[AT] Ford NAA with aux tranny??

[Dudley Rupert]

John,

I have taken three Howards out - one from a Ferguson 20 and two from Ford
8Ns - and put one Howard in yet another 8N but, as you say, the shift levers
always came out on the right side.  There are two shafts coming through the
back of the transmission housing and into the rear of the tractor - the
power shaft and the PTO shaft.  If your' tractor has a shift lever coming
out the left/PTO cover plate then I would guess that it is shifting just one
of those shafts but which one is a good question.  Of course we know the
Howard shifts only the upper power shaft but maybe someone else made a gear
set to shift only the PTO shaft.  I recall Hupp (sp) making an auxiliary
transmission for the 8Ns but I thought it was up in the bell housing like a
Sherman.

Just judging from my limited - but relatively - recent experience I think
finding a good Howard may be difficult or expensive unless, of course, you
get lucky.  Of the three Howard's I removed only one was what I would say
was in good/descent shape.  From what I understand you can't buy replacement
Howard gears unless you happen to find someone who has had them stashed away
in hiding for a millennium.  The straight through Howard gear set is
large/strong enough to handle the transmission output torque.  The step down
Howard gear set, however, is extremely small and these are the gears that
have stripped teeth.  The step down Howard was never meant to do anything
other than move the tractor along with an active rototiller behind.  I think
it could more accurately be said that the tiller would be moving the tractor
along with the step down Howard merely providing some resistance.  I am
guessing that the reason so many Howards are "bad" is that guys were tempted
at one time or another to actually try and pull something heavy in the low
Howard gear.

I am sorry to sound negative on the availability of a good Howard ...I hope
you find that I am wrong.

Dudley
Snohomish, Washington

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of John Wilkens
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 4:20 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: [AT] Ford NAA with aux tranny??

Picked up a Ford NAA that has a nice low range aux. transmission in
it.  I thought it came as a Ford option but now I'm not sure.  It is
a gear reduction transmission that is shifted by one lever right next
to the normal PTO lever (left side).  Was this a standard Ford
option?  If not, anybody know what it could be?  I don't have it
running right now and I didn't notice before if this step down
gearing also slowed down the pto--like the Serman.   I've seen Howard
transmissions in N series Fords but they all had the shift lever on
the right side.  Also, anyone know where I could find a Howard or
even a step down Sherman?   John W.

                    In the wide-open spaces of NE Oregon



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