OT Another Ford, still working away

[Ruxstel24]

Went and got my neighbors 2N today, with eminent snowfall coming.
He plowed me out for years and mom. Now he has a little trouble breathing in the cold. And the old Ford is hard to start when it's below 20 degrees. So I park it in my garage and plow everyone out, for the last couple years.
I need to put a new fan belt on and I will be good to go in the snow.
I think it's a 46?

[dale w]

2Ns got the tubular radius rods like this one has in mid 1944, they were built that way until late 1947 when the 8N replaced the 2N.

If you can still read the engine number, you can date it using this serial number chart


http://www.myfordtractors.com/serial.shtml

They are great little tractors---once you get used to the brake pedals on either side of the thing!

[Ruxstel24]

Thanks for the link Dale, I'll see if I can see the number tomorrow.
Pretty sure it's a 2N, 8N has a 4 speed transmission I believe and brakes that actually work !
Got a new belt on this evening, found one in my stash. It's a tight fit between the fan and the shroud...

[dale w]

Its definitely a 2N!

Those wide-spaced bolt pattern rear wheels are a dead giveaway, along with the tool box location.
8ns had a much smaller rear wheel bolt pattern from the start and the front wheel bolt pattern became smaller shortly after its introduction. The 8N tool box was behind the battery, hidden under the dashboard.

I have a couple of each, so I always have at least ONE running tractor!

[Tmodelt]

I learned to drive on an 8N. I love the 2 pedal braking. It makes it easy to steer with the front end "floating".

Dad and I found out that a lot of Models A parts are interchangeable with the 8N. We had a cylinder sleeve start tapping against the head on the piston upstroke. The fix in the barn was to purchase a power pack (piston, sleeve & rod) put it in the freezer to shrink and slip it into the block. All the parts used were identical to Model A parts. Thanks Henry.

[Rich Eagle]

I believe That is the first thing I ever drove too. I had no idea what I was doing and a farmer standing on the back told me what to do. It was frightening and exciting at the same time. The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation had a short blip of Fordson and Ferguson this morning. Great stuff for the other youngsters to see.
Thanks for bringing this up.
Rich

[HPetrino]

I'm really not sure if it was a 2N or an 8N, but I went to work for a farmer in the California San Joaquin Valley when I was 16. He drove me out to where the tractor was parked. It had a large "V" hay rake hooked up. My job was to rake hay. I received no instruction at all other than he handed me a grease gun and told me that if I ever failed to grease all the fittings before getting started for the day I was fired.

I wasn't aleays lucky enough to rake a hay field. Sometimes it was straw. It was often over 100 deg. F. with the sun beating down and the straw reflectig it up. There were times I would have sold any family member (including my mother) for a cold drink. Ah, the good ol' days!

[Ruxstel24]

The old girl got a little work out today !!
I moved about 6" from 4 driveways and was looking pretty abominable, my black Carhartts were white !!
Back at it again in the am, hopefully it will stop snowing by then, but wind chills are going to be bad.

[RichardG]

I ENJOY'D??? A FRIEND SHIP WITH A 2N , THAT LITTLE BUGGER HAD A HEART THAT WOULD NOT GIVE UP, IT WOULD BAIL HAY, WOULD PLOW, IT WOULD RUN THE WOOD SAW, IT WOULD FILL SILO. IT HAD A TIRE PUMP THAT SCREWED IN A PLUG HOLE, IT WOULD RUN ALL DAY ON A TANK OF GAS IT HAD NO STARTER OR GENERATOR, IT HAD TO BE CRANKED, NOW AT 20 BELOW THIS WAS SOME FEAT, YOU ASK WHY I NEEDED TO START THE LITTLE GRAY GHOST AT that TEMPERATURE,? because it had a vaccum hook up to run thr milking MACHINE TOO, DAD BOUGHT A SET OF ARPS HALF TRACKS AT A AUCTION , THEY DIDN'T TELL HIM YOU HAD TO HAVE RUBBER TIRES ON THE REAR TO USE THEM, YOU SEE DURING THE WAR RUBBER ALL WENT FOR THE WAR. THAT'S ANOTHER STORY ALL TOGETHER ..I DROVE THAT BEAST TEN YEARS WITH NO BINDERS !! BACK AROUND 65 I HEARD THEY HAD SEALS TO GO IN THE REAR TO STOP TH GREASE FROM GETTING ON THE SHOE'S. LET ME TELL YOU THAT MADE LIFE SOOOO MUCH SAFER. WHEN YOU ARE HOOKED UP TO A NEW HOLLAND BAILER DIRECT DRIVE, BECAUSE THE POWER TAKE OFF SHAFT WAS GOING TO TURN WEATHER THE CLUTCH WAS IN OR OUT, AND WE HAD SOME FAIRLY STEEP HILLS, AND YOU SUCKED IN ALL YOUR LUNGS COULD HOLD AND PRAY YOU DIDN'T END UP SIDE WAYS PART WAY DOWN THE HILL,YOU SAY WHY NOT COME UP OVER, WELL TRY'D THAT JUST ONCE,ABOUT HALF WAY UP SHE GOT FRISKY AND DECIDED TO DO IT ON ITS REAR WHEELS, IF IT WERN'T FOR THE DRAW BAR IT WOULD HAVE LOADED IT SELF UP SIDE DOWN ATOP THE BAIL'R THAT WOULD BE A BIT ROUGH ON THE BACK SIDE.ALL IN ALL WE MADE IT THROUGH SOME ROUGH TIMES TOGETHER, I CAN STILL SEE IT ANY TIME AS I SOLD IT TO A FRIEND AND HE WORKS IT DOING DRIVEWAYS AND GARDENS AND SOUCH,[he loves it so do i ] KINDA FEEL SORRY IN MY OLD AGE, BECAUSE OF THE MANY NAMES I CALLED IT. ONE THING IT NEVER DID WAS LET ME DOWN..TURN THE GAS ON LATCH A BRAKE MAKE SHURE YOUR IN NEUTRAL REACH AROUND GIVE ER A BIT OF CHOKE TWO LIFTS ON THE ARMBUSTER AS DAD CALLED IT AND ITS READY FOR WHAT EVER IS THE JOB..

[samuel pine]

My father bought new one, local Ford dealer sometime 1949. One part replaced all these yrs a noisy throw
out bearing that was a good 30 yrs ago. The rest untouched. Hard now to find the Ford gray paint tractor
supply paint way way off.....

[Ruxstel24]

Just remembered to look at the ID numbers today. Comes in as a 1944 2N

[Ruxstel24]

Yep, the old Ford is earning her keep this year...
Is it June yet ?!?!

[Rich Bingham]

Why did the 9N come before the 2N ?!?

[ironhorse]

I was told the 9 was for 1939 the 2 was for 1942 and the 8 was for 1948 the last digit in the year identifying the particular model of the n series tractors, however that could be the old farmer I knew just pulling my leg! I also love it when someone ask me why the "T" came before the "A"

[Rich Bingham]

Thanks G.R. Looking it up I found the N models were made 1939-1952, then came the Jubilee tractor in 1953. Your old farmer was right!

I ran a 9-N for years. Handy little workhorse that never failed me. Bought a new JD 3005 to replace it. I kinda miss the 9N but I don't miss not having a live PTO or its cranky 3-point hitch. They're all still in demand !

[Bill D]

Richard Eagle: I learned to drive a 2n, in 1946 or '47. My Dad had this wild idea to plant a 7 acre pf Sorghum cane(Missouri) and
I had to plow the field. About a third of the way togetting the field plowed I was in the plow row and the tractor lurched and stopped-dead in its tracks. I pushed the clutch pedal down and pressed the starter-Nothing happened. This was a rented tractor and what have I done.
Me at the age of 12 1/2 got off the tractor and went up to the house and got my Dad, scared to death I had done major damage to the unit,
Dad get's up on the seat and presses the clutch down and put the tractor in neutral and presses the starter button and the engine started
and he gets off and then tell me that and interlock stopped me from starting the tractor while it was still in gear. A BIG lesson learned.
He found a sorghum press and and a pan and he and the neighbors made an unknown number of gallons of honey colored sorghum cane syrup
umm-umm good. Boy what I would do to get a gallon of good fresh sorghum syrup
Enough said