[AT] Ford 8 N

[Mike Sloane]

I think some folks are being a little sensitive. My comment was 
essentially that the Ford N was a good little tractor in its day, but 
that the lack of live hydraulics and transmission driven PTO could make 
mowing with a brush cutter difficult, if not dangerous. It should also 
be remembered that the N was a crop tractor first, back when the PTO was 
mainly used with flat belt pulleys to run stationary mills, corn 
shuckers, elevators, etc. I am sure that the designers of the N never 
envisioned that they would someday end up being used solely for rough 
cutting fields or plowing snow.

Like every tractor, the N had its good points and weaknesses. It is 
comfortable, very reliable, easy to drive, easy to get on and off of, 
economical to operate, has a starter interlock, has an integrated three 
point hitch, has a standard PTO (if you change out the early ones), is 
very reliable and sturdy, and is relatively inexpensive to maintain 
and/or repair. On the down side are the strange brake pedals and no foot 
boards on the 9N/2N, marginal draft control, too fast a reverse, 
difficult to access engine, difficult to access distributor up until 
1953, axle seals prone to leak, and the lift and PTO problems mentioned 
above.

Mike

Ndg1952 at wmconnect.com wrote:
> Thanks Farmer.  That's what I have been trying to say for years.  If the 
> N-series is as helpless as some people try to say, how did so many survive to 
> still be used today?
> 
> Nathan
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> 
> 

-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
mikesloane at verizon.net
Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>

If you torture data sufficiently, it will confess to almost anything. 
-Fred Menger, chemistry professor (1937- )


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