Picked up a '51 Ford 8N a couple weeks ago. Made a nice addition to the slowly growing big tractor collection here. Not an ounce of paint left on the thing but it runs great!
Man i love these old machines, alot of people discredit these tractors to do work today not realizing how ahead of their time they were. It takes a little bit to figure out how to work without live pto, but once you do and long as you have an overrunning clutch on it it is every bit as functional as a modern tractor for your average person. Parts are plentiful, inexpensive, and readily available. These machines were built before the concept of throw away that newer machines are built with. They are a representation of an era and a mentality we so badly need to get back to in this country. Thank you for bringing this one back. I bought a 1941 9n to get me by keeping the grass knocked down at my new place 15 years ago. I had originally planned on replacing it with a newer one later on down the road when the budget allowed. I quickly realized there was no need to drop 30-40,000$ on a new tractor when the one i bought for 1000$, used for a year in that state, then bought and installed another 800$ worth of parts rebuilding the engine, both transmissions, the hydraulics,the fuel and ignition system, it has not let me down in 15 years and has done an insane amount of work over the years snd showing no sign of letting up anytime soon.
Great running and dependable old iron. When my Dad was using his Minneapolis Moline to plow our pasture, the plow caught a tree root and overstressed the tractor motor and it threw a rod out of the case. My Dad asked the neighbors if he could borrow their Ford 8N to finish the plowing and such and the 8N worked excellent. My Dad fixed his Minneapolis Moline tractor but with one less working cylinder, 3 instead of 4. He welded the case up and we used it for a few more years and then we parked it. My Dad sure liked the old Ford 8N tractors. I like them too and I almost bought one for $500 dollars and everything worked, but things wouldn't work out for me so I had to let it go. It was a great tractor too with a sickle bar mower included.
Man! We do have this exact same model in our little farm, and your video was just the inspiration needed for me to repair ours too! God keep blessing you! Greetings from Brazil!
Great video! I finally got my 8n up and running and cutting grass. I still need to dial it in a bit to get it running really well and probably need to pull the head and check out the internals this winter when the grass stops growing.
That was one packed video! EXCELLENT stuff. I have two Fergie 20's and knew how similar they are to the Ford version you have but the differences are very intriguing. Thanks for sharing and best regards from Ireland.
Hey thanks Russell! Lot of filming on this one... Had a few Fergie's pass though here! Couple 20's and a 35. Interesting machines with the flip up hood and Continental engine. Unique sound too when running.
Awesome little machine man, reminds me of my dad's old TO-35 he started farming with. Also reminds me that I need to rebuild the steering box on my Farmal Super A so I can actually drive the thing around. Good to see you're still making videos 👍
Ain't it?! Those 35's a neat rigs as well. Got a distinct sound with that Continental engine in them too... Longer stretches in between now, but the videos will keep coming.
So great to see a video from you and to see you are doing well. I found a 1958 Fordson with a loader and backhoe that I am going to put back into service in my masonry wall restoration as well as old flagstone patio restoration along with mobile welding/fabrication service and possibly large media blasting down here in PA.
Thanks John! Man, you got all kinds of stuff going for ya down there... Media blasting would be neat if you're getting into that. Imagine it will be profitable since we're in the rust belt too. Tough finding guys up around here that do that on a mobile scale.
Very informative video. I really like the way that you explain the repair / restoration process, along with the tips and tricks that you include in this video! A few years ago, I repaired a relative's 1947 8N after it had been worked on by someone who did not finish the job, and left it in a field in Montana for a few years with the No. 1 spark plug removed. The relative's grandfather had bought the tractor new. Thankfully the engine was not 'stuck'... I did have to rebuild the Marvel-Schebler carburetor, give it a tune-up, and clean out the fuel tank. I remember how awkward and heavy the the engine cover & fuel tank assembly was to remove and reinstall by myself. You now have another subscriber!
Thanks Bernie, glad to have you here! Good save on the '47 too... Lucky he didn't pull the head off and then leave it outside, would've had quite the project on your hands if so!
Great job. Nice to see the old iron being saved. I am a bit of a case gt nut. 646, 446 and a 222. All in running condition. They do work not just for show. Keep up the good work jake !
Thanks Don! Those old Case GT's are good tractors! Still have a few here, 200, 400 and 100 series. Suckers will put in a days work and then some. Only thing is the cost of the attachments, at least around here they're pricey.
Awesome. My 8n has a 2" wide piece of galvanized tin wrapped around that lower radiator hose to shield it from the fan belt. I assumed it came that way from the factory. Love your video. Simple explanation of what your going to do, then video of you doing just that. Minimal background music. Perfect format. Well done sir.
