SAVE IT OR SCRAP IT????

[robert bowen]

i bought a 9n for 850.00 it has a scrap blade with it.the tractor would start but had popping and skipping until i replaced the points,condenser,and rotor button.cranked tractor yesterday popping and skipping gone.now i can hear knocking coming from oil pan.my question is should i keep her or scrap her?

 

[GT65]

If by "scrapping" it you mean selling it to a scrap yard I would say neither.
I would dismantle it piece by piece and no matter how small take a picture of it and put it for bid on E-bay with no reserve for the small pieces and a low reserve on the bigger pieces.Whatever it goes for it goes for!
It could be an entire family project(someone to dismantle,someone to wash the parts, packing, shipping,etc.)
Of course keep the younger kids away from the hot,heavy, sharp parts and in your ads make sure you list the parts as "AS IS-NO RETURNS".Also, learn about shipping charges so you know what to charge that's fair for both parties.
You'll be amazed how much selling it like this will bring in.
That's what I would do.A nice summer project that envolves the whole family, teaches younger ones how to work together to achieve a goal and when it's all "done and said for" someone could have a couple "Thousand" in their college fund!

Good Luck! GT65

 

[robert bowen]

when i say keep her,i mean should i try and fix the tractor?

 

[flembo]

No way would I scrap it. The tin looks good tires look ok if the hydrolics work and trany is ok find out what the knock is may not be as bad as you think a 20/20 paint job would do wonders, depends on what you want it for. It could be a fun project. I resurected one a lot worse than that and still don't have fenders on it have the skins but no brackets an ongoing project.

 

[Anonymous-0]

State location, e-mail address, and any other info. concerning your DECISION to: [email protected]

I find stuff for buyers in Colorado, East Coast, and international parties.

Thank YOU, Sir.

John,PA

 

[Roger in Iowa]

What is the oil pressure? I would change the oil and put in 30 wt or 10w-40 and see what it is then.

 

[Colin King]

Robert,

Allow me to briefly step up onto my soap box...

There is a time and a place to part out/ or scrap a tractor. I generally have pretty mixed feelings about the practice. I have bought parts from a really good fellow who frequents this board, and I value his commitment to the N community. However, everytime someone parts one of these old girls out, that's one less N in the world which has a trickle down effect on parts availability, the price of working Ns, and is ultimately a loss of American history. That effects each and everyone of us. I want these tractors to be available to my grandkids in 40 years, not to be just some hazy memory of my youth and the good old days.

You have a machine that runs and you have very little money invested in it. Either sell if for what it is - a running N with known mechanical issues and get your $850 back, or fix it. The sound you are hearing would likely be fixed with an engine rebuild. After rebuilding the engine, that N will last you decades before any further major maintenance will be needed.

Best of luck to you!
Colin, MN

 

[old]

Scrap it what are you crazy or want to get shot. You never ever scrap a tractor like that on. I can bet you all you do is ask for your $$ back out of it and tell us where you are and you will have more then one person ready to come get it from you. Or in other words the term scrapping is a dirty word here. Shoot you could sell it a piece at a time and make 3 times what you have in it

 

[Anonymous-0]

Put it on YT,ebay and CL ask 1K firm ,make you and the buyer happy ,stick profit in your pocket and walk away. End of story. Who knows the knock could be a simple fix, a knock is not a death sentence, like not enough oil somewhere. Dont scrap it.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Do you need the tractor? Can you use it enough to justify and can you afford to stick another $1K into rebuilding the engine?
There's kind of two schools of thought on these old things. One is that they are special and every last one of them ought to be saved.
The other is that they are just a commodity - like corn, lumber or beef - something for an enterprising soul to make a buck off of in parts.
I kind of see both sides but don't adhere to either of them completely.
If you fix it up and use it they are very handy and it will last you for a long time. If you fix it up to resell it you'll likely have more like $2.5K plus a lot of labor into a tractor that MIGHT fetch $2.5K when you are done.
Parting one out isn't all that easy either. Takes a lot of time to take one apart, there's cleaning and inspecting things, putting ads on CL, here or Ebay, answering calls and emails, packaging and shipping bulky objects and dealing with a few morons now and then.
Some items will take years to sell. Some parts will never sell.
Now is the time to decide though. Sell it for $1K and get your money back. Fix it and use it. Or part it out. All are good and viable options.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have two(2) daughters out in CO. #2 is adopted and She is the parts gal for a small start-up company.

They do the e-bay thingy. I just fixed her water pump, tank and necessary parts to make sure the auto-sprinkler system is working in HER house, locally.

My only caution to her..........make sure about this PA SALES TAX on electronic marketing. I hear, here, the authorities are really checking into the paperwork. Retro-ACTIVE for the past 5 yrs.

I cannot afford to bale HER out!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,
John,PA

 

[NoNewParts]

tough call
I don't scrap anything, as I always end up regretting it and needing some part.
And I like the work/challenge of saving the unsaveable.
That said, I'm glad a few people out there do tear them down, so
I can find the used parts I need.

With this tractor with the money you have in it, I'd fix it,
IF
you can do the work yourself.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Takes acreage to set-up AMERICAN historical rememberances. I wish I had the old WW1 airplanes that MY DAD bought for 2cents a pound during his earlier years when HE was trying to feed a YOUNG family. HE even got caught in those HIGH TENSION electrical wires that I remember that I wrote about some time ago.

What happened to those old iron tractors, airplanes and early automobiles??????? They ALL GOT BURNED-UP to make space for CORN.

Yip I agree with your feelings. Needed FOOD. first, warmth second, and with THIS BOARD, "frendly conversations". The rest is HISTORY.....SUPER expensive, here.

John, PA

 

[Royse]

I'm a sucker for these old tractors Robert.
I just hate to see them go across a scale for scrap.
The guys on this board have helped me bring more than one back to life.
Yours is still living, breathing, running.
If you can use it, fix it.
If you don't need it, please sell it to someone who does.

 

[GT65]

John,
Your reply was to me.I see your blogs on ytmag often.With all due respect,and to be completely honest with you, I don't understand what the heck your asking me?What do you need my personal info for?
GT65

 

[Jon4020]

What are you talking about?

 

[W_B]

Let me weigh in here since I'm partial to the old 9Ns. In fact if I had to choose between selling my 8n or the 9n, the 8 would be gone. I think with a little tinkering and some elbow grease you can get the old girl running pretty well. Don't take it to the bone yard, if the engine is really clapped out and not cheaply fixable, sell it for parts as a whole or part it out yourself. There is probably someone out there that would welcome an under $1,000 project tractor too. Good luck with it!

 

[jackinok]

are you sure the knocking is from the pan? one thing that can sound like a knock sort of is a exhaust manifold gasket blown or the manifold rusted thru.another is the lift pump can knock pretty good .Could be also the pulley on front of crankshaft.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Hey John,
Did you ever get into Frank Zappa?
Zombie Woof, Uncle Remus, Apostrophe,
St Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, etc, etc.
He is probably my all time favorite rock musician.

 

[Lumpy]

Where are you located?