What fuel do you run in a Farmall F 20?

EmanM18

New User
Hi! I am new to owning a Famall tractor. I just bought myself a restored Farmall F20. I know when they were used back in the day that they would start them on gas and run them on kerosene. I was wondering what people use to fuel them now. Can I put the same fuel in both tanks? Do I have to mess with the shut off valves? Can it run on unleaded gas? Does it require any additives like lead to the gas?
 
It will run just fine on the cheapest gas you can find. Back when they where made the gas was not nearly what it is today.
 
I owned 4 or 5 in my life, plus 2 30s. I always ran Ethyl in them as it made it easier to start, and plowing with them, I don't think I had to use as much gas as the octain was higher, which made the tractors run better and faster.
 
Ive been told OLD by geezers no longer here, that gas was MUCH MORE potent than it is today. I can tell the difference NOW, as I cant afford to run Ethyl in my granddads 34 CC Case OR my 40 B Farmall, that it takes twice as long to start them on regular gas than it did on Ethyl on my 20s/30s 20+yrs ago
 
Ah but the additives of today make the gas better in many ways. I run all my tractors on the cheapest gas I can buy and they all run just fine. Many start so fast a person cannot get there hand off the starter button fast enough
 
I run all my gas tractors on the cheapest gas I can find and they all run well. Be it my 1935 JD-B or my Farmall BA or my Case VAC or my Oliver S88 or my Allis D-17. And that is just the short list of my tractors
 
If your tractor sits for long periods of time it would be best to use non oxygenated gas. Around here in MN that is only available in 91 octane. May be different in other parts of the country. The fuel without ethanol in it will help the carb from gumming up.
 
There was no lead in the gas when the F-series were made, so you do not need any additives, and there are no rotators on the exhaust valves so the less junk you put in the
gas the better. You should be just fine with 87 octane, if you have detonation then use a higher octane.
 
(quoted from post at 19:01:14 09/27/18) Ive been told OLD by geezers no longer here, that gas was MUCH MORE potent than it is today. I can tell the difference NOW, as I cant afford to run Ethyl in my granddads 34 CC Case OR my 40 B Farmall, that it takes twice as long to start them on regular gas than it did on Ethyl on my 20s/30s 20+yrs ago

SADLY you are misinformed.

Octane or "Ethyl" makes gasoline less explosive, and does NOTHING to help starting or "power". The myths persist, though.

More "potent", good Lord!
 
Bob, you are right on!! Funny how so many people think higher octane gives you more power. If that was true, the airports would have cars, trucks and tractors lined up for miles to fill with AV gas.

Those old high compression overhead valve V8 motors in the 1950s Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, etc. often needed higher octane just to keep the engine from "knocking" (pre-ignition) but many of those owners thought the engine then had more power!!! And that idea still goes on and on.

Maybe we should go back to those days when my dad pulled his Olds 98 up to the pumps, and told the attendant "Fill it up with Ethyl".

LA in WI
 
Most of the gas sold in the 1930s was about 60 octane, the high-compression engines (Farmall M gas) in 1940s required about 70 octane.
 
(quoted from post at 21:03:25 09/27/18) Bob, you are right on!! Funny how so many people think higher octane gives you more power. If that was true, the airports would have cars, trucks and tractors lined up for miles to fill with AV gas.

Those old high compression overhead valve V8 motors in the 1950s Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, etc. often needed higher octane just to keep the engine from "knocking" (pre-ignition) but many of those owners thought the engine then had more power!!! And that idea still goes on and on.

Maybe we should go back to those days when my dad pulled his Olds 98 up to the pumps, and told the attendant "Fill it up with Ethyl".

LA in WI

In a sense, higher octane did give the engine more power, but that was because the cars that needed "Ethyl" had higher compression ratio engines that would "ping" if the octane rating was too low. A pinging engine not only produced less power, but if allowed to ping long enough, the engine would have a shorter life. An engine that needed Ethyl COULD be "de-tuned" by retarding the ignition timing and then the lower grade gasoline could be used, but when the timing was retarded, the engine made less power. The engines that did not call for Ethyl did not benefit one little bit when added to the gas tank.
 
I agree with Old. Run the cheapest "Fuel" you can find. I do not know of a source for "Tractor Fuel" so I run the cheapest I can find and apply for gas tax rebates. I use gasohol in all my tractors without any problems - gasohol will clean your fuel lines so at first use you may clog some filters but after that it will be fine.
 

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