8N/2N With both Sherman and Howard?

Looking over my new to new Ford, I find a Sherman gear lever on the left side, that has the high, direct and low positions. On the right side the pto lever casting says HOWARD REDUCTION GEAR.
Is it possible to have both?
Also, who makes a good manual? Don't know anything about the front mounted distributor and I have no spark. She does turn over and has good compression. I'm familiar with the later Ferguson tractors, so this isn't all foreign to me.
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No eason not to have both, one in front of trans and the Howard at the rear of trans.
Get the FO-4 right here, parts manuals here also. Support your host.
 
Get FO4 manual as the other poster suggests. In the meantime there are thousand of posts about the front mount dist on this forum. Comes off with two bolts (Don't have to remove any sheet metal like some have done). Can only go back on one way because of the offset tang that mates with the cam shaft. Points are set at .015"
 
" Is it possible to have both? "

Yep. It's rare, but you clearly have both.

" Also, who makes a good manual?"

See tip # 39 at the link.

"I have no spark."

Assuming that the bushings & advance weights are ok (*see below), & that you have correct voltage to the coil (battery voltage with the points open and about half that with the points closed), the problem is in the distributor.

The front distributor was designed to come off of the tractor to replace/adjust the points. To do this, remove the wire on the coil, remove the coil bail, remove the distributor cap & take the two bolts off. The base of the distributor has an offset tang & can only go back one way unless you really force it on.

The first thing you need to check is bushing wear. If the shaft has any sideways movement AT ALL, the bushings must be replaced. (see below)

Next, look at how the points & condenser are set in the distributor before you start pulling it down! Turn the tang & observe how the points open & close. If this is your first time doing it, draw a sketch! Make sure you are using quality points. I use only Wells, Blue Streak or Echlin brand points (* see below). Be careful not to ground the tip of the condenser wire to the body of the distributor when you replace the points. Do not break the little copper strip that go to the points. (If you do, make another out of the old set of points). Also, make sure the condenser wire does not go through the same opening in the distributor as the coil pig tail. The condenser wire goes through the opening on the top right.

Look at the old points; are they burned, pitted or misaligned? Check the point gap, .015 on all four lobes. Make sure the blade is at a perfect right angle to the points. You want to feel just the slightest bit of drag when you pull the blade through the points. Set the points on the high side of the cam and ensure they align correctly. Make sure you have the star washers under the screws on the points. If you need to replace the 8-32 X .19 fillister head screws, ensure that the new screws do not interfere with the advance weights. Dress the points by running a piece of card stock or a brown paper bag through them. New points sometimes have an anti-corrosive dielectric coating on them & old points can corrode or pick up grease from a dirty feeler gauge or excessive cam lubricant. And, don?t forget to lube the rubbing block w/ cam lube; not Vaseline, not bearing grease, but cam lube (** see below).

If you are using quality points and cannot get the gap to open to .015, chances are you need to replace the bushings.

Now, set the timing. Get a meter or test light, a 21/64? drill bit (*** see below) & a metal straight edge. Put the distributor face down w/ the condenser on the left & the timing plate lock screw on the bottom. Look at the end of the shaft: it has a narrow side & a wide side. Make sure you can tell the difference. Now, place the drill bit in the bottom mounting hole (this will be your reference point for measuring). Next, place a straight edge on the wide side of the tang on the shaft as shown in fig. FO83 in the picture. Rotate the shaft CCW (as viewed from rotor side OR CW as viewed from back/tang side) until the straight edge is ?" beyond the outside edge of the drill bit you stuck in the distributor mounting hole. At this distance, the distributor points should start to open (get your meter/light out now & check). If not, loosen the timing plate lock screw and turn to advance or retard the timing (move the plate down to advance timing, up to retard). Remember, each one of those little hash marks represents about 4? of timing. Keep adjusting until you get the proper ?" setting. (if the plate won?t move, you might need to remove the big C clip to loosen it a bit) As you?re adjusting, eliminate backlash by turning the shaft backwards (CW as viewed from the front) and bring the shaft forward (CCW as viewed from the front) to measure your setting. This ?" setting will get you static timing at top dead center.

