1946 Ford 2N

This tractor, a 1946 Ford 2N was first offered to me about 10 years ago, but I was not interested at the time. Then the owner called me up and said that he needed to sell it, as he was moving. The price was OK, so I brought it home, just the way you see at the top.. What makes this tractor special are a few interesting additions: it has a Sherman auxiliary transmission in front of the regular transmission, there is a Howard two speed unit installed in the final drive, and it has a 7 foot snow blade with a hydraulic lift. Along with the tractor was a very tired Howard Rotovator (5 foot rototiller). The Howard 2 speed rear is necessary because the tractor needs to move very slowly while the tiller is running fast.

In spite of the dreary appearance of the tractor - it has been sitting just as you see it for at least 15 years, it is actually not in all that bad shape. I inserted the starter crank from one of my Farmall Cubs into the front, and was able to turn the engine very easily. In fact, that is how I moved the tractor into my barn: by engaging reverse gear, removing the spark plugs, and cranking the engine. One rear tire was completely gone, and the calcium chloride inside had rotted the rim out, but the other three tires were still holding air. At the beginning of 2002, I purchased all new tires and tubes, as well as new rear rims, muffler, steering wheel, and other small parts, and I have done considerable work to clean and repaint the basic tractor. One major effort was repairing the rusted out areas of the hood. I have purchased a Lincoln wire welder and welded in new sheet metal to patch the holes. This has been a learning experience! I have many other projects in line ahead of this one, but eventually I cleaned this old work horse up and have it look nearly as good as new. The very nice folks at Howard made copies of the original manuals for the gear unit and the Rotovator, and I purchased all the rest of the manuals from my local New Holland dealer. It is not likely that I will attempt to hook the snow plow up again, as I have other equipment to handle snow; I have become used to sitting inside a warm truck cab instead of on a cold tractor seat!

During the Winter and Spring of 2005, I removed and completely overhauled the engine, replacing the cylinder liners, pistons, rings, oil pump, valves & guides, clutch pilot bearing, axle main & steering bushings, etc, as well as giving the tractor a coat of "correct" dark gray paint. I had a little trouble getting it started, but finally found that the coil was weak and replaced it. Now it starts and runs (almost) like a brand new tractor!

Recently, the nice folks at the 9N-2N-8N-NAA Newsletter were kind enough to publish the story of this tractor's restoration in the Winter '03 edition.

Images of this and other tractors can be seen at www.fotki.com/mikesloane.

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