My 1952 8N Story

[Non-farmer]

This forum needs a "like A WHOLE HECK OF A LOT" reaction emoji.

PS: Thank you for maintaining this ongoing saga thread. Nicely done, enjoyable reading.

 

[clee2]

So, I’ve gotten all the maintenance and other stuff done (for now, knock on wood), along with getting the stabilizer bars installed and added a new tool box to the rear fender since the original was pretty rusted. At some point I’ll pull the stabilizers and the leveling box and paint them red, but now it’s time to put him to work.

View attachment 115029

Love that setup

 

[Lynn Patrick]

I wish I could find a valve like that one! Much shorter than the one I use!

 

[OldBlue61]

It's just a straight 1/4" compression valve. Local big box places didn't carry one like it, neither did the couple of smaller hardware stores around me, which surprised me. As much as I hated to, I had to go to Amazon to get it.

 

[OldBlue61]

Pulled the front wheels off the 8N the other day to repack the front wheel bearings. Nice to see they were all Timken bearings and all in great condition, other than needing some fresh grease. Thought it was kinda interesting to see the FoMoCo stamp on the inner seals. They came out and went right back in with no issues.

 

[OldBlue61]

Since I started on this mechanical restoration of my 8N (which is basically what I’ve been doing), I’ve been watching how much I’ve spent on it and I’ve done pretty well, considering what I paid for it to start with. I now have into it basically what it’s worth. I’m not overly concerned about what I’ve spent, though now it’s time to keep a closer watch on the budget, as I don’t want to be too in over my head. I enjoy working on mechanicaI things and I’m having fun doing all the things it needs and learning about tractors and how little I actually knew about them. It’s running like a top, the hydraulics work as they should, it shifts fine, no weird noises, with the 12v conversion I can now use my sprayers with it, and after repacking the front wheel bearings and tightening up the nuts (man were they loose!) the play in the steering is the next thing to tackle. I’m hoping it’s nothing too serious, but I will dig into that issue later.

The front tires on my 8N were, at one time, B. F. Goodrich Multi-Ring tri-rib steering tires. When I got it, they were multi-ring baldies, with no or very little ribs left, multiple cuts, a lot of checking, and separation of the left one on the inside of the tire, where the rubber was falling off the nylon plies underneath. They were in pretty bad shape, though they did still hold air, until the inner tube of the right one decided not to. Since the front tires aren’t that big deal (compared to the rear) I decided to replace them.

My tractor came to me w/ 6.5 x 16” front tires, so I decided to stick with the same size. After doing some research, I discovered that there were basically 2 somewhat affordable American made tires available, Carlisle and Titan. Since the Carlisle tires were a little cheaper than the Titan, I opted for them. I found a seller on fleaBay with good feedback and many of the reviews (there were thousands) mentioned how happy they were with the American made Carlisle tires, and the add clearly listed Carlisle tires and 2 tubes. Cool, order placed.

4-5 days later, what showed up on my porch but a large box with 2 tires and 2 tubes. Only issue – they weren’t Carlisle tires, they were Carlstar tires, made in China. After a few well intentioned swear words and me calming down, I contacted the seller and told him of my displeasure. He told me I should have googled them and I would have seen that Carlise was now owned by Carlstar and was replacing them. I replied that his add was deceiving – the add clearly listed and showed Carlisle tires (I had taken a screen shot of the add, just in case), and after a few more discussions, he agreed to accepting my return of the tires at no cost to me, other than my frustration and time.

So now onto finding some Titan tires. While they were a little more expensive, the online tire store that had them assured me they were indeed made in America. Okay, fine, I’ll take 2. They showed up on my porch 3 days later and were American made, with 2024 date codes. I was concerned about the Titan tires, because they also show up on the Carlstar website, but they are, for the moment at least, still American made tires. I was amazed how much heavier they were that the Carlstar tires – easily half again as heavy. So off to my local tire shop, got them mounted, and back home to install them on the 8N.

 

[OldBlue61]

I have some play in the steering of my 8N that I want to address. I pulled the front wheels to repack the bearings and I noticed the castle nuts were REALLY loose. Got the bearings repacked and reinstalled everything, properly setting the castle nuts. My drag links are in good shape and the tie rod ends are good other than needing new boots, so not much play there.

Here is where I could some help. I was reviewing my copy of the I&T manual regarding tightening up the sector shaft arms and I just want to be sure I'm doing this correctly, as the instructions are either a bit vague or I'm just overthinking it. It appears I need to follow paragraphs 12 and 13 in the PDF below I pulled from an online version of the manual that I found. In paragraph 13 it says "using a screwdriver rotate the right hand sector adjusting screw (viewed from rear of tractor) until all backlash is removed from right sector arm." Ok, here is where I get confused. Adjusting the right hand sector adjusting screw would remove the backlash in the LEFT sector arm, wouldn't it? I just want to make sure I do this correctly and in the correct order.

