Common Mistakes

[Bruce (VA)]

OK, now nobody needs to confess to anything here. Just add a few more so that we can all have a laugh and learn something in the process.



Common Mistakes of N Ownership

1. Leave the rotor out after a tune up. (extra credit it it's a frontmount)

2. Mount the rear tires backwards.

3. Put the governor rods on wrong.

4. Reverse the polarity on the battery. (extra credit if it's 12v & you let the smoke out of the alternator)

5. Wire the lights through the ignition switch. (extra credit for each switch you burn out before you figure out the cause)

6. Discover that your transmission main shaft seal is really, really bad after you put the tractor nose down in a ditch so you don’t have to drain the hydraulic fluid when you pull the shaft to replace the PTO seal. (extra credit if you get so much oil on the clutch that you have to replace it)

7. Carefully remove the cap on your side distributor to replace the points & place it on the head. Reach over to bump the starter button to get the points on the high lobe & discover that the cap didn’t clear the fan.

8. Remember how your father always put some toilet paper in the distributor when changing the points just in case you drop a screw…….after you dropped a screw that is now in the bottom of the distributor.

9. Learn the practical application of Ohm’s Law by leaving the key on.

10. Remember that you were always told never to remove the charger wires from the battery until you unplugged the charger after you blow up a battery.
50 Tips

 

[HCooke]

OK, I'm guilty of #1 (front mount), #2 and #4. One you don't have on there is install the 3 point knuckles upside down and scratch your head as to why the three point won't adjust properly! I've got a 9N with the original pinch bolt steering arms and I can't for the life of me figure out why the pins only install with the nuts to the front (instead of the rear).

 

[chriskat]

Two more:

1. Forget that you really shouldn't be backing up in the woods.

2. When exercising number 1 forget to pay attention to whats under the tractor and push a stick into the fan shredding the (brand new) radiator.

Jeff

 

[Bruce (VA)]

"install the 3 point knuckles upside down and scratch your head as to why the three point won't adjust properly"

Excellent! That's a good one.

And that just reminded me of another one:

Discover that there is indeed a left spindle & a right spindle after you install them backwards. (extra credit if you bust a $5 dust cap removing them)

 

[Bruce (VA)]

Oh this is fun!

Here is another you just reminded me of:

"When running over a stump in tall weeds, discover that the part most likely to fail as a result is not the tail pipe, not the muffler, not even the muffler clamp.....no, you will break the manifold."

 

[Ultradog MN]

1)Buying an N in the first place when for a few more $ you could have had a Hundred Series.

2)Worse yet is buying an N with a tired engine and having to rebuild it. For that kind of $ you could have had a nice 3 cyl Ford

3)buying a 9/2N when you could have got an 8N with their many improvements for the same money.

4)Buying any tractor with bad tires then realizing how blasted expensive they are to replace.

5)Buying any tractor for work and then getting caught up in the restoration frenzy.

 

[old]

Leave the key on, on a side mount and find out you have a 6 volt coil with no ballast resister and you here a big boom. You then look to find where it came from and find the coil has blown up and you have a great big mess to clean up.
Or you find out just because and N sits low to the ground it can/will slide side ways on a hill and you either get lucky and get it stopped or you roll it over

 

[wwildhorse2k]

Jump off the 9-2n ,get on the 8N and the lift wont work -- forget to flip the draft lever -- I'm so ashamed!!!

 

[souNdguy]

pto lever more like it... so double extra credit for you!



soundguy

 

[Ed S.]

How about backing up (a bit too rapidly) with the draft arms all the way down to mount an implement, only to discover that the arms are actually hanging 1" below the edge of the concrete pad your implement is sitting on. Got a replacement draft arm outta that one, I did...



es

 

[Ed S.]

One more, only slightly N-related, and I'll refrain from posting the picture, but ALWAYS turn the PTO off (OFF!) before getting off the tractor and noticing there's a little corn hung up in the husking bed of your picker...

:shock:

es

 

[Bruce (VA)]

Yes!!! I can relate to that.

"After you back into it so hard it bends the deck on your finishing mower, discover that the stump you cut off level to the ground......wasn't level to the ground."

 

[gahorN]

After a distracting-struggle to remove an implement, finally getting it OFF...and then driving forward a few yards, putting it in reverse, to back it into the barn...to find it won't back up....because the stabilizer arms are dug down into the dirt and bent to smithereens.

 

[NYC Charlie]

Didn't get the oil filter canister bolt tight enough. Pumped a quart of oil on the garage floor onto the floor in about 30 seconds. Lucky I noticed another minute my engine would have been toast.

 

[Ed S.]

(quoted from post at 20:00:50 01/13/11)
After a distracting-struggle to remove an implement, finally getting it OFF...and then driving forward a few yards, putting it in reverse, to back it into the barn...to find it won't back up....because the stabilizer arms are dug down into the dirt and bent to smithereens.

