8n history question

[bigg D]

A guy at work asked me an interesting question about the 8N. I didn't know the answer, but I'm sure you guys can help.

During the 8N's production run, was it considered the best tractor in production at the time? If not, what was the best tractor being made at the time, in your opinion?

Thanks.

 

[Bob]

I don't know how there could be a "BEST" tractor, overall, as there are so many different jobs expected of tractors, there's never been a "one size fits all" tractor.

I know ONE thing... out here on the open praire, to this day, the "N's" were, and are, laughed at as "little toys" by actual farmers.

The RED and GREEN and ORANGE tractors did the REAL work out here, and the "N's" were almost an "oddity".

So, I guess your question COULD have MANY answers, region by region.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Boy, that's a loaded question. John Deere people will say green was the best, International that red was the best, and so on. What Ford had that nobody had was the three point draft control. There may have been three point tractors, but they would have been few and far between, and none had the draft control. At the time people said it was crazy to have your implement behind the rear wheel, especially cultivators. And how can your get by not having a narrow front end? But guess how all tractors are built now. So in those respects, Ford was better and ahead of its time.

The motors were not that robust and from what I've heard required rebuilding every one or two years under hard use. Other tractors had more durable engines, even more power per cubic inch, and overhead valves. Oliver had a real good engine that pulled like crazy and the old Johnny poppers would pull down until the engine was barely turning. The Ford transmissions I would say were built very good and synchronized. The rear axle/hub joint was always a problem if not kept tight, and the differential was marginal for strength but usually held up with the stock horsepower.

I would say by the time the Jubilee came out, the 8N was getting pretty long in the tooth compared to the competition. Each brand had their strong and weak points. But as an acreage tractor today, it fits the bill.

 

[MikeT]

In the 50's my dad had a Allis WD?, a 8N, and a 9N.

They were all used for different things. Pulling a large tandem disk, 3 bottom plow, combine, JD hay baler, or driving the belt for the hammer mill or cord saw was the job of the AC.

Pulling a 2 bottom plow, harrow, mowing hay, front end loader, brush hog, or grader blade was the job of the 8N. (AC was used for plowing new ground)

Raking hay, pulling trailers to feed the cows, and light duty stuff was the job of the 9N (ran on propane).

Which one did I like the best? The 8N, of course! Wish I had a dollar for every hour I spent plowing with it. Would be a gazillionaire!

 

[old]

No one tractor can fit that bill. All of them had there good points and there bad points. And my self I have never seen or owned one tractor that will do all I want it to do. Some work well for some things and other work well for other things.
Hobby farm

 

[tool kat]

Best in it's class would be more accurate. It's competition would be the AC B/C, JD 40, Farmall A, etc. I think the N held 75% of the market at one time.
Tool Kat

 

[OKDAD]

Based on the stories my Aunt told me they bought their 8n in 1949 to replace the two horses they had been using to farm. The Ford was the best value (read most affordable) my Uncle found at $645 w/mower. As I recall they had 160 acres at the time which grew to 450 by 1955. The N was the only tractor they ever had.

 

[BillM (OH)]

Up on a small dairy farm in mountain country, the little N's were ideal for most all the jobs we asked them to do. Out in the flatlands, where you wanted to pull a 6 bottom plow - no way. Best tractor always depended on your intended use.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I grew up in east Texas, the nephew of the local International Harvester Dealer. We ran red tractors - and they were the best! (of course) We had an H, and it did everything we needed, and more.
I now live in Pennsylvania, out in the hilly woods. That tricycle H would kill me here. And I wouldn't be able to mow under the trees with it - and couldn't put on all the implements I have, unless adding three point. This Ford 8N just makes more sense. Apparently, here in Pennsylvania, that was case back in the day as well. There are loads of Ford tractors still workin'! Five on the one road I live on, all pre 1960.

Ray

 

[Tom43]

The 8N was one of the poorest tractors ever made! In their defense they were terribly abused by trying to do heavy tillage with them. They are popular today for parades and hobby farmers. Try farming 1,000 acres with one. The best tractor was the Farmall M, followed by WD45, A John Deere and Dc Case.