 

[OldBlue61]

Well, not much to post about in this thread recently. Tractor is running great, and w/ the 12v conversion I was running my sprayer with the tractor the other day, so that's working out well too. I did get my steering box tightened up. Very little 'slop' in the steering box now. I do plan on getting my temperature gauge installed next week ot two, along with painting a couple of things I had to replace on the back of the tractor.

 

[OldBlue61]

Been a while since I posted in this thread, but the 'ol 8N is working fine. Went to fire it up yesterday to plow some of the 12"+ of snow we got, and had to use a bit of ether to get it going (hadn't been started since I put it away in the fall). It was 8 degrees f out, so not overly surprised. Let it warm up for a few minutes, and she was ready to go. I put in the 80W90 hydraulic fluid, so the hydraulics were a bit slow to get moving, but after it warmed up they worked fine.

 

[ChrisFromCLE]

Been a while since I posted in this thread, but the 'ol 8N is working fine. Went to fire it up yesterday to plow some of the 12"+ of snow we got, and had to use a bit of ether to get it going (hadn't been started since I put it away in the fall). It was 8 degrees f out, so not overly surprised. Let it warm up for a few minutes, and she was ready to go. I put in the 80W90 hydraulic fluid, so the hydraulics were a bit slow to get moving, but after it warmed up they worked fine.

I hear you on the tranny fluid. At 3 degrees the Monday morning I needed to disengage the PTO in order for the starter to turn over fast enough to start. An ice cold 6V battery has only so much umph.

Chris from CLE

 

[Brown David]

I hear you on the tranny fluid. At 3 degrees the Monday morning I needed to disengage the PTO in order for the starter to turn over fast enough to start. An ice cold 6V battery has only so much umph.

Chris from CLE

Did you not have the clutch pedal depressed?

That would isolate both the transmission and the PTO from the engine while cranking. The cold oil in the transmission will put a good load on the starter which should be avoided during a cold start attempt.

Especially with 6V.

 

[ChrisFromCLE]

Did you not have the clutch pedal depressed?

That would isolate both the transmission and the PTO from the engine while cranking. The cold oil in the transmission will put a good load on the starter which should be avoided during a cold start attempt.

Especially with 6V.

The clutch was not depressed. I generally start it while standing at the left side of the tractor. I let it idle to warm up and smooth out a bit before mounting up. You are right about the clutch and transmission load. I disengage the PTO instead.

Chris from CLE

 

[Brown David]

The clutch was not depressed. I generally start it while standing at the left side of the tractor. I let it idle to warm up and smooth out a bit before mounting up. You are right about the clutch and transmission load. I disengage the PTO instead.

Chris from CLE

Well that won't help you much unless you have an implement attched to the PTO, you'll still have the cold oil in the tranny to move.

Disengaging the clutch is highly recommended for cold starts.

 

[Non-farmer]

Well that won't help you much unless you have an implement attched to the PTO, you'll still have the cold oil in the tranny to move.

Disengaging the clutch is highly recommended for cold starts.

Imo, it should be disengaged on all starts. I have done that with every vehicle I've ever owned with a clutch.

 

[racsan]

If youve rebuilt the hydraulic pump & still have the old parts, this one makes a good “clutch block”.

 

[OldBlue61]

Just a quick update -

Going on a year now, and my 8N is still running great. I do have to choke it in the cold weather, but it starts easily and once started, warms up w/o the choke. Very happy with the way it's turned out - and I have many of you here to thank for that. It's even doing a decent job of plowing my drive, even w/o loaded rear tires. I just wish I would have gotten a wider blade - once you swivel a 5 foot blade your width suddenly shrinks even more. Oh well, live and learn. Maybe I'll see if I can trade it (+ a few $$) for a wider one.

Thanks to all of you who have helped me resurrect this old beast!

 

[OldBlue61]

I was going to update this thread, but the only thing I've done lately is an oil/filter change and air filter maintenance back in early May. I really don't have anything to post about my 8N. It's been working flawlessly. I do have a tractor show coming up later this week at the county fairgrounds that I'll be taking it to, so that will be fun. But, other than that...

 

[8NChris]

Look-- a Howard shift lever. Will slow the tractor down to rototilling speed without slowing the PTO.
View attachment 106814
Also see the loom on the spark plug wires isn't bolted to tbe coil bracket. If you dont run the short #1 plug wire through the grommet, the other 3 wires are super easy to sort when doing the 1243 firing order.
Hope compression was 110 or more (Rebuilt ones can be 120-125.)
Distributor looks aftermarket. Prolly just fine. A timing light on each plug wire can compare to verify points gap stays the same---so timing stays the same.
52 would have come with a TSX 241-B carb with a brass tag, yours looks like a TSX 33. ( My 52 runs great with a TSX 33.)
When doing the pto, its a great time to drop the pump. Gives room to swab out the goop.

Some guys have all the luck.