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Sad News

T

Tim PloughNman Daley RIP

Well-known Member
All things must pass -George Harrison said it best. Sadly, Jon Smith has decided to call it quits and no longer has his Ford N-Series Tractor web site up. Due to some health issues, lack of interest in N-Tractors, and lack of funding, he has decided not to renew his web account. It has been running for over 20 years now. His used part business had been funding the account but even that has slowed to a standstill in the past few years. His Tractor ID/HISTORY forum was very informative and will be missed. Good luck and God Bless, John.

Tim Daley(MI)
 
Maybe some younger guy will pick up where the previous one stopped. Unfortunately, there is no stopping the shift in the market away from the 1940's and 1950's tractors regardless of the brand.
 
SAD, but not entirely the end of it. Likely it will survive on "The Wayback Machine" for quite some time into the future.
WAY back
 
That is sad news, indeed. My wife and I were just talking this morning about how it seems like the last decade has not been kind to these tractors.

Maintaining a domain and a site isn't all that expensive and his site is an invaluable resource. I would be willing to contribute on an annual basis to keep the site going for our community. Please let me know if that might work. My email is open.

Colin, MN
 
I to am sorry to hear this news! Always checked his site from time to time to check on different things and even tho I never bought anything from him I liked to check out what he had available, always figured one of these days when one of my select o speed input shafts gave up the ghost I would be getting one of his that was ready to install!! Hope his health troubles aren't too bad to keep him from enjoying giving some of his tractors a little exercise from time to time! Greg NE
 
Thank you John for all you devotion to these tractors and for being such a source of unquestionable knowledge. I especially enjoyed your tool making. At least close, "there is a tool inside every old axle, just waiting to be carved out". :)
 
John is a great asset to the community.
He watched out for a combo auxiliary transmission for me for a couple of years and he never forgot about me.
He boxed it up in a wood crate and shipped it in perfect condition rebuilt and with extra shims.
Man that is dedication!
Hats off to him, now my 2N is a beast.
I like being able to use the post hole digger with the low range among many other things.
Thanks John,
Greg
 
Almost every Ford tractor I've ever owned had parts on it that I
bought from John. Whether they were purposely bought for it or
swapped around later. Those parts have been a blessing.

Not nearly the blessing his knowledge and willingness to help has been though.
Hosting the website would be a great continuation of his knowledge.
It pales in comparison to thinking John won't be helping us though.
Just this past Saturday he helped me with questions I had on a
Hupp transmission. Without even telling me how dumb I was! LOL

Thanks John, I hope everything works out well for you.
 
I too was helped by John and he treated me like I was the only person he was dealing with even though he may have answered the same question 5 or 6 times that week. Also bought parts as I am a purest on my trailer Queens. I sent many a new bee to his site. Thanks John.
 
(quoted from post at 07:13:33 02/14/18) Thank you John for all you devotion to these tractors and for being such a source of unquestionable knowledge. I especially enjoyed your tool making. At least close, "there is a tool inside every old axle, just waiting to be carved out". :)
Click to expand...

John Smith AKA 007,,,, No body does it better....
 
John is the gentleman consume. I have had the fortunate opportunity to purchase parts from John, to meet him at several Ford shows AND to meet with him to visit Dwight Enstrom at Dwight's private museum. I, too, have saved the website address. Thank you, John.
 
Ditto all the above. I have several components on my N from John, who lives about a half-hour from me. I'm still envious of his shop!

At some point, our Ns will indeed become rare due to lack of parts availability and attrition and it will be rare to see one turning dirt. Hopefully that's not for a loooong time yet.

es
 
I know we don't like to accept it but it's coming to an end. Most folks with old tractors have some type of connection to em. We are fast running out of people who have connections to these old things. And more modern and more capable machines are available. I first saw Kubota for sale here in the US in 1978. So finding a cheap reliable chore tractor isn't nearly as hard as it once was. With a few notable exceptions most of us owners are older gentlemen. The next gen will want 3000s and MF135s. As demand for farts goes down they will stop supporting these old things.

Rick
 
i must agree with most of the above statements but hopefully we can still pass some of the tractors on to our offspring and they will keep'em running. my biggest worry for them will be availability of parts. My oldest son helped me split my 1950 8N and replace the clutch this past summer and I plan on passing this on to him or one of my other sons. At any rate, I hope these tractors will be around another 65 to 100 years.
 
Not surprising.

The antique tractor hobby has been dead for over ten years (with a few exceptions).

It is not coming back.

Dean
 
Copy that, bro. Unfortunately, we are the last generation to appreciate the history and beauty of not only vintage tractors, but the cars, trucks, and military vehicles as well. There are not many young people into these antiques. Most youngsters, and some adults today would rather be on their phones and sitting in front of a tube all day. We are partly to blame, as I always say: technology doesn't always mean it is a good thing.


