881 Powermaster

[Matthew Blevins]

Since I didn't have enough to do with my cam situation on my 841, I bought the 881 that I mentioned a while back in a previous post. I made the guy an offer several weeks ago and he would not come down any more than 1800, so 5 weeks later I called him and he still had it, so I went and got it. I tried it out like some of you suggested. I got it hot, it ran well in all gears, pto runs good, ground speed works good and engine runs very good and doesn't smoke, etc. I get it home and notice their is gold on the transmission. I haven't found it anywhere else on the tractor, even though I scraped around on it. It could be that the transmission has been installed sometime in previous years. The engine is a 310609, which makes it around a 1959. But anyway it is, what it is. The numbers have been ground off, to indicate it has been repaired and numbers put over to the side a bit. They read 881 s/n 79776 and on the other side of the transmission it is stamped 10866. I did notice that the numbers I saw that weren't ground off good had a definite 2 and a questionable 8 and 5 in it, which is totally different from the number that they stamped on there. I wonder what their idea was in this, other than maybe just making it where they didn't work on someones transmission twice under warranty. Anyway, It has the power spin out wheels on it and 12.4 by 28 tires that are pretty pitiful looking. I will definitely put that on my list to change. My wife got real excited when I told her it had gold on it, only for about two seconds though. LOL

 

[souNdguy]

sounds like a swap from the older tranny to the newer tranny as a field service replacement.

soundguy

 

[Dean]

I doubt it.

The transmission pictured has the old style top cover.

Dean

 

[souNdguy]

Hm.. I wonder why the removal of the number then.. just a mechanics way of keep ing hte old number I guess??

soundguy

 

[Bobrh]

The transmissions were all swapped out with rebuilt units on the 59's when Ford recalled and updated all of them. So some Gold tractors have red transmissions and apparently yours received a Gold rebuilt one. The tractor's original serial number on the transmission was ground off and a rebuild tracking number stamped on the other side.
The rebuilt unit was then shipped to a dealer who made an appointment with the owner to come in and have his SOS swapped for the rebuilt unit. The install mechanics would hand stamp the receiving tractor's serial number into the rebuilt unit. The mechanics would then package the take out unit very specifically according to the service bulletins instructions and ship it back to Ford for its rebuild/upgrades.

Gary

 

[awhtx]

The transmission exchange program was all spelled out in Service Bulletin 720 dated Sept 29, 1959. Every SOS tractor below sn 97341 got an exchange transmission.
If the replacement trans was going into a Gold Demo the dealer was supposed to order a quart of paint, part number 802-Y-231-2.
The dealer was supposed to stamp the tractor's original sn into the reman transmission using 1/4" stamps. The other number on the right side is for factory use only.
The dealer was to return the removed SOS to the factory in the crate that the reman one was shipped in.
Your 881 obviously received a factory reman SOS that was originally installed in a Gold Demo. Your sn falls outside the range of Gold Demo sn's which was from 60949 to approximately 70000.
HTH

 

[GlenIdaho]

Just for fun why don't you post the casting codes off the center housing, hydraulic cover and axle trumpets for a comparison?

 

[Matthew Blevins]

O.K. Glen I'll get them this evening when I get home from work. I am learning a lot by sharing this information. Thanks

 

[Matthew Blevins]

I didn't see one on the center housing, hydraulic cover is NCA 501 B 93E, the right trumpet is C169 the left is C219.

 

[GlenIdaho]

Hi Matt;

Thanks for the numbers. Some of the others can correct me if I'm wrong here. awhtx has this pretty well figured out. I don't know how these dates would fit into the period in which the Gold Demo was produced. awhtx or John in La might be able to help. The 79776 indicated the trans received its first serial number about in the mid prodcution. The started at 58312 and ended at 105942 for 1959. I believe the Gold Demos started around 66000 or so. I think to determine if it is a a Gold Demo, you'll have find the Gold paint. Someone else may know. Have fun with your tractor.

C169 = March 16, 1959
C219 = March 21, 1959

93 E = May 3, 1959

 

[Tony Jacobs]

Hello Alan , Somewhere between 70944 and 71505 is the end of the Gold Demo's . Dave H from Iowa has the 70944 which is a 981 (which is highest one I know about but have not seen yet, he also has a 971 # 70204 and my 1871 is #70288) , and a friend of mine in New Hampshire just found a 2 owner 59 1871 with less than 1500 original hours on it in a Barn . It still has the original Firestone 14-24 rear tires on it even though they are just about smooth and it does not have any Gold Paint on it and all the paint and decals are original . Thanks Tony

 

[awhtx]

The date code 93E translates to 1959 March 5. This is the crazy system Ford used in the mid to late '50s with the days of the month represented by letters, including inverted and backwards letters for the last 6 days.

 

[awhtx]

Matthew,
You will find a casting date code on the left side of the engine block down low near the oil pan, the left side of the trans housing and the left side of the rear end center housing down low near the axle trumpet. These codes will be 3 numbers and letters similar to the code on your lift housing, not like the 4 digit codes on you axle trumpets.
Alan