Thirty–Something years ago, when my dad passed away, I inherited a 1952 model Ford 8-N tractor. It was one of the finest small tractors ever built, performing well with a minimum of maintenance.
Then several years ago – Honey and I have a friendly argument over just how many years. Please don’t tell her, but she’s probably right. It just seems impossible that it could have been that long ago. – I had the engine rebuilt, a new clutch and new tires installed.
Shortly after that, it set up all winter, and I was never able to get it started again. Usually that’s just a matter of cleaning and drying out the distributor and maybe replacing any old gasoline in the tank. This time, the farther I went, the more I found wrong. I was finally forced to admit that it was more trouble than it was worth.
Yesterday, I got a replacement for the old 8-N. It’s another Ford - this time a Ford 2000 from the late 70s or maybe 1980. It’s very similar in size, but the 2000 has a three cylinder Diesel vs. the four cylinder gas power of the 8-N, and the transmission has a high and low range.
It has a few cosmetic issues, but it runs like a top, and all the implements I had for the 8-N will work without any modifications.
Moving from a 50+ year old tractor to a 30+ year old model certainly feels like progress, and this one actually runs!
I'm no expert when it comes to tractors, but I will have to get one in the future. Your tractor looks really sturdy. Things were just built better back then, I guess. They don't make them like they used to. Still, the modern units come with lots of useful features. Just have to find the balance between both.
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