My history with this tractor goes back to around 1969. I was 5 years old and it was owned by our neighbor across the street. He was fairly well off financially, having the top union job at the largest employer in our town. He didn’t own a lot of land, less than 3 acres, but he went top notch on equipment, to work his 2 acres of garden and vineyard.
He purchased the brand new tractor, plow, and disk from the Ford dealer in town. Back in 1951, that Ford was very expensive, compared similar sized models from the other nearby dealers (IH, and John Deere). Folks had to pay thru the nose for the convenience of the patented three point hitch that it offered, compared to the lame setups offered by the competition.
My grandad, who represented the 4th generation of our family to own our farm, was not as well off financially. He had settled for the cheapest of the “big three”, a John Deere model M, as the first tractor on his 40 acres. That replaced a team of horses, the year before our rich neighbor got his Ford.
Skipping ahead to 1969, my dad had gotten married, bought a house and a few acres across the street from the rich guy, and raised his family there. I was the oldest of 4 kids. To help feed us, he put in a large garden, maybe a half acre in size.
That was too big for the little rototiller on his 8 HP Bolens lawn tractor, so he went and got grandpas M from the farm which was about 5 miles away, with its mounted 2 bottom plow. Trouble started when he attempted to rototill that rough plowed ground. The little front wheels of the Bolens got hung up in the furrows. Grandpa had only a drag type disk, and we had no way of transporting that over 5 miles of roads.
Reluctantly, dad walked across the street and borrowed the rich guy’s Ford 8n. That’s where I saw it for first time. Still gleaming with its factory paint, having always been stored inside and having less than 400 hours on it. It made very short work of our little garden, with its 6.5 ft 3-point disk.
Growing up, I hung out with that rich guy a lot. I’d catch snapping turtles for him to make soup from, and I’d shoot squirrels out of his English walnut trees. He passed away when I was in my twenties and his widow gave me a good deal on the tractor and equipment, back in the late 1980’s.
By that time, I had bought the family farm, and I needed a tractor of my own. My dad had taken the John Deere M, and moved it off to my mom’s parents larger farm, about 20 miles away.
The 8n had 1200 hours on it when I bought it, and I paid $ 1200 for it, the plow, disk, and 3-point 2 section drag. Shortly after I put it to “real work”, it needed a valve job as those originals really weren’t up to operation with unleaded gas.
I still have that tractor, and still enjoy using it for many tasks. There’s none I’d rather have for use on firewood with a carryall, or on my two row corn planter. The funnest thing to do with it is plowing though, and I just knocked off three acres with it yesterday.
It pulls that 2x12 plow better than it ever did, since one of the rear rims rusted thru and all the calcium leaked out (3) winters ago. It used to always pull a little to one side, taking lots of brake use to keep it straight. That was a waste of gasoline and needless wear on brake pads.
Traction is better on the furrow side, where the down draft is greater. Lightening the weight, by loosing the ballast on that side, makes for a more even pull force. That keeps the tractor and the furrows straight. While that works great now on the plow, it hurts me on the two row cultivator, and I’ve had to move that operation to one of my other “modern” tractors, which had both rear tires ballasted.
He purchased the brand new tractor, plow, and disk from the Ford dealer in town. Back in 1951, that Ford was very expensive, compared similar sized models from the other nearby dealers (IH, and John Deere). Folks had to pay thru the nose for the convenience of the patented three point hitch that it offered, compared to the lame setups offered by the competition.
My grandad, who represented the 4th generation of our family to own our farm, was not as well off financially. He had settled for the cheapest of the “big three”, a John Deere model M, as the first tractor on his 40 acres. That replaced a team of horses, the year before our rich neighbor got his Ford.
Skipping ahead to 1969, my dad had gotten married, bought a house and a few acres across the street from the rich guy, and raised his family there. I was the oldest of 4 kids. To help feed us, he put in a large garden, maybe a half acre in size.
That was too big for the little rototiller on his 8 HP Bolens lawn tractor, so he went and got grandpas M from the farm which was about 5 miles away, with its mounted 2 bottom plow. Trouble started when he attempted to rototill that rough plowed ground. The little front wheels of the Bolens got hung up in the furrows. Grandpa had only a drag type disk, and we had no way of transporting that over 5 miles of roads.
Reluctantly, dad walked across the street and borrowed the rich guy’s Ford 8n. That’s where I saw it for first time. Still gleaming with its factory paint, having always been stored inside and having less than 400 hours on it. It made very short work of our little garden, with its 6.5 ft 3-point disk.
Growing up, I hung out with that rich guy a lot. I’d catch snapping turtles for him to make soup from, and I’d shoot squirrels out of his English walnut trees. He passed away when I was in my twenties and his widow gave me a good deal on the tractor and equipment, back in the late 1980’s.
By that time, I had bought the family farm, and I needed a tractor of my own. My dad had taken the John Deere M, and moved it off to my mom’s parents larger farm, about 20 miles away.
The 8n had 1200 hours on it when I bought it, and I paid $ 1200 for it, the plow, disk, and 3-point 2 section drag. Shortly after I put it to “real work”, it needed a valve job as those originals really weren’t up to operation with unleaded gas.
I still have that tractor, and still enjoy using it for many tasks. There’s none I’d rather have for use on firewood with a carryall, or on my two row corn planter. The funnest thing to do with it is plowing though, and I just knocked off three acres with it yesterday.
It pulls that 2x12 plow better than it ever did, since one of the rear rims rusted thru and all the calcium leaked out (3) winters ago. It used to always pull a little to one side, taking lots of brake use to keep it straight. That was a waste of gasoline and needless wear on brake pads.
Traction is better on the furrow side, where the down draft is greater. Lightening the weight, by loosing the ballast on that side, makes for a more even pull force. That keeps the tractor and the furrows straight. While that works great now on the plow, it hurts me on the two row cultivator, and I’ve had to move that operation to one of my other “modern” tractors, which had both rear tires ballasted.
Last edited:
