454 F20 project

Hello, I am wondering if it's better to put a 454 in a F20 with an addition vehicle transmission or is it better just to have no transmission? Do the 454s make good torque on its own?

Farmall F20 engines turn far slower than modern engines. To get into the higher HP band on your 454, you'll be turning the transmission, thus ground speed, 3-5 times faster than currently.

It is probably best to put a transmission in between. That will extend the lifetime of the F-20's transmission, help with keeping the tractor in a drivable speed range, and maybe keep the noise down. Those straight cut gears can be loud! Have you started on it yet? I'd be interested in seeing some pictures of the 454 installation.

(quoted from post at 10:38:26 07/27/16) It is probably best to put a transmission in between. That will extend the lifetime of the F-20's transmission, help with keeping the tractor in a drivable speed range, and maybe keep the noise down. Those straight cut gears can be loud! Have you started on it yet? I'd be interested in seeing some pictures of the 454 installation.

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I haven't started on the installation yet. My friend has a 454 and a 4 speed tranny he'd sell to me for $150 but when I do get it I'll post pics

30 years ago I had an F-20 with a 383 with an automatic tranny in it. Fun tractor to play with, pulled it a few times but had to pull for show only, local pulls didn't have a class for it. As has been said you will need a tranny to slow the tractor down unless you want to go for a heck of a ride. The car engine will turn easily turn 4 to 5 times as many RPMs as the original engine. If I remember correctly I usually ran in 2nd gear on the tractor and shifted the auto tranny on the go.
I did have my F-20 up over 45 miles an hour or so but it wasn't safe to handle and I only did it once.

Here is Dad's 1939 F-20 with a flathead Dodge 6 banger. That motor has been in there for at least 40 years. The 3 speed car transmission is in there. He uses the tractor mostly for raking. It was his first tractor way back in 1966. I'm sure he's told me at one point but I don't remember off hand why he decided to put in the car motor. Other than he could because he was a mechanic! Dad helped his brother with a W-9 and a 283 Chevy. That monster was fast and loud! Uncle Leonard scared the hell out of me a couple times ripping down the road when I was little, lol.

The motor trans is in 1st gear and then we use the tractor transmission for normal shifting. Yes the gear noise is pretty loud. But that is just the normal sound of that tractor, always has been. You can hear the gear sound coming long before you see the tractor. It will fly if you shift up into a higher motor trans gear, my cousin did it once going from one farm to another. Dad wasn't happy with him to say the least!

He finally changed out the transmission connection to a roller chain. It had two tapered pins in it before and always vibrated with the clutch out. Now that it is at the end of its life, he goes and fixes it right, lol.

I don't know how many hours this tractor has on it but it is a ton. The support arms on the drawbar are starting to wallow out the holes in the side plates pretty good. But for what it is used for these days, she might last another 40 years.