Yesterday’s Tractors and The N Tractor Club are goldmines of information. The valves are so much more easier to service with the manifold off. The banjo music was a nice touch!
Did a complete overhaul on our ‘49 8n(pulled engine 7/21) and just got the engine back in the tractor two weeks ago, not finished yet. Tractor was completely restored in ‘66 and constantly used til 2003. Tractor smoked but started easily before set up. Very little wear in the sleeves when tore down but I went ahead and replaced everything in the engine new with exception of crank, cam, and rods. Tractor is also getting new hood/grille, gas tank and radiator, wire harness and gauges and has new clutch kit installed. Being a glutton for punishment, I bought a ‘51 8n in January for a follow up project.
I know I'm behind on the video and I apologize for the late comment. I've missed watching your videos due to illness but I'm recovering slowly and wanted to say thanks. Always enjoy your videos. Glad your business is going well. You do very good work. The old Ford sounds great.
Not a worry Jonathan, I'm behind on replying! Glad to hear you're on the mend! Appreciate the kind words as well... hoping to have one more video up before the end of the year.
Yes Sir she sounds Good Jake another one saved, not a big fan of the front mount Dist. but do like the side mount and the Tack, sure Glad to see ya back on here enjoy all of your videos, thanks and hope to see ya again soon
Hyd. pump is an easy fix. Drain the oil, undo the lever linkage (through the right side cover, IIRC) to the pump, pull the PTO and unbolt the pump. The pump control valve is probably stuck in it's bore. The valve to bore clearance in these types of pumps were generous as built, so don't fret about tight fits. Free that up and you should be good to go if the pump valve bodies are ok( most of the time they are). Refill with cheap Hyd. oil, not gear oil. Ford switched over to hyd. oil in the mid-1950's on these. No wet brakes on this, so the cheap stuff will work. I used to change out the pump relief valve whenever I took an old pump out that had been running for decades with gear oil. 20 yrs. ago, all the parts for the Hyd. system were available, not OEM, but made well enough that they were dependable. I rebuilt a bunch of them. The side distributor 8N is a great tractor. I believe you can get a replacement PTO shaft for it that will convert it to Cat. 2 so you could do away with the adaptor that's on it now. Good Luck with it.
Thanks Ed. Should just be a simple rebuild and it'll be back up and working again. Not much to them as ya know... Went though a customers 8N in the spring and did the top cover and pump. His was like scooping mud from the Mississippi out of the transmission, was awful. So if that one was okay after rebuild, the '51 ought to be just fine! Most of this stuff I run UTF in now vs. gear oil anyways. That's what this'll get on the final flush.
Actually it could be a lot easier fix then that! On the ford 8 n tractor I don’t know if he knows or not but the pro must be ingauaged for the three point hitch to work it was kind of a little downfall they had so I don’t know if you tried it with the pro on or off but worth trying if you didn’t
Aj Scott here good to see you doing another video again need to see some more Need to see The big V6 run Just messed with the I know you're busy Take it easy man you and you and your family
Good to hear from you Scott! Still got that 432 V6 out back. Keep thinking of unwrapping it and cranking it up but time and other projects always take over. Some day gotta light that sucker off...
@@5Tractorguy Yes you can. They're always the most quiet big tractor as well. Also, I've got a question if you don't mind. I've been working on a couple of older Cub Cadets, but have been having a hard time finding parts. Is there anywhere you would suggest I look? Thank you, both potentially for the answer, and for the content you put out. Its where I get the sound and feel since I don't live on a farm anymore
@@wilhelm_iron2359 What're you after for those Cubs? I get a lot of parts for PTO and drive clutches from www.ccpartsnmore.com. Their prices are usually darn close to everyone else... There's also www.xtrememotorworks.com and www.ccspecialties.org you can check out as well. Hopefully that'll get ya what you need! And your welcome Wilhelm, glad to have you here!
@@5Tractorguy Thank you! I'm after some rear wheel bushings for a 1962 Original, and potentially drive and front takeoff clutch parts for a 104. I'll check those sights out
Great video! Very informative and well done! If I had seen this a year ago I would have been more confident to dig deep into the valves on my 9n. We picked up a 51 8n that ran well and sold the 9. Yours has perfect patina😊. I only wish these had lower 1st and reverse gears. Kevin
Thanks Kevin, glad you enjoyed! I think you guys did well upgrading to the 8N... the do 9's have their place of course. Yes! I couldn't believe how fast that dang reverse was haha.
