Date code questions for John in LA

[Jim.UT]

I looked over your date code photos you posted for Mike Campbell. I was hoping you could elaborate on some of them.

I understand the axle codes (letter=month, digits=day and year) and the radiator code (month and year in digits). But I'm confused by the codes 84V, 84G, 59A.

At first I thought it was basically the same as the axle code only in a different order, but if I assume that, the 84G becomes July 4, 1958 and I have a hard time believing the factory was operating on the 4th of July. Plus, the V in 84V wouldn't translate to any month on my calendar. So I'm assuming I'm not translating those codes correctly. Can I get a secret decoder ring like yours? Or do I need to save more box tops?

Thanks for all the info you put out there to help all of us.

Jim.UT

 

[john in la]

I have a hard time believing the factory would be open on July 4th also. Only thing I can think is that the factories that made castings could not shut down for 1 day and be practical about it. May have had something to do with the smelting burners to melt the medal. I would figure it was a miss print or a mistake but as you notice both my engine and rear end was made on July 4th.

Any way I asked Tony about this several years ago. Here is his reply........

Quote:
Hi John, Starting at the bottom, Decals - Ford is red, 861 and Diesel is Black. Some early ones looked like a painted on Stencil, but most were decals. Left axle tube is Feb. 10, 1958 , Right axle tube is July 27,1958 , Lift cover is Jan. 1959 , Center housing is July 4, 1958 , Trans. is out of sink , but I have had V's, O's, and S's which do not work as the Months. The first 13 letters of the alphabet minus the letter i are the 12 months of the year. The Engine is July 4, 1958 . The casting numbers are all corect for the early 01 series tractors 1958,1959, or early 1960. Thanks Tony Jacobs

 

[john in la]

The best part is July 4th 1958 was also a friday. But it has been a good tractor for me.