Ford 9N - Retrieve it or Leave it?

[PVourlitis]

Hello Ford Tractor Experts,
A friend of mine is willing to give up a Ford tractor that has been sitting in his field for many years. It is about a 3 hour drive for me to retrieve it, and maybe a few more hours worth of chain saw work to "unearth" it. He sent me this photo not too long ago. It has the front end loader attachment. I do not know much about the tractor other than it ran when it was parked! As much as I love old American iron, is it worth the effort to dig this tractor out? My first order of business would be clearing the brush and making sure it turns over by hand. What are some things to look out for? Thanks for your help!

 

[fatjay]

Count on replacing the tires, hydraulic cylinders, sheet metal, and probably electrical system. Other than that it's probably salvageable. The biggest expense here would be the tires probably. Everything else is just work and cheap.

 

[Username Taken]

Me? I wouldn't touch it.

You might be different.

Are you mechanically inclined? Can you paint? Are you in the mood to spend hundreds of hours working on it? Do you have the space it will take up? How about the money? You're gonna have to put beaucoup hundreds into it.

Are you willing to lose your shorts on it? You will.

If you just want a hobby, something to do, go for it. Just don't expect much in return.

But that's me. My outlook on these type of things is very jaded. I am very prejudiced against them. I've seen way too many resto-jobs where the guy put his heart and soul plus many thousands of dolars into an old car just to sell it for a gigantic loss at some point. Either because he was moving, ran out of room to store, left his OL or just never got it finished. Sometimes because he just got sick of it. Got tired of spending untold hours looking for parts and paying big money for them. His friends stopped coming over to help after they lost interest

I am of the mind that if you really want a dinosaur, let somebody else lose their shorts on one when you buy it from them.

But...... That's me.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Everything sitting like that "ran when parked".
I can't add anything username said which covered it all.
Me, I wouldn't want it for free...but that's me.

 

[k0ua]

How much is your friend willing to pay you to come get this scrap iron? If he is willing to pay enough, then that might be interesting.

 

[Roadworthy]

Do you want a tractor or a project? There appears to be little if anything a lopper won't clear away, I'm not sure you need a chainsaw very badly. You will need to figure at least a full day spent between driving and retrieving the tractor. Perhaps your time means nothing to you. If it ran when parked you should ask the owner WHY it was parked. It may have other issues. If you really want a tractor or love the older Fords you'd be money and time ahead to just purchase a used one in better shape closer to home. There's a Ferguson TE-20 locally I could have for little or nothing within a mile and I'm not sure it's worth putting the new tires on. Just the rears will cost me at least $500 for the pair and I can probably add $200 for the fronts, and that's just to get it rolling.

 

[PVourlitis]

Yes, this would be more a labor of love than a means to save money and practical effort. I have full confidence in my abilities to pull it out and do the work, but I can also find a running and driving one for about $2000 or less here in Michigan. So maybe that alone should tell me something! I have always liked the style and simplicity of these Fords.

It is probably worth a check over on the sheet metal, that would be the biggest turn down for me. If I had to replace all the sheet metal, that would be a lot of work.
I am more interested in getting it cleaned up and running, not necessarily a full restoration.

I did not think about the tire expense, if I have $500+ into tires then it may not be worth it. Thank you!

 

[fried1765]

Yes, this would be more a labor of love than a means to save money and practical effort. I have full confidence in my abilities to pull it out and do the work, but I can also find a running and driving one for about $2000 or less here in Michigan. So maybe that alone should tell me something! I have always liked the style and simplicity of these Fords.

It is probably worth a check over on the sheet metal, that would be the biggest turn down for me. If I had to replace all the sheet metal, that would be a lot of work.
I am more interested in getting it cleaned up and running, not necessarily a full restoration.

I did not think about the tire expense, if I have $500+ into tires then it may not be worth it. Thank you!

As an 8N owner......my advice is......RUN AWAY !!!!

 

[k0ua]

Always makes me wonder why the original owner took a "perfectly good, ran when parked" tractor out in a field and abandoned it. I always think they figured they were not going to put another nickel into the upkeep of a piece of scrap iron, and did not want the bother and expense of towing it to the scrap yard to get a few dollars for it. It was worth zero dollars to them when it was parked, and after 20 years it is worth more? Maybe to someone, but for sure not me.

Everything sitting like that "ran when parked".
I can't add anything username said which covered it all.
Me, I wouldn't want it for free...but that's me.

 

[bcp]

If you were interested in having a Ford N, then you can usually buy a restored one for less than the cost of doing a restoration.

If you want a project to spend more time and money on than it is worth, this is a good one.