+1

:lol:

es

 

[Anonymous-0]

As an amature Blacksmith:
Sitting down on the anvel stump to examine a project only to diccover a hot cut off, after all your weight is firmly planted on the stump.

How fast can you stand up?

Usualy not fast enough!
Paulf

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

(quoted from post at 22:00:50 01/13/11)
After a distracting-struggle to remove an implement, finally getting it OFF...and then driving forward a few yards, putting it in reverse, to back it into the barn...to find it won't back up....because the stabilizer arms are dug down into the dirt and bent to smithereens.

OK, I need a ruling on this one. What is the recommended interval when this happens till you finally fix up a whiz bang gizmo to keep this from happening, so that it only counts as one occurance?

Also 5 and 9.

Lastly, using a landscape rake in the woods and getting a governor and throttle rod bent to the point the little 4 banger is revvin 9 grand. (give or take a few) Mark

 

[BillM (OH)]

Bruce: I did one last fall - having a '48 and a late'50, I went to change out the points in the '50, grabbed a set out of the cabinet without looking and couldn't figure out why they wouldn't install until I read the "early 8N" description on the package..... pretty dumb!

 

[gahorN]

(quoted from post at 00:15:54 01/14/11)

(quoted from post at 22:00:50 01/13/11)
After a distracting-struggle to remove an implement, finally getting it OFF...and then driving forward a few yards, putting it in reverse, to back it into the barn...to find it won't back up....because the stabilizer arms are dug down into the dirt and bent to smithereens.

OK, I need a ruling on this one. What is the recommended interval when this happens till you finally fix up a whiz bang gizmo to keep this from happening, so that it only counts as one occurance?

Also 5 and 9.

Lastly, using a landscape rake in the woods and getting a governor and throttle rod bent to the point the little 4 banger is revvin 9 grand. (give or take a few) Mark

Here's the fix I created (and have posted elsewhere, also.):

 

[Steve (BC)]

How about ... torquing the last nut on the left axle trumpet to centre housing only to have the wife discover the lower link support pin was not installed.

 

[heybusdriver]

Another one , drive over straddling a big rock only to find out the rear-end is not as high as the motor and tranny. Duh , done that more than once. Had to jack up to get off rock. 8^)


Happy Tractoring
Stan
1949 8N146710
1949 8N179555
1949 8N197904
1949 8N199000
1950 8N254079
1951 8N362039

 

[Tom N MS]

Time for a break.

 

[Ken(Ark)]

Pulling the starter in two pieces when removing .

Letting your brother in Law install a front mount distributor 180 degrees out . ( The cap would not go on because the rotor was shoved a 1/4' forward )

Accidentally reversing #3 & #4 spark plug wires .

Installing the long bolt on the top hole of the governor .

Filling the radiator with Gasoline .

Cranking for 10 seconds and realizing the ignition switch is off .

 

[Jimmyjack]

I tested the strength of the drawbar stay arms many times. I found they bend like noodles when you dont take the PTO out of gear when you have the drawbar in, and wire the lever down when you have live power.

 

[JMOR]

What, no vertical exhaust guys here? 6 foot exhaust & 5 foot tree branch.

 

[Jess Pidlin]

While plowing snow for your neighbor, you realize that mound of ice/snow you've been trying to move for the last 10 minutes is his whiskey-barrel flower planter thats frozen to the ground .

Y'all have a gooden...

Jess

 

[pikewi]

Starting a thread on this forum about converting to 12 volt or EI

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 11:36:22 01/14/11) Starting a thread on this forum about converting to 12 volt or EI

OU WANT TO DO WHAT!!??? @$%&*&>%##$^!!!! :x

 

[GB in MT.]

(quoted from post at 09:47:20 01/14/11)

(quoted from post at 11:36:22 01/14/11) Starting a thread on this forum about converting to 12 volt or EI

OU WANT TO DO WHAT!!??? @$%&*&>%##$^!!!! :x

b:681bf151e4][i:681bf151e4]

[/i:681bf151e4][/b:681bf151e4]

 

[ericlb]

getting a N tractor as your first ever real tractor, then trying to operate it without reading the manuel first ?????

 

[Ed S.]

Pulling the starter in two pieces when removing .

Or even worse, spinning the bendix out while bench-testing. Oh, my. :?

es

 

[Ramrod]

Declare the tranny shot 'cause tractor won't move. Ask buddy to help drag it to the barn. Watch buddy put Sherman Hi Lo back in gear. Listen to buddy say 'Try it now' and watch him walk away.

I was NOT the buddy BTW.

 

[jackinok]

does carefully draining transmission into pan and then knocking it over in your garage count the same points as #6?

 

[8N'r--WI]

#1 Thinking that the "boiling" gas in the tank has cooled down enough to remove an unvented gas cap.....WHOOOOSH!!----Old Faithful revisited...

#2 Having the dillusion that an N tractor will continue running on "gas reserve" when you are mowing a steep sidehill a half mile from home.


