available, I think.

[Al_Smith]

Problem with that is for some reason even by fiddling with the regulator the 6 volt generator couldn't keep the battery charged .

Now nothing wrong with an OEM generator if you want to keep the original look .If you want to work without having to coddle it like a teen age prom queen hang an alternator on it and be done with it .Now I know grand dad said 6 volt generators are just fine .They didn't have alternators in grand paps day so he wouldn't know .

[Al_Smith]

Last week it was 16 below zero .I fired my little Ferguson right up .It has a big bore kit making it 129 cubic inchs and increasing compression ratio from 6.5 to 1 to 8.5 to one .HP is increased about 4- 5 drawbar HP which is a lot when you only start out with about 23-24 .

When I had that thing still with 6 volt there would be no way it would start .With the 12 volt it spun it right over and fired right up .

[beenthere]

   I believe there used to be 8 volt batteries available, I think.

IIRC they were in the Farmall tractors back when... ever.
Corley8 might know better.

[Corley5]

I've got 8V batteries in my Farmalls that are still 6V.  They start better with 8 and I've never had an issue with the 6V generator charging the 8V battery.  I've got them in a couple Hs and a 300.  Twelve is the way to go.  We changed the light bulbs and ignition coils and have never had issues with the 6V starters on 12V.  You can drive them around with the starter if needed.  Well not very far  ;) :D  I've pulled my B Farmall out of the barn when it was out of gas but the battery was charged with the starter.  A 6V wouldn't do that.  What ever you do throw the points and condenser away and get a Petronix electronic ignition module for it.  They cost what a couple sets of points and condensers do and you'll be much happier.  Good looking tractor by the way  8) 8) 8) 

[samandothers]

I learned alot about steering at least on one of these.  I was too small to reach the pedals while sitting on the seat.  But I'd stand on the clutch and dad would put in 1st gear with little throttle.  He'd get outta the way and I'd sit in the seat and steer it pulling a trailer between bails of hay.  He'd load hay and help me to know what to do.  Great memories, great tractor.

We too had an PTO mounted clutch when using bush hog.

[Darrel]

If ford had built cars and trucks as strong as they did their tractors there would not be enough room to drive and park them all.

[Al_Smith]

The 8N came about as compition to Ferguson as the story goes .Harry O Ferguson invented the three point hitch and that started the 9N .Ford made them and Harry O sold them .It got so Ford was loosing money and Harry was making money so Ford terminted their agreement and started the 8N .

So Harry O started a factory in England and made the TE-20 Fergy .About a year later he had a factory in Henrys' back yard in Dearborn and it became the TO 20.Both the Fords and Fergys were made to replace a team of horses for small acerage farms of which they did .

[gspren]

I've got 8V batteries in my Farmalls that are still 6V.  They start better with 8 and I've never had an issue with the 6V generator charging the 8V battery.  I've got them in a couple Hs and a 300.

Corley, where did you get the 8v batteries? If I put an 8v in my 44 Farmall H what would need changed?

[Saki]

Those old fords and fergusons are great tractors. In his later years my granddad would buy these, repair whatever was wrong and re-sell. For the time they had good power, were easy to climb on, off, had the 3pt and PTO, and were low to ground with wide front so very stable. Fergusons 3pt design sent all the engineers at other tractor manufacturers scrambling to try to come up with something comparable.

I have a TE20 and a TO30 and like them both very much. Lots of parts still widely available, and generally pretty easy to work on.

Also normally very economical tractors to operate. Under really hard bushog conditions both these tractors will use around a gallon per hour, and fords would be similar.

Fergies also have some cool history. A TE 20 was equipped with tracks and became a poor mans "snowcat" on an expedition to one of the poles.

Enjoy your new toy!

[pineywoods]

Back in my younger days, just about every logger used an 8N or equiv ferguson for a skidder. The only widespread problem was brakes. Nothing wrong with the brakes themselves, the axle seals tended to go out and leak axle grease on the brake shoes. Easy fix was to pull the axle and put 2 seals in place of the one. Turn the seals opposite each other, one to keep grease in, the other to keep dirt out.

[Corley5]

Tractor Supply usually has them.  My local Car Quest stocks them too.  If your H is still 6V you shouldn't need to change anything. 

[Qweaver]

The brakes were the only "power" steering that it had, and without a live clutch the bushhog would push you somewhere that you did not want to go.   :-\

HA HA, that's funny!  I've bushhogged with one of those.  Reverse must be 20 mph at idle.  :D

[Saki]

Pineywoods - Never heard that one, that is clever as can be. Might be worth doing even if not used for much skidding purposes just to beef it up.

Neat idea!

[Raider Bill]

Can you jump start using a 12v vehicle? One concern I have is a dead battery in the woods.
If I can just get a 8v battery and not have to spend more $$$ to convert I could spend that savings on something else I probably don't need either.

Do you recharge/maintain with a 6v charger?

[beenthere]

Jump directly to the starter with the 12v, and bypass the 6 volt system. Worked for me.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Yep the jumper cables go directly to the starter terminal with the key in the "on" position.

[farmboy1tn]

most 8n are postive ground so you better check how you jump them off. i jump mine postive to frame, neg to starter post

[Saki]

Also PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember to have the unit out of gear, and/or the brakes set. Many of these old tractors will fire up without making a full engine revolution. I know we have all done stuff like this, and are here to tell the tale, but it only takes once to radically change your life. This nearly cost a local farmer his life. Tractor fired up and ran over him and his large charge/jump style battery charger. Fortunately the way it happened, it ran over the charger AND him so the charger ( laying beside him ) carried a good chunk of the tractor weight as the rear tire crossed his chest.

Not aiming to mother folks here, but we all work in the woods alone a lot. Sure could ruin a fellas day.

[Al_Smith]

On that business it seems often times if the starter switch goes bad on the Fergusens the common practice was to use a Ford starter relay .Of course it works but there is no safety built into the system like the shift lever interlock built into the original design .

Those replacement switchs are not that expensive .

[thecfarm]

Seem like on my '54 Ford if you try to start it in gear the starter button won't go down.

[Al_Smith]

For that matter regarding safety more than one person has been injured or killed from a hand cranker with a magneto from leaving it in gear .I might also add more than one person has been maimed from backing a John Deere with a hand clutch while standing on the ground .

[Planman1954]

My 9n (1943 model) will NOT start if it is in gear. Key on, neutral gear, clutch down, brake on, then hit the start button.