New project Ford 2N

[JSinMO]

Somewhere along the way I’ve realized projects seem to have away of finding me. Here’s the latest example.
This is what I believe to be a 1947 2N

The PO said it has been sitting in that spot for around 5 years and it wouldn’t run right when parked. He didn’t have time for it anymore and wanted it gone.

Naturally I couldn’t help myself and brought it home Saturday morning!

Looking it over it really seems complete. I had to find out about that extra lever on the side. thats a Sherman hi-low transmission!

I was very excited to see if I could get it to pop off so I dragged it into the shop and took the hood off.

Checking thing over the first thing I saw was I had no spark. Further investigation lead me to a bad wire and the gasket between the coil and distributor had gotten folded over and was preventing spark. Easy fix.

I put my thumb over the spark plug hole and crank the engine over. It has good compression!
I went ahead and pulled the carburetor off and went through it.

it has some cobwebs in it from sitting but all in all looked good. I reassembled everything and fill the bowl with gas and it started right up!
But no oil pressure! I shut it down quickly and talked to a friend of mine who is a Ford tractor guy. With his instructions I was able to prime the oil pump. Success!

I had thought this would be a nice project to work on, I had no idea it would take off so easily. I’ve been driving it around all day and it seems to work fine I guess the next step will be to put a load on it and see how it does!
Sat in a field for 5 years and only took an afternoon in the shop and it back in running condition.
Knock on wood that it’s good to go!

This is my first Ford tractor and I have to say so far I like it!

[Timj]

Nice addition. They are pretty simple little tractors. We had a 8n with the Serman step up for a while, it would go way faster in forth than a tractor should go. I don't know how many of the 'N's my father has fixed or rebuilt so if you run into something, I know a guy.

[Spike188]

Dad use to talk about Ford 8N and 9N tractors with added step up transmissions used to give the tractors about twice the road speed. I can't imagine trying to hold one between the ditches at that speed, or even staying on the seat for that matter. A quick look at this link https://fordtractorcollectors.com/sherman-products/ shows that there was also a step down version made by Sherman. Sherman was not the only aftermarket transmission supplier for the Fords.

[JSinMO]

@Timj @Spike188
Thanks Tim I’ll have to keep you dad in mind if I run into trouble.

Thanks for the link Eugene. This one is a step up. This tractor is a 3 speed, or I guess 6 speed with the Sherman.
I’ve tried 1st low and hi, 2nd low and hi, 3rd low. I don’t have the guts or the space for 3rd hi!

I’m kinda doing a crash course in old Ford tractors!

[Eugen]

New project, exciting! And it works good too. If it were met I'd probably just put new fluids and a fuel filter and use it for a while.

[Chad]

That's awesome! Love it when it's an easy fix. Gotta love the simplicity of the old machines compared to what we have today. That Sherman setup sounds crazy, I'd be careful when shifting too lol.

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[propane1]

Great old tractors. Similar to my TEA20 Ferguson. I think some of those Sherman gear boxes were step up and down. So you had 9 gears forward and 3 reverse. Ferguson tractor had a similar set up. But was called a Howard. Can’t remember all the details.
Nice to get some like that Jeff.

Noel

[Harry]

Nice score Jeff and thanks for the interesting story of your fixing the old Ford. Also thanks to everyone else with the added interesting info about tranny’s. Harry

[Toolslinger]

I'm pretty sure Howard also made the auxillary trans for the N series. There is a third maker that eludes me. Sadly, no aux on my machine.
The N series does a nice job cutting grass. They're excellent with a plow as well. They're geared a little high for a lot of jobs, but, people did those jobs with them anyway...

I've got an 8N. My uncle cuts all the grass for the most part with it all summer. It's been a pretty rock solid machine for us for 50+ years at this point.

Grass cutting is it's retirement hobby. We used to push it pretty hard with a plow in the spring, and overloaded dump trailer loads of firewood every fall. It also does snow clearing with a back blade when the snow isn't over 6". It could do more, but I switch to the loader at that point.

If you decide to put any PTO implements on it, get yourself an over running clutch for it. You can stomp the clutch, and brakes all you want if you've got a heavy PTO load going, and the tractor isn't going to stop moving. The over run setup takes care of that nightmare.

I expect you'v found this already, but there are 3 fuel filters on the N series. One in the tank, then the fuel bowl, and finally on the elbow that leads in to the carb. The one in the tank can be a pain if it plugs. I use some low pressure compressed air from the fuel bowl up to clear that. The other two are easy to get at. Also, the fuel tank cap isn't vented. Just something to be aware of if you have fuel flow issues. The tank itself is vented up under the hood, and they will clog up. I put a vent hole in my fuel cap, so no longer an issue.

[JSinMO]

@Toolslinger mowing, blade work and trailers are exactly what I had in mind for this tractor!

Luck this tractor has an overrunning clutch already installed on the PTO.

Thanks for the info on the fuel system I did go through it. Surprisingly the gas tank it exceptionally clean and I’ve been running the tractor quite a bit since Saturday, I don’t have any junk in the sediment bowl yet!

So far the only issue I have found is a ticking in the engine. I still need to check the valve lash. And I’ll probably need to make a gasket for one small oil leak. Not to bad at all!