N future

L.C.Gray · Jul 21, 2014

While I am aware of the history and innovation that makes the Ford N one of the most significant tractors of all time, I never did care much for them personally. A friend of mine recently bought a farm and included in the deal was the old 8N that had been in the barn for ages. He asked me to come out and see if I could get it back to running again. After a quick checkout, drain the tank, fresh fuel and a battery I had it cranked, but running pretty rough on 3 cylinders. A trip to the parts house, plugs, points, condenser, plug wire set, oil, filter, coolant and about 2 hrs later I had it purring like a kitten. I took it out for a test drive and shredded a little bit with it and surprisingly I really liked it. I can see now there's definitely an N in my future...

Royse · Jul 21, 2014

Be very careful with the Ford potato chips.
No one can have just one! LOL

Glad to see you had an open mind about the experience!

notjustair · Jul 21, 2014

They are such a pain in the arse. No live power or hydraulics, etc. however, they will do an azing amount of work for their size. I like them because you can run to into the yard and not tear anything up because they are light. I use mine for snow removal in the winter. I have tons of bigger cabbed tractors I could use but it is so nimble and will really do some work. It is nice to put on a grain auger because it sips fuel and is small enough to get right in where you need it.

We always had an N on the farm growing up so I knew I would have one eventually. One is enough for me. I just have one of everything not counting parts tractors.

Dukester · Jul 22, 2014

Your point about the nimbleness & lightness of the N's is well taken. I learned the hard way a fancy new tractor isn't always better. After a recent purchase of one of the big name tractors with a FEL I turned my yard into a giant corduroy looking field in no time flat. Well, I"ve got a FEL, I'll fix that with a load of dirt/sand. Except when you add the weight of a bucket of sand to the tractor it's even heavier, which meant even more ruts. Now I'm fixing the yard with a wheelbarrow and shovel by hand and looking to sell the new tractor and go back to my N.. Talk about a devil of a time hooking up implements to these new tractors...aggramavation! Never had that trouble with the 8N.

More to it than that (including a major recall on the brand new tractor), and the fact is i should have thought the purchase out more, but I have to learn the hard way sometimes. ...
Dukester

Anonymous-0 · Jul 24, 2014

I like my 8N for mowing on hills, and we have plenty here. Very stable and lightweight.

Somebody put it best here on the list some years ago...

"Handy as a shirt pocket"

Doug in east TN

N future

L.C.Gray

Member

Royse

Well-known Member

notjustair

Well-known Member

Dukester

Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

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