Engine serial number

[jp45]

I have a fordson super major which I have restored. The engine number is 1607939 However I have been told all super major numbers begin with 08 and a letter. Can anyone help...has the engine been changed ??

 

[Majorman]

I have a fordson super major which I have restored. The engine number is 1607939 However I have been told all super major numbers begin with 08 and a letter. Can anyone help...has the engine been changed ??

You indeed have an early Super Major, from around June 1961, they did not change the serial numbers until November 1961 when the 08A was introduced and then changed the letter every year until the end of production. I have a Super with a similar number.

 

[jp45]

You indeed have an early Super Major, from around June 1961, they did not change the serial numbers until November 1961 when the 08A was introduced and then changed the letter every year until the end of production. I have a Super with a similar number.

One happy guy here.....others said that the engine couldn't be original with that number. And its older than I was told. I was almost sure it was an original and you have just confirmed that. Thank you.

 

[Lynn Patrick]

I have a fordson super major which I have restored. The engine number is 1607939 However I have been told all super major numbers begin with 08 and a letter. Can anyone help...has the engine been changed ??

I apologize for borrowing your thread, but where do you find the serial number? My Major (New Major?) was advertised as a 1953 but I can find no numbers to prove it. Thanks!

 

[Majorman]

The Major from 1952 to 1955 had the serial number stamped on the flange behind the starter motor and on an aluminium plate on the fire wall near the bonnet hinge. If it is not there and is not under Number 1 injection pipe on a flat spot on the block, then either the engine block or the gearbox housing have been changed and the number not transferred. All is not lost however because every single casting on the tractor has a date code and that can give an idea of the tractor age. Above the dynamo and under the manifold will be the block code, looking straight down between the manifolds and the valve cover will be the cylinder head date code, just above the selector plate on the side of the gearbox will be the gearbox casting code, under the seat, on the top of the lift will be the lift casting code, the rear axle housing code should be either just above the foot plate on the lift control lever side or can be underneath the foot plate and each half shaft trumpet housing should have a code facing the rear usually. There will also be a code on the front axle facing forward. If all these codes work out close together, then you have a complete original tractor but they can differ as parts will have been replaced throughout the tractors life.

For a 1953 your codes should be something like A1U or possibly P1T, A being the month, 1 being the day and U being the year. If it was built early in 1953 then parts could have been built in 1952, hence P December, 1 date and T year.

Post any codes you find and I will decode them for you.

 

[Majorman]

A few pictures to help you find them.

 

[Lynn Patrick]

The Major from 1952 to 1955 had the serial number stamped on the flange behind the starter motor and on an aluminium plate on the fire wall near the bonnet hinge. If it is not there and is not under Number 1 injection pipe on a flat spot on the block, then either the engine block or the gearbox housing have been changed and the number not transferred. All is not lost however because every single casting on the tractor has a date code and that can give an idea of the tractor age. Above the dynamo and under the manifold will be the block code, looking straight down between the manifolds and the valve cover will be the cylinder head date code, just above the selector plate on the side of the gearbox will be the gearbox casting code, under the seat, on the top of the lift will be the lift casting code, the rear axle housing code should be either just above the foot plate on the lift control lever side or can be underneath the foot plate and each half shaft trumpet housing should have a code facing the rear usually. There will also be a code on the front axle facing forward. If all these codes work out close together, then you have a complete original tractor but they can differ as parts will have been replaced throughout the tractors life.

For a 1953 your codes should be something like A1U or possibly P1T, A being the month, 1 being the day and U being the year. If it was built early in 1953 then parts could have been built in 1952, hence P December, 1 date and T year.

Post any codes you find and I will decode them for you.

WOW!! Thanks!! I printed your response & will take it out to my shop this afternoon!

 

[Lynn Patrick]

I got a few of them, but some are not visible because the tractor is "put away" for winter & stuff all around it!
The ones I got:
Block - C21F
Near Clutch - M26U
Front Axle (most unreadable - First 3 are guesses) = 227N B010B

The ID plate is gone, only the mounting holes remain! Both sides of the block "flat spots" are blank. Seat has been changed so would have to be removed to see. Could find nothing in the other places, but could be because it's hard to get to them right now!

By the way - those pics are a BIG help! Thanks!

 

[Majorman]

I got a few of them, but some are not visible because the tractor is "put away" for winter & stuff all around it!
The ones I got:
Block - C21F
Near Clutch - M26U
Front Axle (most unreadable - First 3 are guesses) = 227N B010B

The ID plate is gone, only the mounting holes remain! Both sides of the block "flat spots" are blank. Seat has been changed so would have to be removed to see. Could find nothing in the other places, but could be because it's hard to get to them right now!

By the way - those pics are a BIG help! Thanks!

Looks like you have what we lovingly call a "Bitsa" Major, (Bits of This, Bits of That). She has had a new block and someone did not transfer the numbers.
Block is March 21st 1961
Gearbox/Clutch housing is October 26th 1953
Front Axle (I Think) is February 10th 1958.

Bit surprised that the number is not stamped on the flAnge behind the starter as this would have been where it was in 1953 when the casting was assembled..