[AT] Fordson Dexta was Meccano

[Skip Cleveland]

Its DEXTA Damn it farmer!

From: Indiana Robinson 
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2019 5:42 PM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group 
Subject: Re: [AT] Fordson Dexta was Meccano

The article makes a couple of references to a Ford "NAN" but I assume that they meant "NAA"?
I was about 12 when we got our NAA (Jubilee) and while I generally loved using it, we used it from very early 1954 until the fall of 1961, we were disappointed at how it held up. It didn't fail in particular and it actually gave very little trouble but over the about 7 years we used it things just got loose from wear. The engine was fine but we had to replace the carbon vane hydraulic pump with the later piston pump. We replaced the piston O ring in the hydraulic system more than once. The hydraulic rock-shaft on the lift was pretty loose when we traded it in 1961 for a "HI-Arch" MF-65D. When we first got it we were a little disappointed when we saw how flimsy the drawbar uprights were compared to the ones that came with the 9N when it was new. (The 9N was traded for the Jubilee but we kept all of the accessory items including the drawbar and uprights) or the drawbar uprights that came with the about 1949 Ferguson TO-20 bought new.
We didn't have an 8N Ford in those days but several close neighbors did and I seem to recall noting that they also came with the thin flimsy uprights. The 9N and TO-20 uprights were nearly twice as heavy as the Ford.
When we were wanting to trade a tractor for the new MF-65D we looked closely at the Jubilee and the TO-20 to decide which one to trade. We chose to trade the Jubilee... The TO-20 Ferguson was just in that much better overall condition than the Jubilee even though it was older and had done far more work than the Jubilee. We had years before rebuilt the Ferguson with a piston and sleeve set that was rated to give it about 32 PTO HP and it would pull anything that the Jubilee would. That made the TO-20 about the same as the TO-30.
We used that TO-20 for another decade and I still have not forgiven my late mother for badgering my father into selling it. We had done a full restoration on it and it was near perfect. I now own another "Little Gray Fergie" and while it still needs a fair amount of work it is solid and it sits very high on my list of most favorite tractors to use regularly...
I used to look long and wistfully at the Fordson Major Diesel's at the county fairs but never drove one. I have only seen Dexta's at tractor shows. We used have a list member here who had one. Skip?



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On Fri, Feb 22, 2019 at 11:11 AM James Peck <jamesgpeck at hotmail.com> wrote:

  I saw a Fordson Dexta in 1982 at the former Airco Carbide plant in Louisville, Kentucky. It was connected to a rotary motor but was sitting with a pool of oil under it. There are some interesting aspects of working in a calcium carbide plant. The link mentions that the Dexta was a copy of a gray Ferguson and likely a better tractor.

  http://tractorblogger.blogspot.com/2009/02/origins-of-modern-tractor-part-9-of-10.html

  Are there Meccano pieces in that tractor model shown next to Harry

  http://tractorblogger.blogspot.com/2009/02/origins-of-modern-tractor-part-1-of-10.html

  https://harryferguson.blogspot.com
  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/5103068/



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-- 

-- 

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com











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