Bruce

 

[Hay Dude]

Only way it would be worth it is if you could “flip” it quickly to someone looking for one and make a quick buck.
I don’t know if the loaders on those are in demand? Might be worth more than the tractor.

 

[fried1765]

Only way it would be worth it is if you could “flip” it quickly to someone looking for one and make a quick buck.
I don’t know if the loaders on those are in demand? Might be worth more than the tractor.

Any loader on an 8N is a very bad idea!
There is no power steering on an 8N, and with any weight in the bucket you need to be Charles Atlas to steer, unless you are driving on a glass table top.
I would haul it away, but would get paid $500+ to do so!

 

[Username Taken]

A hobby is a hobby. Don't need anybody else's opinion, don't need to justify it, don't need permission.

I don't understand the OP. If you want to do it because you want to do it, then just do it.

I used to be a fisherman. Had the price of Grouper down to about $60 a pound. Maybe closer to $75

But it was fun. Didn't save any money on fish, though.

The OP asked, "Is it worth it?" No, it isn't. Neither was my going 30 miles offshore and trying to catch fish worth it.

But I enjoyed it at the time. Would I do it again? Yup. If I were young enough and in good enough shape, no doubt about it. Was it 'worth it'? Depends on what you call 'worth it'

But that was my hobby. I think doing resto work sucks a big green one and you may feel that way toward fishing but it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.

 

[PVourlitis]

Any loader on an 8N is a very bad idea!
There is no power steering on an 8N, and with any weight in the bucket you need to be Charles Atlas to steer, unless you are driving on a glass table top.
I would haul it away, but would get paid $500+ to do so!

Good to know! I always thought it was a cool look but did not think about the power steering.
Who made a good tractor with a loader that can be had reasonably now? This would be for a fun hobby tractor to mess around with and use around the property occasionally.

 

[PVourlitis]

A hobby is a hobby. Don't need anybody else's opinion, don't need to justify it, don't need permission.

I don't understand the OP. If you want to do it because you want to do it, then just do it.

I used to be a fisherman. Had the price of Grouper down to about $60 a pound. Maybe closer to $75

But it was fun. Didn't save any money on fish, though.

The OP asked, "Is it worth it?" No, it isn't. Neither was my going 30 miles offshore and trying to catch fish worth it.

But I enjoyed it at the time. Would I do it again? Yup. If I were young enough and in good enough shape, no doubt about it. Was it 'worth it'? Depends on what you call 'worth it'

But that was my hobby. I think doing resto work sucks a big green one and you may feel that way toward fishing but it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.

Ya it is all about how someone values their time. Not a money making project for sure.
Thank you kindly for your input.

 

[fried1765]

Any loader on an 8N is a very bad idea!
There is no power steering on an 8N, and with any weight in the bucket you need to be Charles Atlas to steer, unless you are driving on a glass table top.

Good to know! I always thought it was a cool look but did not think about the power steering.
Who made a good tractor with a loader that can be had reasonably now? This would be for a fun hobby tractor to mess around with and use around the property occasionally.

Depends on how much you want to spend.
I bought an 1100 hour 1989 (Shibaura) Ford 1920 FEL about 6 years ago, for $9500.
It is a (32HP diesel) sweet little tractor, but I got quite carried away with restoring it (another $7K).
I will never sell it though, so I am happy.
She is a beauty!

 

[PuffyC]

Sounds like you have your answer but one thing you might consider is turning it into yard art. I gave away a slightly better 9n (or was it an 8n?) that I now wish I had kept just for that purpose. You might be surprised how many people would love to have an old, worn out antique tractor in their yard just to add character to the place.

 

[Username Taken]

 

[MoKelly]

Only way it would be worth it is if you could “flip” it quickly to someone looking for one and make a quick buck.
I don’t know if the loaders on those are in demand? Might be worth more than the tractor.

My neighbor has 3 8n’s - one runs and the other 2 are pretty rough. He’s a pretty good mechanic but had not been able to get running and parts were going to run lots of $$$.

He decided to get rid of the 2 in rough shape.

He was going to advertise them as “free to the first to come and haul away”.

But before he put out the ad, he was at a plant and garden store and they had a sign asking for an 8n to be used as decoration at their store. They didn’t care if it ran - just that it was old, had a seat, steering wheel, lights and an engine.

He let the look at pictures and they bought one for $750 plus paid him $200 to deliver and put in the place they wanted it to sit.

you never know.

MoKelly

 

[fatjay]

I did not think about the tire expense, if I have $500+ into tires then it may not be worth it. Thank you!

Everything to get it running could probably be had for under $100 new or in good condition, except tires. But if you know a tractor grave yard or have spares laying around, and you have a use for the machine, it can be brought to life as a saturday afternoon project for the next 6 months. Assuming you have a use for it.