While you're wishing, please wish for a starter that don't disengage before the engine has a chance to make a revolution. : ) That, and the seating / petal position has kept me from buying an 8N and similar tractors.
No smoke and runs like an 8-N Swiss watch! That's one reason I like flat heads. They'll run again. HI, Jake and I like that shirt! 'JAKES MOBILE MECHANICING AND 5-STRING BANJO VIRTUOSOING'! Good combo and glad to see another old Ford going again. Hope all is well and we're still goofy (like we had other options). Keep on picking and I'm going to get rid of the 5665 with the rotary plow. I don't need worn out by that thing again. Keep after it and God Bless ALL Yall!
'Less they're blown up... they'll kick! Want a JGR shirt Lewie? Fresh off the press last month... All's been well up here. Work is plentiful, still pickin' (had a gig last week), riding horses and all that stuff in between wrenching. NH Property search continues though... That 5665 will eat you alive given the chance, especially with a rotary plow. Best to inflict someone else with that Gravely bug!
@@5Tractorguy I turned up a new ground with one of the old yellow commercial jobs and it stomped me hard, fast and repeatedly! I've got another with a kidney mower and a sulky off a Deere that was given to me. It's got the steering brakes but is still a double handful. Glad the picking is still happening( I knew you were as eat up with it as I was/am) and watch them horses. The accompanying riders will get you swimmy headed and pop-eyed! Blamed right I want a shirt! Good advertising! Give your Tarheel Uncle one and we might meet up wearing a Jake shirt and know who each other is! You'll find a shop spot but home is always home! Good to hear from you and God Bless ALL Yall!
Nice starting point. Last time I was in the store, TSC had virtually all maintenance/repair parts, including front tires and probably rims. That engine saw service on many unrelated applications, such as generators. Had a 2N myself at one time, when we still had use for it almost daily.
Good video, i am sure these engines were a relation of a Model A engine there are differences, by 1950 the sidevalve engines were on their way out OHV was starting to come in, will be good to see the old tractor run and drive. 👍👍
You can see that these tractors were built with quality in mind , not like today which is only max profits as first priority . Love the older machines .
I never knew about the guide keepers. There must be a simple tool that a guy could make for it. I saw a rubber and wood lapping tool a guy put a screw in the end and ran it with a variable speed drill. Down in the throat of the carb I had overlooked a second hole after it would start but run poorly. A torch head cleaner worked well to open it up. Good video !
You could modify a pry bar or screw driver to push down the guides... or what I did and bend up a piece of 3/8" round stock. Worked slick... Been there done that! Every now and again one orifice doesn't get blown out in the bead blaster, with get you every time. Thanks!
I used a modified long handled gasket scraper with a curved shaft and also modified a large flat blade screwdriver as suggested by Dan Gingel. I had one stuck exhaust valve that would not move and I cut the spring into three pieces and was able to get the valve out.
Good solid 8n . Hardly no flutter in the carburetor. Glad you used the old carb parts. Had issues with carb kits on flutter. Axle seals have always been an issue. You do know the pto has to be engaged for the 3pt. To work. Just a reminder. Those pumps hardly go bad.
Hey Neil... long delay in reply here. So far this ones still been running well. The axle seal on the LH side was weeping for a bit, but must've seal up after some driving (no longer leaks, was probably dry). Yep, did engage the PTO to try the 3pt hitch a few times and still nothing. I have to pull the side cover and check the relieve valve. If all else fail, I may rebuild the pump down the road.
I am rather fond of these old Fords. I have a '50 1/2 that I had to replace the lump with a '52 after finding a couple of nasty cracks between the head bolt holes and the coolant jacket. It is still in the shop, half way through that refurb. It is getting paint, too. It did not have the petina of this one and my OCD kicked in. I have a '54 NAA that is my daily on our small farm. The "red tiger" engine and live hydraulics are a nice upgrades.
Dang! That was an unfortunate find with the cracks. Luckily enough there seems to be enough parts for these things kicking around. Fresh paint will look nice! The NAA series and up are the ones I like... big fan of the hundred series.
I used to have a 1941 model 9 N. It had the front mounted distributor. Which, what you said pain in th beehind. But other than that slick running little machines. I think mine was rated at 16 HP. The 8 Ns had a pilot more horse power.
The tachometer on my 52 8N looks like yours all rusted. It doesn’t work so I took the cable out and the tip is broken off. Tach may still work just needs a new cable. Might get another one of these days to see if it works. Got to take tach out see if it turns free and put some grease in that little hole may work just fine.
