Small tractor

[white eagle]

I am in the market for a small tractor
been looking for a Ford 8n
does anyone have experience with these
the good,bad and the ugly if you would

[wgr]

lots of them out there they work good if u use ford equipment. But there are better ones out there

[Jeff Michel]

Way under powered for everything except cutting grass. If you like green, a 1020, Red, 454 International or Massey Ferguson 231. Try to round up one with a bucket. More money than an 8N for good reason.

[Thundarstick]

More information please? To do what, how many hours a year, how many HP?

[jimlj]

The 8n was introduced over 60 years ago, and was a good tractor at the time. It still beats trying to pull any kind of implement with a pickup, and still will do most tractor type tasks. Having said that, how many of drive a 60 year old car, when newer and better are available? There are still a lot of 8n's out there doing the work, but more and more of them are being relegated to parade duty.

[redneck1]

Very few of the n series tractors will have a hour meter ... it was an extra money option with the tachometer and farmers was cheap back then .
If it runs good without an excess amount of smoke call it good .
If you can take the time to do a compression check on all four cylinders it wouldn't be a bad thing to do , After all most of these have been run on unleaded gas for the last 35+ years .

Make sure the hydraulics ( three point ) work right , now that these don't often get regular use its become pretty common for condensation to build up in the sump and freeze breaking the pump
It's a $500 + fix with new parts .

Make sure the rear wheels aren't rusted out from calcium. . Most common area is right at the valve stem .

Look for welds on the engine block and front axle
And make sure both brakes work .

And lastly ... don't over pay . Thanks to the yuppy craze of small expensive imported tractors these guys don't bring $3000-$3500
Like they used to .

A pretty decent condition n series around my parts brings about $1200 .

Good things to look for ... a 9n with a 4 speed transmission.
Any of the n series with a Sherman auxiliary transmission


Oh and not to forget ... if you get one and use a brush hog or mower on it do not forget to use the overriding clutch adapter thing on the pto.
Been a lot of these guys run up trees or fence posts or into ditches when the clutch gets pushed in and the tractor takes off like a rocket from the stored energy of the blades spinning

[farmerjim]

I use mine for little quick jobs. As redneck1 said run a compression check to be sure it is not worn out. There are plenty of small 3 point implements that will work on it. It was made to run on leaded gas. The valves and seats will burn out on unleaded. ( aviation gas is leaded, but expensive)

[Beagle333]

8N is a nice tractor. They seem to work better if you convert them to 12V. The only real drawback I had about them was that the hydraulics worked off the PTO, meaning if you get on a stump or something with the bushhog and have to stop, you have to get off and disconnect the driveshaft to the bushhog before you can lift it and move the tractor, and then you have to get back off and reattach it after you get cleared. That also means that if you want to adjust the height of the box blade, you have to either be moving, or stopped with the tractor in neutral and the clutch out. You can't just stop and look down and adjust the box blade height while sitting still, you have to shift out of gear and adjust it and then back in gear. But if you can live with that, I'd go with it.

[Thundarstick]

I have a Yanmar 2000B that does garden tilling, box blade, and yard renovation. There are just too many small diesels out there to buy a 60 year old gasoline tractor....

[one-eyed fat man]

It depends, do you want to work the tractor or drive it in the Lincoln Days parade?

[white eagle]

small farm work mainly cut grass and pull logs
small field work 4 acres

[bob208]

it will do fine they work them a lot around here. I have a Ferguson 135 for our place.. it runs a j.d. bushhog a 30 inch buzz saw pulls a 2 bottom plow and lifts lots of things with the boom I made for the back of it.

I have never seen a valve burned from unleaded gas and I did a lot of heads over the years.

if looking at other tractors look for one with a 3 point hitch. I had a d14 a-c I converted to 3 point.

[Thumbcocker]

To quote my Grandpa " You can do little work with a bigger tractor; but you can't do big work with a little tractor." We have a Ford 4000 with a bucket and I would not dream of being without it. Also some of the larger tractors are cheaper than the "cute" size tractors. There is a sweet spot between farm sized tractors and small ones that you can take advantage of.

The N series Fords don't have especially good hydraulics and are pretty underpowered.

[justashooter]

as noted the 6 volt system, lack of live PTO, hydraulic take-off, power steering, unleaded gas design, and a bunch of other things make them nothing more than a hobby toy. that said, for 10 years i used the hell out of a model 640 (134 cubic inch "red-belly" update on 9N) that i had added hydraulic take-off to so i could run a power angle cylinder on an 8 foot snow blade on the 3 point. i often used it to run a 3 point "back end loader" that i made for grading and conveying soil. kinda like a reverse front end loader.

brakes go bad on one side from from people standing on one pedal of brake to make row turns. 3 point function should be verified and tested for drift by standing on the cross-draw-bar with lift up and tractor shut off. the 3 point cylinder is under the seat and can be rebuilt for a few hundred, generally. rear rubber is ****ed expensive. look at splines on PTO shaft, which is 1" size, and can't handle the bigger sized mowers that people mount to these old tractors with spline adapters. replacing the shaft is bux you don't want to know. wheels can be turned inside out to change gauge. some power-adjustable wheels on 600, 700, 800, and 900 series.

nothing like laughing at the new guy running head first into a creek when he pushes the clutch in and the mower bade momentum on his bush-hog feeds back into his transmission and keeps him going right into the drink when he thinks the ****ed thing is going to stop at the edge of the bank...


just saw a neighbor sell a 9n with working 3 point for about 1200$ here in south central PA, but this is john deere and international category 5 country for serious folk.

[Shopdog]

I had a 8N,sold it for more than I paid for it,which is about all I can say,good about it.Relined the brakes,completely detailed everything related to them,and it still was lacking in that departement.Understand however,we live in very hilly country so,brakes are important.If all you ever saw was,flat ground it probably isn't an issue?

[William Yanda]

If you plan to pull logs, invest in the attachment that will save you from pulling directly with the 3 point hitch. There is no excuse for one more fatality-yours-from that hook up.

[white eagle]

turns out I will be going after a 9n
it has a 5' tiller and a 2 point plow tire chains and some other thing that
I am not sure what it is
never worked with tractors or implements so its all learning for me

[fecmech]

If you do get an 8N be sure to get an overrunning clutch for the PTO. Simple idea, mounts right on the PTO shaft and works great. I bought one real quick when I saw what the bush hog would do to my old John Deere B.

[Blanket]

unless it has a Sherman underdrive you won't like the tiller. 8N's had hardened valve guides but not the 2 or 9N so you will need a lead substitute. I always called the n's a 5/5 tractor. Work for 5 hours, work on for 5 hours. By the way a 9n is pre WW2

[MyFlatline]

I have a Yanmar 2000B that does garden tilling, box blade, and yard renovation. There are just too many small diesels out there to buy a 60 year old gasoline tractor....

Yep, them compact tractors are strong..

Little 25 hp Kubota, a work horse. I have pushed it hard..