Ford 851

[Kory's Poppa]

I have a Ford Tractor that I was told it was a 851. It was LP and converted over to gas. The serial number left of the transmission is mostly worn away. My question is Is there another area where I can get the serial number so I can identify the year and model?

 

[Ultradog MN]

You might ask this on the Ford board.
While there are guys here who know those
tractors as well as any man alive you're apt
to reach more of them there.
Sometimes those numbers can be rather faint
but they can usually be read if you remove
enough paint and crud to get down to bare
metal. About the only ones I've seen that
can NOT be read are the diesels of that era
as battery acid ate them away completely.
If you can't read them you could take some
good photos of the tractor so they could
pick it apart and come pretty close to
establishing the year. Also, many of the
major castings will have date codes cast
into them and the tractor can be dated that
way. Those guys will have info on where to
look for them.
Generally though, unless you just HAVE to
know the serial/year for curiosities sake,
those tractors were pretty much all alike
and parts for them will be correct for all
models from 1955-1963 and in many cases till
early 1965.
Good luck and welcome to Yesterday's
Tractors. That was a Very Good model
machine.
Ford Board