Tim

 

[Mike OH]

How about trying to pull start your neighbor's tractor that won't start until the 10 year old neighbor boy walks over and asks if anyone checked to see if he was out of gas? ';>)

 

[Doug-Ohio]

1) Running over a big a$$ rock in the first 30 seconds of running a brand new brush hog.

2) Draining used oil into an antifreeze bottle then dumping it into the radiator.

 

[Teakettle]

A couple of fun ones that happened to me on my Jubilee:

-- having a loaded rear tire run away downhill

-- using too much compressed air pressure to remove the lift piston from the cylinder and then having to rummage around in weeds to find where it landed

-- forgetting I hadn"t torqued down the lift cover bolts all the way until after starting it up and getting a UTF shower

-- forgetting to install the "donut" paper gaskets above the lift cylinder (at least I caught that one before putting the lift cover back in)

-- hogging things that were hiding in weeds on a piece of land I hadn"t mowed before: a 3-foot section of 2x6 (which eventually lost the battle but darn was that loud and scary), and about five feet of barbed wire (which was no fun at all to extract)

 

[Jimmyjack]

Helped out your sick neighbor by running all his driveway lights through your snowblower?

 

[Plane Bart]

Fixing the hydraulics on your fresly painted tractor to find out the work good enough to tear your top link out of the rear end housing

 

[Fordfarmer]

Trying to figure out why your 8N won't start, or even crank, with a NEW battery. Then you find the battery cable installed OVER the plastic battery cap. (not my N... I had to find out what was wrong)

 

[Ed S.]

...and about five feet of barbed wire (which was no fun at all to extract)

BTDT, several times. :roll: I think (after nine years on the place) I've got *most* of the wire (hay bale ties) out of the pasture at this point...

es

 

[Bruce (VA)]

As I expected, this has turned out to be both an interesting & amusing thread!

And Fordfarmer reminded me of another one.......

"It would have been much, much easier to start that freshly rebuilt engine if you had remembered to remove the masking tape over the intake & and exhaust ports.....before you installed the manifold."

 

[DollarBill]

[b:277b42f391]Fixing the hydraulics on your fresly painted tractor to find out the work good enough to tear your top link out of the rear end[/b:277b42f391]

PB - Inquiring minds want to know. What happened to cause this?!?

 

[Bruce (VA)]

My most recent screw-up a couple of months ago: #2. Got in a hurry (as is the case w/ most of these mistakes!) and mounted the rear tires backwards on the trailer queen. That & January boredom!

 

[MR in MN]

Trying to start your tractor, choking it, nothing working, swearing at the "stupid tractor", check for gas, yup, got gas, then realizing someone forgot to turn the key on!

 

[jdchet]

Trying to figure out why your 8N front mount starts running crappy and quits after about an hour you replace just about everything in the fuel system only to find it "AINT'CHUR CARB", ITTZ'YUR SPARKIES! Wish I had found this forum before that!
I have bent a couple of stabilizer bars, but since I started using those black lynch pins that'll pinch the snot outta your fingers I haven't lost one!

JD 8)

 

[Teakettle]

(quoted from post at 09:01:32 01/15/11)
I have bent a couple of stabilizer bars, but since I started using those black lynch pins that'll pinch the snot outta your fingers I haven't lost one!

JD 8)

After totally pretzeling a stabilizer bar, I gave up on lynch pins (used to carry a whole bag of them when out mowing) and went with those D-shaped lock pins. I've never lost a pin since.

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 16:50:18 01/14/11) Trying to figure out why your 8N won't start, or even crank, with a NEW battery. Then you find the battery cable installed OVER the plastic battery cap. (not my N... I had to find out what was wrong)

I thought I was the only one dumb enough to do this. While it wasn't my 8N, it was my Ford van. I even had to spread open the cable clamps a little with a screw driver to get them to fit over the plastic pieces. You'd think that would have given me a clue. :roll:

Well, at least I feel a little better knowing there are two of us in this club.

 

[Scott(Ks.)]

(reply to post at 18:31:21 01/13/11)

While mowing vacant lots for a building contractor with a brush hog, you look back and see a telephone pole catching up with you.

 

[redleg]

Another vote for letting starter case pull apart. And yes, there IS a 12 volt starter on the market with a slightly thicker nose cone than the standard 6 volt/universal, that prevents you from slipping it in with the bendix extended without pulling the filter housing loose. Even with a notched case.

Waiting for tractor supply to stock the 12 volt, 3 prong solonoid on the empty hanger labeled for it for a few weeks until you finally learn about 6 volt systems and finally take home the 6 volt solonoid that has been staring at you.

Finally tightening the distributer lock nut when you test fire for the third time of breaking the rotor because the shaft it launched upward against the cap because you're being lazy. To be fair, distraction was also a reason. All this because the replacement flywheel you bought for the 8N came off a 9N/2N with no timing marks. Discovered, of course AFTER new clutch installed and two halves fit back together.