Tim 'PloughNman' Daley(MI)
 
Thank you John for all the time and attention you've given in helping so many with their Old Ford Tractor problems.

You saw me through a Sherman installation and provided parts for several restorations.

Like others, I can't tell you how many times I have referred to your most elegant web site. It truly is a loss for old Ford tractor lovers everywhere.

May God bless and restore your health!
 
I disagree with the notion that it has been dead for a while. It has changed for sure and the interest has narrowed but certainly not dead. Quite a bit of interest in the 1960's and 1970's tractors as most people living have more of a connection to those tractors. As interesting as the 1940's and 1950's tractors were they were sitting in a shed or out in back of a barn in a lot of instances by the time the 1970's and 1980's rolled around. It's convenient to blame electronic gizmo's for the fall off but a lot of young people either lack the money or the space to be involved in tractors as a hobby. A person can buy an 8N or Farmall H for a 1,000 dollars but if they are a stickler for detail they will still need to spend another 500-2,000 dollars to make it show worthy. People do not understand that for many there is no point to take something to a show if the appearance is lacking. After all, in most cases they are not dragging grandpa's or great grandpa's tractors to a show where each dent and ding have a story.
 
(quoted from post at 07:59:17 02/14/18) I disagree with the notion that it has been dead for a while. It has changed for sure and the interest has narrowed but certainly not dead. Quite a bit of interest in the 1960's and 1970's tractors as most people living have more of a connection to those tractors. As interesting as the 1940's and 1950's tractors were they were sitting in a shed or out in back of a barn in a lot of instances by the time the 1970's and 1980's rolled around. It's convenient to blame electronic gizmo's for the fall off but a lot of young people either lack the money or the space to be involved in tractors as a hobby. A person can buy an 8N or Farmall H for a 1,000 dollars but if they are a stickler for detail they will still need to spend another 500-2,000 dollars to make it show worthy. People do not understand that for many there is no point to take something to a show if the appearance is lacking. After all, in most cases they are not dragging grandpa's or great grandpa's tractors to a show where each dent and ding have a story.
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree. I just recently purchased a tractor, but I live in a generally suburban area where space is limited for "another vehicle" for most people. Yet I see plenty around and actually have several people at work who own tractors are are into them enough that they will eventually pick one up. I will say that only one of them is in his twenties, so there is something to the age thing. I don't think it's technology so much as the general decline of knowledge, that being things like WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM, as opposed to whatever is in a school book or on the internet. But without the internet (technology) I wouldn't be as fortunate to be able to work on or have even purchased my tractor.
 
(quoted from post at 09:05:03 02/14/18)
But without the internet (technology) I wouldn't be as fortunate to be able to work on or have even purchased my tractor.
Click to expand...

I definitely agree with this. I recently purchased a 9N (my first tractor) and had it not been for the internet I wouldn't have even bought it. Before I purchased it I watched multiple videos on youtube about how to do various repairs. That gave me the confidence to know that the N's are relatively easy to work on. The internet also gave me an idea on the availability of parts for the N series, another thing that put me at ease.
 
The Way Back links works really good. I just pulled the site up and saved some of the pages as a PDF to my computer. I thought some others might want to do it also. fairly easy. With Internet explorer pull up the page you want to save and then
(I closed out the Way Back banner.)
1. click Control P to pull up the print dialog box.
2. Chose the "Print to PDF PRINTER" (you may have to scroll over in the dialog box to find it)
3, Name the file and choose where you want to save it. it may take a while for the name the file box to come up as the file will be large on some of the pages.
I too will miss the site, It helped me a lot as I restored my dads 8N.. I hope the other site saves the information.
But if not I have the repair, identification, specification, Sherman transmission, accessories and FAQ pages saved to my computer
Best wishes John Smith, and thank you
 
I'm sad to see john's site go. It was/is an invaluable resource for me.

I personally don't think n's are going away any time soon. I'm 31 and enjoy my time on my tractor.

I also know of many still around that seem to be in use. I can count at least 5 or 6, maybe more, that I see all the time on my drive to work.
 
He didn't give details, and I didn't press the issue, he only said it was to the point that he couldn't get up on a tractor anymore. I certainly can relate, as both of my knees are now bone-on-bone and replacements would fix, but not in the budget currently.

Tim
 
Yep, not really dead, changed for sure as values have declined and interest has waned from just restoring any early model to just having a working machine. There are many newbies, but then there have always been. One thing for sure is not many younger ones picking it up and carrying the ball.

Tim 'PlougNman
 
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