F-20 tractor pull

[3LFarms]

I pulled my 36 F-20 at the fair. The engine starts easy, runs well , maybe a little rich at slow idle, but runs nice. No blue smoke at all. It has new 12.4 x 36 rubber. Whe I pull with it, it runs out of power before it loses traction. Is that normal for an F-20, or do I maybe have a governor problem?
Here is a video from today.
https://youtu.be/vuB_lcVKWR0

This post was edited by 3LFarms on 08/27/2022 at 06:19 pm.

 

[fastfarmall]

I never drove a F-20,but i would guess it's got about 20 HP,that's not to much to spin the tires with.I always use 1st gear, the little I pull, there no advantage for the speed, in our club!

 

[16-30 oilpull]

I've run several f-20s and there is a difference depending on engine condition. An old tired one may still be capable
of a day's work. If it is hard to crank should be good but not guaranteed to spin out

 

[redforlife]

Get it off the sled, and put it on
something else (such as a plow, or some
other type of work load) and see if the
governor is opening up. You should be able
tell if it's opening up. If it's opening
up, your governor is working.
Might be kind of hard to tell when hooked
to a sled, if it's opening up or not, since
it'd virtually be opened up the entire
time, (IF) it's working. And not here and
there, like in a normal work situation.

I'd think you'd have to be perfectly
weighted, and on perfect track conditions,
to have zero slippage. Even playing with
that small of horse power.

 

[used red MN]

I agree use 1st gear, it is easy to tell by how it started out that you were not in the lowest gear of a farm tractor. I do not see any weights hanging on there but the video is dark. Not sure if you have fluid in the tires, but just about any tractor I have been around that has minimal added weight will spin out in the lowest gear before killing the engine. Tractordata says an F20s were field tested and produced a drawbar hp of 20.6. Only thing I really know about an F20 is that one of our neighbors used his well into the 1970s to mow his hay. Choosing a higher gear is for those guys with souped up machines with big hp who like to spin the wheels and make smoke. Not that that type of thing is not entertaining.

 

[fastfarmall]

OK, i am just a novice at pulling,but on SMTA, i took out the fluid, put on 6 weights on each rear wheel,and another 500 LBS,4 feet behind the rear wheels,on the 2 point hitch bracket i made,i weigh 8200 lbs with me on it,i have to pull with a G Moline, and a 99 Oliver 6 cylinder, and 990, with a 3 cyl Detroit,I beat them,on a Distance pull, but i got radials, they don't, and two much air pressure

 

[rustred]

it will be one or the other, as track conditions will dictate. if it is pulling down and lugging then the governor has to be working. 1st
gear is pretty much the only gear u have for antique pulling. 2nd is way too fast and you be powering out quickly. i dont know how to see the
video either. and on a good track hookup you will power out before spin out with these old ih tractors. and what was your distance compared to other in your class? and what were u pulling against all is good to know.

 

[Loosehandle]

You just need to spend cubic dollars on
engine like everyone else if you want to
spin the wheels out the gate

 

[used red MN]

To see the video I just copied the URL ..web address.. he posted and pasted in my browser address bar. Surely you have done this with other links that have been posted on this forum that were not ..live.. It worked on my iPhone anyway.

 

[DR. EVIL]

Ohhhh. You gotta watch out for those FARMALLS. There used to be a local pulling organization around Southern Wisconsin I followed. Guy I worked with pulled an Oliver 77 that had a 6 cyl gas engine out of a 1950 Oliver if there was such a thing, he even ported his intake manifold, cut it in two, ground it out as much as he could and brazed it back together. He finished mid-pack or better. Was at a pull 30 miles from home, several 4000 Deere's pulling in the heavier weight class, most ran out of power around 200 ft. There were 3-4 M & Super M's, looked like chore tractors with BIG rear tires. They were pulling in 2nd gear I think, they all picked the frt tires up off the ground and just kept the sled moving, no RPM loss, just brute HP, the M that finished 2nd had 549 Cid via boring & stroking the stock 4 cyl engine, the Super M that beat the M was even BIGGER. It's only Money and you can't take it with you!

 

[rustred]

nope never have. the only time i can see a video is when its in its own blue highlight. i type all them numbers in and cant get to it.

 

[Duner Wi]

I just copy and pasted on my $30.00 android phone. IMO much safer than poke here.

 

[504]

I have a friend who ran a 409 Chevy with a truck 4 speed into the IH tranny. That F-20 Pulled pretty good

 

[3LFarms]

This is a just for fun pull put on by the neighboring club with no scales or classes the sled is at max weight all the time. The operator clutches the weight box to let the small tractors like mine get moving an actually pull the sled a little ways. As such, I can t compare to other tractors.
My tractor seems to have a healthy but stock engine. I don t have a plow to hook it to in order to play with the adjustment on the governor housing. I do not have any weights nor ballast in the tires. They are brand new tires. From what I saw, most tractors there seemed to run out of traction and spin out before killing the engine.
The video I posted is me starting off in first gear. Since my tractor only has a single speed governor, I have to start with it at high idle and slip the clutch a bit to get it moving.
I did about as well as a stock JD B that pulled after me. There were no Farmall Hs, which would be the most direct thing I would like to compare to.