Ferguson TO-20 Restoration Project

[JenniferBX]

Ferguson TO-20 Restoration
This project will take a long time to get done, as it will be a "here and there" effort as time and funds are available. I thought I would start by sharing a few photos I took of the Ferg today. We have already removed some parts to start cleaning and painting, but the bulk of it is still all together.

This is a 1950, according the serial number sequence list that I have.









I have some more details that I'll post later, and also some questions , so if we have some Ferguson experts out there, please stay tuned to this thread!

Jennifer [ and Mike ]

[buckshot721]

Wow, looks like it will be a great project. Good luck on it!

[Gale Hawkins]

They make great project tractors. They are not hard work on or get parts for and do not take a lot of space to store when completed. If there was ever a desire to sell there is a market or are handy to have around any tract of land.

[JenniferBX]

I have been looking all over the internet at TO-20 and Ferguson, ....and am AMAZED at the following these tractors have, especially in Europe. The other really neat thing is that SO MANY parts are still right off the shelf, and at reasonable prices. Mike and I have been seriously thinking about bringing it up to 12 volt, with a self-regulation alternator kit, but that will be down the road.

I tried to remove the hood today, thinking it would a simple matter of just removing the pivot bolts and lifting it away. Apparently there is a captive nut that each bolt goes into, and those nuts are spinning. Sooooo..I gave the whole nut-bolt mounting area a shot of penetrating oil to ease the rust bond between the bolt and nut....In a few days we'll try to get in there with some kind of pliers to tighten the sheet metal 'wrap' on the nut and try again.

Not too clear in the photos is a tiny bit of rust through in the very bottom of the front grill. After it is out and blasted, I will have to look and see how hard it will be section in new steel, or to just buy a new front...amazingly STILL available right off the shelf.

Headlights and fender taillight were missing, but the hood hardware for the light housing stems was there, and those parts are removed and under restoration. The inner plates have been blasted, primed and painted already. The outer castings are cleaned, but need a little straightening, and then rather than gray, I will paint them with a nice shiny silver paint. It has two right hand castings, ....wing-tail high on one side, low on the other..We thought about getting new parts, but keeping these is kinda fun and quirky. Because there was so much variation in the shade of gray from the factory, we decided to make it easy and use a standard Rust-olium color, for which we can get spray cans, and real spray gun enamel at a local store. The parts I have done with spray can look fine, and this way future touch up will be a snap. The PTO cover has been done and re-installed as a glimmer of color and inspiration to get it all the same color some day!

More pix
Here you can see the 'shadow' of there the headlight mounting hardware was, note the high and low tail one side VS the other side


Rad looks OK, not like new, but darn good for an old tractor.
[IMG]http://i54.photobucket.com/albums

/g83/Fiberglassfan/Ferguson%20TO-20/DSCN5740-
r.jpg[/IMG]

Next, hood removal and prep for its bodywork....and to find a nice blue paint to "fill" the emblems with...

[JenniferBX]

Detail of the cancer rust....

[Gale Hawkins]

It will be a great skill building adventure too. Once you do one you may be hooked as well.

[Zork]

Nice tractor; I have a 51(I believe). I bought my parts from Steiner Tractor and they were an exact fit and bolt in; not too pricey either. Good luck!

Steiner Tractor Parts - New Restoration Quality Parts for Antique Tractors

[JenniferBX]

Thanks for the link to Steiner...I have added them to my resource list.
Jennifer

[JenniferBX]

Our engine plate is toast....There is no visible black ink on the plate, just some barely visible stampings that we can copy over to a new plate when the time comes. Steiner has a nice reproduction plate...Wow! I am SO impressed at the availability of parts for these....the prices and availability are so much friendlier than what we have found in restoring a car. What this Ferguson is going to need when it is finally done, will be a big Oliver and a green Johnny Popper to stand between..... For about 6 or 7 years we have been watching Classic Tractor Fever and the other tractor shows on RFD-TV, so yeah, that is what gave us the "Fever" and led to Mike and I buying this little Fergy..I have vivid memories of summer evenings in Wisconsin back in the 50s, and the sound of a 2 cylinder John Deer off in the distance, or the deep humm of the more modern 4 cylinder Fords and MMs and Olivers....Harvest time meant working late, and sound of laboring tractors echoed late into the sultry hot August nights....Ah, behold the joy of childhood memories from long ago.


Jennifer

[flusher]

Hey, that looks like a neat project.
Several years ago I did a partial restoration on a 1964 Massey Ferguson 135 diesel. Needed to replace water pump seals, clean the fuel tank thoroughly, rewire the tractor, replace all the gauges, repaint with an HVLP sprayer/air compressor rig.

Currently, I'm doing a complete restoration on a 1951 Minneapolis Moline BF tractor

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/g...storation.html

I've been pecking away at this project for 2+ years. The engine has been completely rebuilt (not running when I bought the tractor) and the tractor has been completely disassembled, cleaned and repainted. Presently I'm installing the engine on a test stand to run it before reinstalling it in the tractor.

Hope your project works out for you. Have fun.