1951 8n Battery Question

I am trying to finish restoring my dads 8n and have a question. When I disassembled the tractor it had a square bracket that held the battery in place. Wanting to make everything correct I purchased a battery cover and am afraid that it will short out to the battery terminal and cause an issue so have left off. Which is correct the ring or the cover on a 51 model?

The cover.

To make it work, you need the correct size
battery, cables and hardware. Check your
master parts catalog to make sure you use
the correct parts.
75 Tips

Ring? What ring? The 8N used a hinged door battery cover but many farmers discarded them as being in the way. They actually protect the battery from gas spills too. Electrical system on Ford N's is 6-volt/positive ground. If you spend a few extra $$$ and get a good, reliable AG battery say by Interstate or DEKA, the cover will fit. If you have a 12-volt car battery forget it...most cheap 'bargain' store batteries are not going to last long in my opinion based on personal experience. Their average life span is about 2 years whereas a good brand battery will last at least 5 years. If you need a wiring diagram, Google or Bing JMOR's Wiring Diagrams and get the correct picture. If you get the correct battery, the cover won't short out. Your braided ground strap may touch it but that's OK as it is going to ground. Your negative battery post/cable goes to the starter solenoid, that's the one you want to watch and be sure it isn't going to short out on the cover. This is all based on correct parts -the battery cables are OEM or reproduction exacts or equivalents. You can see the correct wiring schematic and color coded wires in the I&T F04 Manual so get yours out and read religiously...



Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)

This is what it should look like.

75 Tips

I have never seen a battery hold down/cover like that before. It is certainly missing from my 8N It almost looks like it is touching the terminals but obviously it is not. Interesting.

I am with you. I keep seeing these pictures and all I keep thinking is that looks too close to me. My tractor has been in my family for a minimum of 40 years and I never remember seeing a cover like this. Mine has a square ring that holds the perimeter of the battery and uses the standard bolts to hold the battery down. So while I am restoring the tractor I purchased a cover, painted it and applied the decals and tried to install it. It was just too close to leave it alone and walk away. I removed it and re-installed the ring.

One of my 4 8N's came with a battery box
cover. And the OEM cables. Worked fine. So
now all of my N's have covers and OEM
cables.
75 Tips

I like that cover.

This site sells them.