As you can see from the picture, this particular distributor needed to have the timing advanced by about 8? (two hash marks) to achieve the ?? measurement.

After you set the points & timing, do a continuity check before you put the distributor back on the tractor.

Before you start, make sure your meter/light works.

With the distributor still off the tractor, follow these steps:

1. Coil off, cap off, points open. One probe on the brass screw & the other on both sides of the open points. On the side closest to the cam, you should have continuity. Not on the other side! If you do, you will also have continuity everywhere because the points are grounded.

2. Coil off, cap off, points open. One probe on the brass screw & the other anywhere on the body of the distributor. You should have no continuity! Now, rotate the tang on the distributor....as the points open & close, you have continuity (closed) and lose it when they open.

3. Put the coil on the distributor, cap off, points open. One probe on the lead on the top of the coil, the other on the cam side of the open points. You should have continuity!

4. Coil on, cap off, points open. One probe on the lead on the top of the coil, the other anywhere on the body of the distributor. You should have no continuity!

At this point, I just put the distributor, coil & cap all back on the tractor as a unit. The reason I do this is because it is real easy to get the cap or coil misaligned trying to put it back together, one piece at a time. The result is something gets broken or you get a ?no spark? problem.

It's possible to put it back on wrong & break it. Look at the slot on the end of the cam shaft. Whatever angle it happens to be, turn the distributor tang to match it. Make sure you can tell the wide side from the narrow side on both the cam & distributor! (close counts). Place the distributor on the front of the engine, gently push it in place & slowly turn the distributor body until you feel the tang slip into the slot. Rotate the distributor body until the bolt holes line up. Hand tighten the two bolts until the distributor body is flush with the timing gear cover.

Double-check your firing order & plug wires. It?s 1-2-4-3, counterclockwise. It?s very easy to cross 3 & 4.

And finally, do not forget to remove the distributor on an annual basis (more often, depending on use) to check the point gap and re-lube the cam.

* NAPA part numbers:
? Points: FD-6769X
? Condenser: FD-71
? Rotor: FD-104
? Cap: FD-126

** Distributor cam lube:

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?Ntt=ECH+ML1&Ntk=Keyword&Nty=1&Dn=0&D=ECH+ML1&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0

** Distributor cam lube

http://www.carquest.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/subcategory__10151_-1_10651_11340


*** Rather than the drill bit, a jig made by Dan Allen (The Old Hokie) will make this task quicker & more accurate. http://windyridgefarm.us/

**** Unscrew the plate hold down screw & remove the C clip to get the plate out. Remove the shaft & weights. The weights should freely move.
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75 Tips
 
The Sherman looks like a two-speed, based on the location of the shifter. Probably an overdrive, but you won't know until you get the tractor running, or turn the engine over with a crank while checking the amount of rotation of the PTO.

Take it easy on the Howard when it is engaged. They have a reputation for breaking easily. It was intended to slow down the tractor ground speed while keeping up the PTO speed while using the Howard rototiller. It wasn't intended for pulling, or "popping the clutch."
 
Looks like both tranny. Here is a shot photo of my '46 2n with both the howard and sherman step down trannys. My wife is on back planting Taters. I stepped off the tractor as it was running to take a couple of snap shots. That will get you some idea how slow this thing goes.
You must not have read my last post. Again, you do not have a combo. It's either a sherman step up or step down trans. What you are feeling when sifting is the standard gear range,all the way down, the neutral detent, than moving the lever all the way back will be the up OR down range.
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Howard handle is upside down or broken. This could be you problem or maybe the howard has stripped gears or is disengaged.

Kirk
 
Thanks for all the replies, especially the step by step pulling the dist off. It is now off and the points are all corroded. No play is evident so this should be a simple fix.
Kirk, I did read your other post, and I have 3 different pto speeds using the starter and moving the Sherman.
The Howard is in working condition, the lever is like that as I had the top loose looking at the stripped gear. It is a spider gear, and I have already sourced one out.
Also, thanks for the manual number unfortunately our host at this time doesn't ship to Canada so I'll have to find it elsewhere.
 
Your sherman only has 2 different pto speeds. The pto will also spin when in the neutral detent. Once you start driving it you will that I'm right.
 

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