 

[Dunk]

(quoted from post at 15:35:34 10/26/07) They were all used for different things. Pulling a large tandem disk, 3 bottom plow, combine, JD hay baler, or driving the belt for the hammer mill or cord saw was the job of the AC.

(AC was used for plowing new ground)

Yep Dad's AC could tear up more ground in a day that I would even think about tearing up with the 8N.

Not counting the (2'?, may have been 18"?) cord wood saw.

 

[Anonymous-0]

My opinion, since I grew up on a farm at that time. We had a Farmall C and H , we also had an Allis WD-45 and a Ferguson 20 before 1954. After that many tractors grew up so to speak with more features/power/etc. The Allis had more features/power overall (many people think the WD-45 was the most significant tractor of the era) . The Ferguson would outdo a Ford N tractor in the field. A friend had a Ford N and he struggled in the field all the time. In those days people farmed a lot with little horsepower, so the Ford could not keep up to the other brands even though they had similar HP. So in answering your question the Ford 8N was getting outdated and Ford started a whole new series of tractors after that model.

 

[Anonymous-0]

For my present wood hauling and utilityneeds, my 2N fills the bill perfectly. It makes a great economically running rake tractor. For the family dairy farm that I grew up on, I'd choose the Massey Ferguson 65, with the AC D17, WD, and WD45 running closely behind.

 

[Dunk]

Mr. Bob...

Ummm..

That Massey Ferguson 65.

That was 20 years later wasn't it?

Let me say it this way, a whole "Generation of Humans" later?

We are talking 1947 to 1952.

Please forgive me if I am wrong.

 

[DennyF]

When I was a kid in the 50s/60s, I had two uncles/aunts that had dairy farms in mountainous northcentral PA and I stayed/worked at various times, on both farms back then.

One uncle farmed with a 9N and an Oliver crawler. The other one farmed with an old Fordson, horses, then a new '46 H and later added an M. That uncle finished up with an IH 560 gasser, still had the H and M (both still run now). By the time I was old enough to "run tractor", both the Farmalls had been fitted with WFEs.

He was far more productive (with a 50 cow dairy) and prosperous than the uncle who had tried to make a go of it with the 9N, the Oliver and 30 cows. That one had pretty much quit farming by 1960 and made his living with trucks thereafter.

Like the others noted, there was never one tractor that filled the bill for every farmer, due to variations in soils, terrain, amount of acreage and type of farming.

The uncle with the Farmalls briefly kept his FIL's 8N when the old man died, but got rid of it as he had no use for it. He never owned a piece of "3PH" equipment after that, until the early 60s when he bought an IH 460 with Quick Hitch and then the only three QH implements he owned, were a 3 bottom plow, carryall frame and a bale spear.

Big farms need big tractors. Farms of up to a few hundred acres got by for years with 30 to 50HP tractors and made a living. The only folks with big tractors up in the vicinity of my kinfolks' farms, are the large bottom land farms, with fairly flat fields and good, rock-free soils.

N series Fords are great little tractors, but were never designed for large farming operations. It is worth noting however, that almost all tractor manufacturers tried to make a model to compete with those little Fords, back in their hey day.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yeh, I know I'm a little ahead of the "N years" with the MF 65 and AC D17.. Well to go back to the "N" years; I guess I'd pick an "N" or a AC WD; or maybe a combo of the two to operate the machinery on a family farm of 1950.

 

[MikeT]

The 8N would do fine with the 2 bottom plow in just harvested fields. Let a field lay out for 2 or 3 years - no. We had to use the 3 bottom plow on the AC for that. It musta had double the HP of the 8N.

 

[56Henry]

(quoted from post at 09:30:52 10/26/07) A guy at work asked me an interesting question about the 8N. I didn't know the answer, but I'm sure you guys can help.

During the 8N's production run, was it considered the best tractor in production at the time? If not, what was the best tractor being made at the time, in your opinion?

Thanks.

The N series with it's low center of gravity, adjustable wide front end and hydraulic 3pt hitch introduced a whole new breed of tractor.....the utility tractor. Like Denny just mentioned, within 15 yrs every major tractor manufacturer was building a tractor of the same general configuration.

Yeah, I'd say the N's would be considered the best UTILITY tractor of their time. Maybe the Ferguson TO & E's had an edge over the 8N with their OHV engine. :?