[AT] Engine Overhaul

[Indiana Robinson]

On 30 Apr 2006 at 13:37, Mike Sloane wrote:

> I am guessing that it will cost more than the tractor is worth. :-) If 
> they charge less than $1000, I would be very surprised. Here is why: 
> they are going to determine that it needs new sleeves and pistons, new 
> bearings, possibly a new oil pump, new valve guides and the seats 
> re-ground or replaced, and maybe the crank turned.
> 
> Frankly, on 50 year old engine like that, I recommend you tear it down 
> yourself and see what is what using one of the excellent books available 
> (like Spencer Yost's "How to Rebuild and Restore Farm Tractor Engines"). 
> Then, when you have it all apart, you can decide which things you want 
> to do and which the rebuilder should do. With my Ford 2N engine, I got 
> it down to the bare block and had the machine shop "boil & bake the 
> block and replace two bad valve seats. He also replaced the one bad 
> bushing in the oil pump and honed it to the new drive shaft. It was an 
> interesting experience, and I learned a lot by doing it.


	I agree up to this point...


> 
> The problem is that these old Ford N tractors are interesting and run 
> nicely, but they really aren't all that great for doing much more than 
> cutting grass, plowing a couple of furrows, and pulling a wagon. With 
> their limited arrangement of the PTO and hitch, anything else can be 
> better done by a newer tractor, or a model with live hydraulics. So any 
> time and money you spend on the N is really a "labor of love", not an 
> investment in a production machine.


	At this point I disagree but with a smile   :-)
My father bought his 9-N new in 1942 and started farming about 75 acres 
with it as his only tractor. His second tractor was a McCormick 10-20 
which he rebuilt. Not exactly a power crazed monster either.   :-)   With 
the two of them and a hired high school boy from a nearby foster home he 
was farming almost two hundred acres. For about 5 years he was also 
working a 12-7 shift 30 miles away testing aircraft engines for Allison 
Engineering (now part of Rolls Royce). The plowing ability of an N Ford  
should not be under estimated when they are properly set up.
	I agree that something with a newer configuration would serve better and 
I also feel that most of the N's are over priced today but we were always 
able to work around their limitations. We just did what we needed to do. 
We were not so hung up on instant gratification as today. 
	If my Farmall F-30 (considered a big production machine in its day) were 
all rebuilt and hitched to a 3-14" plow and placed in a field with a good 
rebuilt Ford N with a mounted 2-14" the N would plow rings around that F-
30. It would also do a nice smooth job in our soils running in second gear 
plowing about 8" deep. The F-30 on the other would crawl along mostly 
standing the dirt up on edge and leaving a far rougher job. The Ford 9-N 
is listed at 3.23 MPH at 1400 RPM but maximum engine speed is normally 
about 2,000 RPM with a speed of around 5 MPH. It is a 57.0 to 1 ratio (I'm 
too tired to do the math tonight)   :-)   That F-30 won't run that fast in 
road gear...   :-)   According to Guy Faye's book second gear on the F-30 
is 2 3/4 MPH. The F-30 and 9-N were contemporaries as both were being 
produced in 1939.
	One factor that might be influencing your thinking is that here on the 
prairie we have actual soil in our fields instead of mostly rocks like you 
poor folks in the north east...   ;-)    ;-)

 

> 
> That being said, that is my opinion, and it is your money. You should do 
> whatever you think best in your situation - there is no "right" or 
> "wrong" thing to do in a situation like this.


Very well said...   :-)   Though if there were a wrong thing I would 
probably do it.   :-) My luck is not running 50% - 50% lately. More like 
70% bad - 30% good.



--
"farmer"

I try to take one day at a time but sometimes several days attack
me at once.   :-) 

Refurbished Shopsmith's
Good used SPT's
http://www.indiana-robinson.0catch.com/


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana, USA
robinson at svs.net