New guy with weird serial number.

[jbyrd]

Hello all! New guy here, somewhat less than educated in regards to these tractos so I will be posing various questions over the next few days and appreciate any insight you are able to offer.

Purchased a Ford 9n yesterday for 1200.00. less than 15 hrs on rebuild (by reputable shop in town, have receipts). Tractor purrs like a kitten very happy.

I looked for the serial number on the left side of the block and the following photo is what I found... Looks altered. It either says 9C11847 or 9011847.

It also has this cast into the block:

My theory is maybe sometime in its life they swapped the engine with an 8n and then ground the old serial number off and transfered the tractors original one to the block but instead of putting an 'N' after the number 9 they put a 'C'? Any help would be great. So my long reaching assumption is that the serial number is 11847 and that it is a 1940 Ford 9n. What do you think? Thanks!

Jay

 

[chrisinsoky]

defintly been ground off and replaced, but why is the big ? maybe the tractor has been stolen,
kinda makes yea wonder

 

[Dell (WA)]

jbyrd.......congrats, you have the "braggin' rights" to re-numbered engine 11847. It was cast May 7, 1948. The ONLY thing you really need to worry about is whether the engine is 4-nipple frontmount dizzy or 5-nipple sidemount dizzy ...and... ALL 9N's have 3-speed trannys, 8N's have 4-speed trannys. Early 8N's have 4-nipple dizzys and 1950 8N's have 5-nipple sidemount dizzys. Otherwize, engine s/n's don't mean 'nuttin' unless yer being TAXED or the sheriff is lookin' fer stolen tractor. (it happens) .......Dell

 

[souNdguy]

do your axle trumpet date codes match that 40 sn?

soundguy

 

[rlpintx]

Could it be one of Fords industrial motors put in a N? They where pretty much the same from what I've seen.

 

[jbyrd]

chrisinsoky-Not real worried about it being stolen. Bought it from a prominent vineyard here in the area. Gentleman very respected in the area.

Dell - thanks for the info. The following picture is of the right side of the tractor that I took a few weeks ago before i bought it. Tractor is at work right now so I can go and look exactly where the distrubutor is. Don't see it sticking out on the rightside so it must be a front mount correct? What are the advantages/disadvantages of a front vs. a side mount?

SouNdguy - I will check the trumpet codes on Monday. Where exactly on the trumpets are they located and what am I looking for?

rlpintx - Any way to know if it is an industrial motor?

Thanks guys!

 

[Quazar73]

Ya know as wierd as it is I cannot find any serial number on
my 9 n.. Not on either side.

 

[Charles Krammin]

The front mount distributor.I beam front axle supports, Clamp-on front spindles, all indicate a 9N, probably a 1940. The serial # appears to be altered and is not the original and is an early front mount distributor 8N. The governor appears to be a 9N governor and something has been done with the oil line from oil filter to governor (normal) to now the valve cover. all of this is just facial and has nothing to do with the performance of the tractor as all things are a common innerchange. The only thing to watch for is "What is it adverized as" There also seems to be an altered serial # and I think I see a hint of the old # that has been ground off.
Charles Krammin SW MI

 

[TheBoro]

I have a similar 41'9n... just curious here, but what is that circular disk on the engine block that is just to left of the governor in the pic above? On my tractor there is a raised "smooth" surface that looks as if something could be bolted to it.


Enjoy the tractor!


Thanks.

 

[CJ in Michigan]

Far as I can tell the sn #s ALL look pretty haphazard from the factory.

 

[Bob]

WHERE do you see a governor in the photo above? ONE is of the serial # pad on the LH side of the engine, the other is of the starter mounting area, also on the LH side of the engine. The governor is on the RH side of the engine.

 

[Bob]

It MAY have been sold as a rebuilt engine at one time. Engine rebuilders have been known to stamp their own "code" on a rebuilt engine to identify it as one of "their's" for warranty purposes and to identify it's assembly date and assembler.

 

[TheBoro]

[i:1cc3f120ee]That [/i:1cc3f120ee]photo above... Sorry that I did not specify for you, Bob. I figured that it was obvious.

 

[Jock (OR)]

I am no expert on this, but the pad in question appears to be a fuel pump mounting pad, based on it's proximity to the camshaft.

If the engine is an industrial unit, that may have been a design change in case the fuel tank could not be located to provide gravity feed.

Perhaps one of the experts knows if the industrial engines had a different serial number sequence. Is it possible that industrial serial numbers were mixed in with the regular tractor production serial numbers, but used a different prefix (8C instead of 8N)?