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Worthless Ford 841

D

dej(Jed)

Well-known Member
Well the big storm hit us in western Pa. No problem I thought, just go to the garage and jump on the 841 with the rear mounted blade and plow away. I can't believe I parked my Farmall M and actually thought this Ford would be a better snow machine. New rears and I still couldn't move snow for more than a few feet before it spun out. Yes, I know get tire chains, but that doesn't help for now with 6" of snow everywhere.
My old M never needed tire chains unless there was a lot of ice underneath.
 
Thats the drawback with a rear blade, on these. My old 850 has loaded tires and a heavy cast iron counterweight on the 3 pt hitch, conveniently resting on a steel bar spanning an old backhoe mount, so the hydraulic lever is set all the way down and does not have to support the weight.

These are literally "worthless" in the snow with no ballast, double ring chains or more aggressive will help, but having neither, and just the backblade, not enough weight.

I can get through deep snow without chains, never been able to find 13.6x28 chains used, only time they would be very useful is on compacted, slippery snow or ice, and or when one wheel is lower than the other running perpendicular to a slope, even if it is slight, it loses traction.

A friends JD 2020, with I believe loaded tires, taller narrower ones on this tractor, and the JD backblade, no chains, will push and run through some deep snow, his dad had an N that was left behind or something when they got the place, that was one of the reasons for the 2020, and I can recall one storm we went up to open the path to the woodpile and that thing was running in 2 feet of snow without much trouble.
 

Worthless Ford 841? Give me your address and I'll dig out my trailer and be there tomorrow!!!
 
I could always plow a lot of snow with my 640
with 11.2-28 tires on the back, of course they
were loaded. That tractor would always do a lot
of things real well. I want to put
either 12.4's or 13.6's on the back this summer,
But one thing for sure, I'm keeping it until
they pry it from my cold dead fingers......LOL
 
Growing up in Iowa we moved snow with a JD MT with 3 pt blade. It worked fine with 1 set of weights & no chains.

The 8N was worthless in the snow. It's job was to work the garden. That it was wonderful for.
 
I used to plow snow all the time with my 8N - no chains and no weights. Haven't had the snow for a couple years, so haven't plowed with anything for awhile, but the 8N would push through anthng we had, except for the couple of 14"ers we got. My neighbor got his huge JD 4 wheel drive tractor stuck in our driveway on those.
Most versitile tractor around.
 
Ya got the tires loaded ?? ya got weights on it ?? No extra ballast a light tractor small tires and 40 plus hp. Nah ya ain't going to do nothing except spion the hide off them new tires. Now add some weight and hang some iron on the tires then you can move snow.
 
I was plowing with the massey 35 with a loader this morning. It has loaded tires and chains. Without the chains on it is helpless in even a few inches of snow if you need to go up even a very slight grade, but with the chains it does pretty well. Have been plowing with the Farrmall H the past couple of years, and was plowing with the 300 this year before I ran into a carb problem that I am waiting of parts for. I find that the H and the 300 will push through a lot more snow than the 35 will.
Zach
 
Well you have a bare Ford 841 that would only weight maybe 3500 lbs. without any ballast. That Farmall "M" bare would weight in at about 4900 lbs. Plus it was designed to just be a draw-bar pulling tractor to use its horse power. That is the reason for tall tires. They have a much longer foot print. The Ford was designed to use it draft control to shift weight/draft to the wheels for traction.

Nothing wrong with the tractor. The issue is with the owner asking it to do something it was not made to do. Get some ballast and chains. It will be a totally different tractor then. You can't get the horse power to the ground.

For now if you have any thing that is heavy hang it on the blade. I do mean anything. I have used an old motor block before. Then when you have some weight on the blade then hold it up just a little bit off the ground and you will have more traction.
 
I can't imagine anyone thinking they can move any amount of snow with that tractor with a back blade with out chains. It's not the tractor's fault, just an inexperienced operator.
 
Turn the blade around and push soon you will get a path open theres nothing better than a blade on the front but you can move a lot of snow by reversing the blade and pushing backwards.
 
They're not bad tractors.
Nimble things.
They'll put power to the ground in tight corners where other tractors are way too clumsey.
You gotta understand them though.
How do you think Ford sold so darned many of the things - partly by saving a thousand lbs of iron on each one and thus making them cheaper.
Let the owner add the ballast.
Go buy some of those sand in a tube things and drape a few over each axle. That'll get you by till you can get some fluid in the tires or find some wheel weights for it.
Guys on the N board do the same thing. Prettify their N and then hook it to two 14s and expect it to break sod. Ha!
Aint gonna happen.

