1950's Dearborn cultivator find and rebuild

[sixdogs]

..

It seems to work fine with the new tractor, but I am a little careful with it.

I used to use the model with spring tines to rip huge rocks out of fields in New England. It was abused awful with 200 lb rocks and all kinds of things and in 10 years never broke or bent anything. Beautiful quality steel and spring steel. I did a thread on steel quality of these old implements a while back that might be interesting. He it is...FYI

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/339263-why-steel-decades-ago-so.html?highlight=

 

[npalen]

Yes, that was my blueprint to work from. That could be my link because I actually posted it a few weeks back along with a link to a whole bunch of early Ford manuals and literature.

Here's that link. NTC Manual Library Everyone with anything Ford should be aware of what's out there.

Thanks for the link to the manuals. That is a nostalgia trip for me as my dad had an 8N Ford with several attachments back on the Kansas farm in the 50's. The Dearborn rear mounted loader is of special interest as I, as just a youngster, was intrigued by the mechanism and levers used to raise the loader in conjunction with the 3PH.
The manual shows a pair of booster cylinders on the 3PH which I don't believe ours used. Perhaps the 8N didn't require the boost?
http://www.ntractorclub.com/manuals...der - Assembly and Operating Instructions.pdf

 

[jeff9366]

Commendable restoration, Dogs.

 

[sixdogs]

Thanks for the link to the manuals. That is a nostalgia trip for me as my dad had an 8N Ford with several attachments back on the Kansas farm in the 50's. The Dearborn rear mounted loader is of special interest as I, as just a youngster, was intrigued by the mechanism and levers used to raise the loader in conjunction with the 3PH.
The manual shows a pair of booster cylinders on the 3PH which I don't believe ours used. Perhaps the 8N didn't require the boost?
http://www.ntractorclub.com/manuals...der - Assembly and Operating Instructions.pdf

Ford really was a genius and light years ahead of everyone else. Not a bad guy either but Harry Ferguson might challenge that. Look up the $6 million (maybe $12 million) dollar handshake agreement between Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson and see the famous Ford-Ferguson three-point hitch fight that led to the creation of Ferguson and eventually Massey Ferguson. Harry learned not to do serious business on a handshake.

My father worked for Ford in the 1950's and the company made sure every employee's kids had a gift at Christmas and I think every employee got cash or something else as well like a ham or turkey or food basket. They took care of their employees and, while Santa passed out the goods, the big execs were right there helping. Ford took care of the family as well if they needed help, too. It's been a long time but that's what I recall.

 

[kevin37b]

Need gauge wheels on it .

 

[jeff9366]

There is a LOT of flexibility in Ferguson/Dearborn Cultivators which have spring-steel shanks. The points pretty much stay in the ground and flex, rather than pull out when the front wheels go up and down. I have never seen reference to a Ferguson or Ford/Dearborn Cultivator which had gauge wheels added ~~ and there were at least 300,000 sold. Cultivators are row-crop implements, normal employed developed, smooth, fields, cultivating young plants less than 12" high, ground clearance of the era's tractors.

Consider Ferguson's Three Point Hitch: developed between WW1 and WW2, patented internationally by 1935, off-patent in stages, ending in 1955. Today, 60 years off-patent, a WORLD STANDARD with hardly a change, . No one has improved on Ferguson's engineering except in details, which are often for marketing purposes rather than function improvement.

Consider the Field Cultivators sold by Dirt Dog and Fred Cain today. Both replicas of original Ferguson implements.

Is your comment from personal experience with a Ferguson/Dearborn Cultivator, or opinion?

 

[jon edwards]

I took a couple of pictures of mine this morning. This motivates me to get it painted up. It actually still has quite a bit of red on it, just faded.

 

[sixdogs]

With draft control and position control, there is no need for gauge wheels. The original 8N's had draft control as well.

 

[sixdogs]

I took a couple of pictures of mine this morning. This motivates me to get it painted up. It actually still has quite a bit of red on it, just faded.

That's in excellent condition and would paint up well. Get everything where you want it and then spray away with real NH paint. It's the 1950's Ford red and not New Holland Red. If need be, you can touch up with a spray can. In fact, the factory paint is so good you could paint the whole thing with spray cans and it would come out almost excellent.

 

[jon edwards]

I was in a Tractor Supply Store and I saw they had Majic Truck, Tractor and Implement Spray Enamel in several different reds. They were Ford Red/Safety Red, New Holland Red, MF Red and IH Red. Wondered if the Ford Red would be correct. I think I will paint my cultivator, but I don't have a heated shop, so it will be a few months when it warms up around here.