Added front load to tractor

The carrier I built works well but the load is behind the rear axle and the engine on an 8N is not that heavy; of course I have the same issue for the heavy disc harrow but most of the time the disc harrow is on the ground except from traveling to and from the gardens. The load made the front end light enough that it made me nervous and I don't have a roll-over bar for the 8N; something I would like to get. Harbor Freight put their steel carrier on offer so I broke down and spent the money to buy one. I was able to mount it to the front bumper of the Old Girl and load it and let it act as a counterweight to the load in the carrier. The plus is that I can also bring more wood out on each trip. What I really want to get is a small trailer to pull behind the tractor for hauling wood.

 

My grandfather had the same tractor. There was a ball on the front bumper that we used for the trailer when there were attachments on the back. I think we spent more time pushing a trailer than pulling it.

 

Great idea Kimberly My Great uncle had a Ford 8N tractor like that when I was growing up. Brings back memories.

 

8Ns are good little tractors; they can be had for little money and parts are still available from many dealers. That was me Dad's tractor, he grew a lot of vegetables using that tractor. Before he got the 8N Dad used a little walk-behind tractor. I can not remember what he paid for the tractor but I am sure it was less than $2000 and it came with a turn plough, cultivator, and the disc harrow.

 

Where the ball is I use a bolt and nut; drilled a new hole in the carrier, it slides into the bumper and then the nut and bolt.

 

Nice work Kimberly. Those are good tractors indeed. Nothing like innovation and solving a problem yourself.

 

Thanks

 

I like my little tractor, I nicknamed her, The Old Girl. I had her down last year working to fix an oil leak on the pan. We had the engine overhauled many years back; we found out later the guy had a drinking problem. I don't know if he used the wrong oil pan gaskets or just let them slip out of place; both sides at the front of the pan started leaking not soon after we got it back. It was a slow drip so I just lived with it. Then it got to where I could not keep oil in her, the pressure would drop and I would have to stop in the middle of the garden and fill it back up. So last year I ordered the stuff needed to fix the tractor and got to work. The oil pan is cast iron and heavy heavy heavy. I had to use a jack to carefully lower it; you don't want to drop it and crack it. The front of the tractor has to be swung out of the way, so that means taking the hood which holds the tank off. That is why the air filter cover is off; need to get that back in place as it keeps bees and such out. The front pulley was worn and my machinist is no longer around to help with such things. I ordered a new pulley and the new one piece oil seal for the front crank. You have to take the timing cover off as well. The new pulley from China needed a slight bit of machine work to get it to fit, the inside bore was too small so sandpaper on a dowel in a drill took care of that little machine work. I put in new p0ints and condenser and new solid copper ignition wires and a carb kit while I was at it. I need to get a new wiring harness and was going to do that while the hood was off but the new harness did not fit; so sent it back. I want to freshen up the paint as well.

 

We had a 2N at the cottage. It had a brush hog, a FEL and a rear blade. Loved that tractor. My parents sold it to their friends up north, so it still helps them out.

Lots of great memories with that old tractor.

 

My buddies dad had one like that, my buddy and I would fill the trailer with sacks of potatoes they grew, dive down and sit at the highway all day selling bags of potatoes. Edit, we were about 12 years old at that time

 

My dad still maintains his 36 acres and the garden with an 8N. That's what I learned to use a clutch and back a trailer with when was 12, hard to believe he's had that thing for over 20 years now! They really are great tractors. He finally put fluid weight in the tires a couple years ago, he said it's like an entirely different tractor now and no longer has trouble pulling a plow.

 

I still see the 8n tractors for sale around here. They are not expensive as tractors go. It is nice that you have one with family history and that you are still finding plenty of uses for the old girl as you refer to it. I know tractors can be very handy to have around. Thanks for the pic.

 

I need to do that as well. Dad had to have the rims replaced because the original fluid was very caustic. They have different stuff to use today that is not so caustic. There has been times when I noticed wheel slippage.

 

When Dad passed away, people came like crazy wanting to buy Dad's tractor; as if we could not use it.

 

He probably put calcium chloride in it. For some reason that's what my dad put in as well, so I'm sure he'll have to replace his wheels at some point in the future too. Rim Guard seems to be about the best stuff around now to use, I think it's essentially beet juice.

 

Yep my tractor has calcium chloride in the rear wheels. I can already see a little bit of rust around the valve stems.
I have heard of the beet juice and windshield washer fluid too.

 

Any of the chlorides are going to be corrosive. They have fluid today that is safe to use but I don't know what it is, can ask and find out. Windshield washer fluid is alcohol; water and alcohol solution with some blue dye.

 

Kimberly, thats a great addition to the little light ended 8n. I have one with the cast iron pan and another with the stamped steel pan. Some guys run a propylene glycol (NOT ethylene) misture in their rears as it is environmentally safe to some degree. Others run beet juice as others have said. The propylene glycol is just mixed with water just enough to keep it from freezing hard. Its nice to see a lady that's also a 'tractor(wo)man'.....

A semi-frozen slush isn't bad because it will still roll with the rotations. Meaning you don't have to really run a high concentrate at all. If you're lucky you have access to a photo-refractometer and you can mix it to just near the average low temperature experienced in your area, saving uneccessary expense.

 

My sister learned to drive her tractor after her first husband passed away; she too had people thinking she would sell it. She eventually did when she married her second husband but for years would plough her garden with it. Dad taught us how to use tractors. I love my little 8N, it has been a good tractor.