Tube_sand4.jpg
 
My uncle pushed a lot of snow with a blade on the back of his ford 861. Difference was he had a full set of pie weights and tires loaded. No chains but his yard was perfectly level. He would virtually pile mountains of snow.
 
(quoted from post at 06:22:46 12/27/12) Well the big storm hit us in western Pa. No problem I thought, just go to the garage and jump on the 841 with the rear mounted blade and plow away. I can't believe I parked my Farmall M and actually thought this Ford would be a better snow machine. New rears and I still couldn't move snow for more than a few feet before it spun out. Yes, I know get tire chains, but that doesn't help for now with 6" of snow everywhere.
My old M never needed tire chains unless there was a lot of ice underneath.
Click to expand...

Now guys don't get all offended. I know there is a segement of this site that loves those old Fords. And yes it does have plenty of power. As I said it does need chains or weights, but it is sure frustrating when you have got to start the old M up anyway to pull the darn Ford. Patience hasn't really been a virtue of mine over the past 62 years and I doubt I gained any more after this last Ford snowplowing episode. LOL
 
As was said the problem is not the tractor.It is your inexperience/ignorance(no offence is intended here).The same problem everyone seems to have with an 8N,only you have about 1/3 more wt and about twice the HP.Those little tractors NEED weight-LOADED tires.Those tractors were designed for mounted equipment,not pull behind.They produce traction through their draft control system,not excessive wt.Weight/load your tires and chain it up!I think you will find you have a completely different tractor.
 
Well think about it. That ford is a light tractor and with out fluid in the tires it doe not stand a chance compared to a Farmall M since the M is twice as heavy as that ford. I use my 841 for moving snow and it does great but, I have a back blade with 6 85lb suit case weights and a 150lbs wheel weight on the center link so lots of weight out behind and I use the front end loader to push the snow. I also have fluid in the tires so the rear end is heavy. I also cheat since I have an 8.5 foot V-Plow I push the snow with and so for it has done well for well over 25 years
 
Are you plowing backwards? You will lose traction that way. A back blade is great for cleanup but in deep snow you are better pushing - Front mounted plow. Chains help but another hint = Run the engine at a fast idel, that will give you less tork to the wheels
 
Jed, we had 2 Ms and a 656 that we parked under a barn during bad weather,water would run into the barn dirt floor and freeze,we always had to start the M to pull the 656 of the Ice,that old M would find traction when the 656 was helpless

jimmy
 
Quoting...

Patience hasn"t really been a virtue of mine over the past 62 years and I doubt I gained any more after this last Ford snowplowing episode. LOL

Not a lot of patience, and you are using a tractor that is at least 50% lighter, I think you have the answers to your problems. I have seen many 2/8/9N and 600s-800s moving snow here around Michigan, they all do pretty good. Ballast it up and see what happens. Bet it will work fine.

Rick
 
My 641D works great plowing snow, but it was very easy to get it stuck until I got a set of chains. You almost HAVE TO use chains if you want to get anything done besides shoveling your way out of being stuck.

I also have loaded rear tires and my rear blade is very heavy.

I plow going both forwards and backwards. Backing up works especially well for cleaning up edges and piles. I also plow the gravel road for about 1/4 mile, because it doesn"t seem like the County ever gets around to taking care of THEIR road until the snow has been around for several days. If I didn"t plow it, I don"t think we would be able to get out sometimes.

If you don"t like your 841 so much, I bet you could easily sell it to someone who will appreciate it! Or maybe you would like it better if you invest in some decent chains. Good luck!
 
860 Works Fantastic with loaded tires..a good 12" of snow..added the front blade this Fall. Waiting for a good storm to try it out.
a94234.jpg

a94235.jpg
 
weight, weight weight! A properly weighted Ford be it a 600, 800 or even an N will do a bang up job as long as ya can get bite on something besides ice...then no matter what ya got you are gonna need chains. Is your blade front mount or back? Remember a front blade will make the back even lighter!
Comparing a Ford to an M for natural traction is apples to...well onions! If you thought your M got good traction, hop on a JD A! Fords are light...nature of the beast...ya wouldn't try to hold a loaded hay rack back goin down a hill with that 800 right? ...but ya would with the M. On the other hand the 800 would pull the same rack up the same hill as the M on dry ground no prob!
 
(quoted from post at 14:47:03 12/27/12) Sounds like you bought tires that are too wide and don't have enough weight on the rear wheels.Those style tractors need alot of extra weight to really pull.
Click to expand...
The narrower the footprint the better the bite with the same given weight.
 
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