I think that old 8N has more character and charm than a restored one. It looks like Tow Mater the tow truck’s cousin from Radiator Springs. It has one good eye, a bum leg and a few kinks but never gives up. 😂
The whole point of me wading through a video like this, is to learn how you did the dirty work... you edited over the most important parts - the removal and cleaning process!!!
You know, it's actually not quite as bad as I expected it to be! Usually when you say something is really crusty I picture the 73 K20! 😂 Man if you think those front mount distributors are bad on these, you should see the early flat head V8 cars!! Talk about annoying to work on! I really like the little montage you did in this video for the disassembly with the music in the background! You should totally do that more often! Maybe record yourself playing some bluegrass to avoid the copyright stuff LOL! That thing came out really nice too! Love the patina and it really seems to run nice! Good job as always Jake! Can't wait to see it in person at some point soon! Should definitely stand out at the tractor show too, not too many 8N's like that around lol!
Okay so the hood might be taking after the '73 a bit haha. Aside from having zero paint, it's not too bad. Figured I'd give that montage stuff a whirl... stinks now that the channel is monetized, I can't have bluegrass playing loud in the background anymore. Gotta get a playlist of non copyrightable stuff together. The most crustatious 8N this side of 495! When you're back up here you're more than welcome to take it for a spin around the block too!
@@5Tractorguy HAHA! Didn't look too bad to me lol! You know, I'd look into what the rules are for using songs that you do your own covers on... I want to say you are allowed to post music if it's your own cover of it, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Non copyright stuff is always a solid option though! Oooh that might be fun! Never actually driven one of them before!
Hi Jake, I am a new viewer and subscriber. In your reply to that fella you said “most crustatious 8N this side of 495” Are you talking about Route 495 in Massachusetts? Are you in Massachusetts?😳
You have room for an electronic tachometer if you like and keep the original for recording the engine hours. Personally I just like having a tach on equipment.
Looks like a fun project & i'm looking for an 8n myself to redo . Where did you get the proper lower rad hose to miss the belt & what kind of lube do you put on the valve stems . I'm learning and noting information , from knowlegable guys like you for when i find a no start , 8n . Thanks for your time .
Thanks for watching Norm. That's why those clips were kept in the video! I don't make "will it start" specific videos anyways. Always repair and start up... Too much of that click-bait crap on here now a days.
@@5Tractorguy Good video either way. I enjoy learning how these engines work and how to repair them. Even though I could never do it with my disability.
gday m8. that tractor is the same age as me. when i was a boy on the farm in taranaki my father had a ferguson twentyfour. i think you have to have the pto in live drive for the hydralics to work.
The old Ferguson's were good rigs! Worked on a few of the TO series around here for people. Correct, but even with the PTO engaged the 3pt is a no-go. Either pump itself or the relief valve is stuck.
Hey Jake, I’m a new viewer and subscriber. I have a “51” 8N my dad & I were going to restore but he passed this past spring (95 years old) So now I will be doing the restoration with my son who just bought my dads house (and where the tractor lives 😊) anyway…I noticed you replied to a fella that yours was “the most crustaceous 8N this side of 495” I read all of the replies on the comment section to see if you were from Massachusetts and saw a reply about your ongoing hunt for property in NH. So I assume you are in Mass. I grew up in Bedford Mass. Also coincidentally, my wife & I are searching for property in ME, NH or VT. Would love to talk to you about my project (8N)
Hey Steve! Sorry to hear about your Dad... Glad to hear that it'll still be a family project though with you and your son. Nice to pass equipment down to the next generation. Yep! I'm from central MA and looking to get the heck out haha! NH would be preferable, some place with more open land and my own piece of property. Sure thing, go back and watch my "Checkin' in Folks" video and towards the mid/end, my number is on the side of the red 1-ton I show in the video. Give me a ring Mon-Fri 8am to 6pm.
Don't get too worried about how long a video is. Most of us semi retired mechanics are looking for slightly longer shows. Many of us subscribe to Mustie1, Diesel Creek, Farmcraft, Marty, Watch Wes, etc... Major projects are fine around an hour.
Appreciate the feedback Matt... Glad that seems to be the general consensus. When I first started this channel, we all made 5-10min videos tops. It is fun going into more detail though now-a-days and making a longer episodes. Thanks for watching...
That’s neat. The first tractor I drove was an 8N when I was a kid. Did you check between the cylinders? I heard that if these fords and Masseys got hit the block cracked easily between the center cylinders
