How many acres was an 8N designed to farm, when new?

[BossofBBQ]

Yep! The Funk Aircraft Company in Kansas reacted to this with their conversion kit to allow 8N owners to swap in a 95hp 6-cylinder engine so the 8N could pull a 3-bottom plow.

I think the Ford 8N has had more engine swaps than any other model I have seen. I have seen them with virtually every major auto 8-cylinder engine in them, a Honda Valkyrie engine, and a huge turbine. Also, another one with FOUR transmissions in it that made it the slowest tractor known. I could start a new thread and share photos of all if there is interest.

That does sound interesting, it would be cool to see photos of these swaps. Over on YouTube I saw a video of an 8n that was swapped with a 7.3L Powerstroke. That was pretty neat.
I'm curious, how did the transmissions/clutches hold up with the extra power from the Funk 6 and 8 cylinder conversions?

 

[EdGooding]

That does sound interesting, it would be cool to see photos of these swaps. Over on YouTube I saw a video of an 8n that was swapped with a 7.3L Powerstroke. That was pretty neat.
I'm curious, how did the transmissions/clutches hold up with the extra power from the Funk 6 and 8 cylinder conversions?

I have never seen any data on transmission/rear-end issues, but I have to believe that, if you quadruple the horsepower (or better) and get a little squirrely, bad things can happen. Using the power to plow and cultivate, I would think they would hold up. But, that is strictly my opinion. Others' mileage may vary.

 

[John0829]

It was a well documented fact the rear ends did NOT hold up to the increase power, a little to much jerking on loads or popping clutches would eventually take out the pinion rear support and bearing. As long as it was not abused to much they would do reasonably well.

 

[square1]

Ford's original brochures and manuals highlighted the tractor’s ability to do “a man’s work” with “great speed and efficiency,” sometimes quantifying this as being able to “plow two acres in an hour” in 2nd gear at full throttle (approximately 2,000 RPM).

 

[sixdogs]

In the '50's and '60's a diversified family farm that had some cows, chickens and pigs, made hay and grew feed grain was commonly 60 acres. Coming off the depression and war, the 8N did most of what was required and was priced right. It was a great tractor for that use. That same farm might later add an Int'l H or M or Deere.

The need for HP grew fast but Ford was slow on that so IH and Deere elbowed in and the Ford 8N was pushed aside to became a great utility tractor for raking hay and pulling wagons. They didn't get much use and that's why so many survived with fairly low use. Anyway, that's what I saw.

 

[EdGooding]

In the '50's and '60's a diversified family farm that had some cows, chickens and pigs, made hay and grew feed grain was commonly 60 acres. Coming off the depression and war, the 8N did most of what was required and was priced right. It was a great tractor for that use. That same farm might later add an Int'l H or M or Deere.

The need for HP grew fast but Ford was slow on that so IH and Deere elbowed in and the Ford 8N was pushed aside to became a great utility tractor for raking hay and pulling wagons. They didn't get much use and that's why so many survived with fairly low use. Anyway, that's what I saw.

Deere was also helped by Harold Brock, who left Ford Tractor in 1959 and took his engineering genius to Deere, where some of his innovations helped move Deere to the top of the heap.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

In the '50's and '60's a diversified family farm that had some cows, chickens and pigs, made hay and grew feed grain was commonly 60 acres. Coming off the depression and war, the 8N did most of what was required and was priced right. It was a great tractor for that use. That same farm might later add an Int'l H or M or Deere.

The need for HP grew fast but Ford was slow on that so IH and Deere elbowed in and the Ford 8N was pushed aside to became a great utility tractor for raking hay and pulling wagons. They didn't get much use and that's why so many survived with fairly low use. Anyway, that's what I saw.

That sounds about like a farm near where I grew up in upstate New York. Pigs, chickens, a few cows and probably 60-ish acres. They had two N-series tractors that lasted them for many years. I no longer live in the area, but wouldn't be surprised to discover that one of both of those tractors still inhabit that little farm.

 

[CoyPatton]

As one commenter stated, these N snd other tractors of those days typically replaced a team of horses or mules. Also the farmers of these days typically were fairly self sufficient in their farming—did some row crops often a cash crop and livestock.
This would include both sets of my grand parents! They had cattle, beef and dairy (mostly dairy) chickens (also collected eggs), occasionally had pigs as well, then did row crops. They also had a vegetable garden. They bought very little while we now buy almost everything.
One set of grand parents had 100 acres and seven children, 2 fairly close (from the edge of 1 field to the edge of the second less than 1/4 mile separation) together 50 acre fields. One 50 acre held the home, the barn, the pasture for horse, the cattle yard, chicken cope and area for chickens (some overlap with horses and cattle) a 10-15 acre area of trees where cattle were allowed to roam (this was still woods during my childhood, currently 64 yo). Rough guess they row crop farmed some 60-70 acres mostly cotton which is still a crop grown on this same land with rotation with other crops currently.
So compared to today my cousin that farms that land and much more roughly 100 times more) is a non comparable operation.

 

[Gord Baker]

Imagine it's 1948, and a farmer has just bought a brand spanking new 8N as his primary tractor. How many acres would he likely farm? The large scale of agriculture industry today makes it hard to imagine a time when a feller could successfully farm with just an 8N, especially for us young guys...

In my area there were a lot of small ranches, seems like almost every one of them had an N Ford at one point or another, mainly for augering post-holes, backblading dirt roads, and brushhogging. I knew of one that was used solely for snow removal, with a Dearborn 19-1 snow blade. That was a pretty slick setup. In my memory, the N's have always been regarded as faithful little "chore" tractors, while bigger machines handled the heavy lifting. Was this always the case?

Thanks for entertaining my rambling, folks- Fell down a rabbit hole looking at old Dearborn equipment brochures I've recently acquired....

50 at most.

 

[Todd727]

Imagine it's 1948, and a farmer has just bought a brand spanking new 8N as his primary tractor. How many acres would he likely farm? The large scale of agriculture industry today makes it hard to imagine a time when a feller could successfully farm with just an 8N, especially for us young guys...

In my area there were a lot of small ranches, seems like almost every one of them had an N Ford at one point or another, mainly for augering post-holes, backblading dirt roads, and brushhogging. I knew of one that was used solely for snow removal, with a Dearborn 19-1 snow blade. That was a pretty slick setup. In my memory, the N's have always been regarded as faithful little "chore" tractors, while bigger machines handled the heavy lifting. Was this always the case?

Thanks for entertaining my rambling, folks- Fell down a rabbit hole looking at old Dearborn equipment brochures I've recently acquired....

All of them that you had. It's just time.