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Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum
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dating farmall H without serial numbers

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K Wassell

07-14-2004 17:18:16




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Just bought an H with no serial number tag is there any other way to maybe get a close dating on this tractor




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jed

07-16-2004 12:08:46




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
I would place it between 1939 and 1952. How is that? Close enough? Farmall H's are often such a mismatch of parts that no one really ever knows for sure. All the quote unquote all knowing keepers of the holy IH memo's can only quote that scripture and verse. I have seen so many home boyed tractors out there it would be near impossible to make an accurate age determination.



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Paul in Mich

07-15-2004 07:29:04




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
Casting dates will certainly give you a clue as to the model year, providing that the cast part has not been replaced. Its a good indication that the model year is consistant with the casting dates if more than one casting date years agree such as engine and transmission housing. They wont necessarily have the same month and day, but if the year is consistant, its probable that your tractor was built within the year of the casting codes. If the engine code agrees with the other codes, then there is a flat machined surface directly under #1 spark plug that has the engine serial # stamped and can usually be read if paint and crud is scraped off and wire brushed. "H's were pretty consistant as to engine serial# and tractor serial #. Having said all this, these are all possibilities, and even probabilities, and not guarantees of correctness.

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Buzzman72

07-14-2004 20:30:16




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
A couple of things come to mind. Since A-B-C-H and M used the same hood fasteners, and I've seen some '39 A's and B's with quarter-turn (Dzus-style) fasteners on the hoods, I would imagine they might have also been used on early ones. I also remember Dad saying that some early ('39-'40) H's had the small-diameter PTO shaft, but those might have been swapped out for "standardized" PTO's by now. Also remember one customer at the garage who had a '39 H with either a rib or a groove--can't remember which--that ran front-to-back on the top transmission cover. Also, early H's didn't use the seat with the tapered coil spring under the driver and the shock absorber; they used the seat with the cylindrical coil spring in FRONT of the seat. And of course there was the short and tall oil filter housings.

Now, Hugh MacKay and Guy Fay can probably straighten you out on what years the changes went into effect...but these are the things I remember seeing when I was hanging around the garage in the 1960's.

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CNKS

07-14-2004 19:39:36




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
Chassis serial and engine serial don't match, but they may be close. Best way is to look at the casting codes in the form of 1*8*J, or month*day*year. These codes are on nearly every cast part. The one with the latest date will get you the closest to the day your tractor was assembled. Bear in mind that these parts sometimes sat for a couple of weeks to maybe 2 or 3 months or more before they were used. For the H, the letter code runs from I (1939) to Y (1953)--only about 1200 1953 H's, rest were Super H's. The letter V was not used, 1951 used both U and W. Otherwise the letters are consecutive for years.

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Jeff

07-14-2004 18:39:55




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
I think the earlier ones had an engine serial number that matched the tractor one. at least thats how my 41 H and 40 M are. between that and the casting codes you can probably get a good idea. unless the block has been changed. the block serial number is on the spark plug side as well, on a little flat part (i think there are two places that look like that but one should have a serial # on it). probably heavily covered in crud if its like mine!

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Larry

07-14-2004 18:38:13




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
If the engine is original the serial number is stamped on the blockbelow the #1 spark plug.



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Jeff In Ontario

07-14-2004 17:57:04




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 Re: dating farmall H without serial numbers in reply to K Wassell, 07-14-2004 17:18:16  
Usually you can look on the spark plug side of the engine block for a letter & a bunch of numbers. I forget which letter matches which year, but if you find it & post back with it I'm sure that someone like Guy Fay or CNKS will be able to help you.---Jeff



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