f 20 pulling tractor

[Chris Farmallf20]

I have a 1937 farmall f 20 that has been in our family since the 50"s. We still use it around the farm to pull hay wagons around and run the auger during the harvest. I took it out to an antique pull this past summer with meager results. Does anybody out there have any hints/suggestions to get this old girl pulling hard? I"ve got everything tuned up with the zenith carb but don"t have a lot of knowledge on the mag and governor on these old hunks of iron. I put it on the dyno at the show and it came out to 23 hp (should be at 27 from factory). I also was unable to run 540 rpm on the pto and they had to look up the rated hp in the book with the rpm that I was able to turn. This tractor was restored about 10 years ago. It got new sleeves and a complete overhaul. It runs good under load but simply ran out of power very early in the pull...any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Check your timing to make sure it is correct. Had a freshly rebuilt Farmall H here that the very first pull I did with it was embarrassing, it ran out of power early, and it ran really nice and everything, but the timing wasn't exactly right, so I was losing lots of power. Got it timed right and found lots of power!. So check your timing, it might not be quite right.

 

[Chris Farmallf20]

I'll check it out. Running the auger with soybeans makes her groan but not quite the same as pulling the sled. Thanks for the quick reply...any more suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[Mathias NY]

If you can't make the right PTO speed, the governed speed may need to be adjusted. I don't know enough about farmalls to know what the correct speed should be.

 

[Jack a]

You'll have to cheat,.....I mean modify without getting caught as they put it it's only cheating if you get caught, to win or even be competitive against most other pullers today. You'll need to double that horse power at least and that ain't gonna happen with just a tune-up. I suggest tuning it up and then look for a plow and find the good people that get together for a plowing day. Much more fun and honest. Sorry for the rant. Couldn't help it.

 

[dej(Jed)]

I have one with a 327 Chevy truck engine in it. It pulls really well.

 

[1936]

The one I know about had a 55 Buick 268 CID still hooked to the buick standars trans hooked to the F 20 trans. Good puller. It broke the drive axel. Left the Buick engine in the car frame and welded to F 20 frame. No exhaust system.