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I consider the 1951 Ford 8n to be one of the finest tractors ever built for multiple reasons. Admittedly , there is undoubtably some bias because that was the first tractor that I ever bought. It is just so easy to attach and remove implements from, compared to any other tractor I have...

There is no tractor that was ever made, that I would rather have on my 2-row corn planter, than my 1951 Ford 8n:

This is what I would do. All of the OEM’s are pouring most of their engineering talent into electric power these days. Far better to buy something from the days when diesel power was their primary focus.

If I were shopping for an 8n, I’d be looking for one that was still 6 volts and started good cold. That way, you know you have an engine with good compression. Back in the day, many 12 volt conversions were done, as a “quick fix”, so that a worn-down engine could still be started. The...

A little rainy day work in the woodshed today, splitting big rounds vertical. I had to apply a little Flexseal tape, to a rip on the canopy canvas, in order to keep the tractor seat dry. We are getting 1/2” of rain today. I tore the canvas on a willow branch, as I was disking along the...

For many jobs, you just can’t beat an old 8n Ford. Planting sweetcorn, is one of them. I love the quiet gasoline engine. Henry really had that little 4-cylinder flathead optimized by 1951, and this thing gets great fuel economy. With gas now almost $ 2.00 a gallon cheaper than diesel...

I just completed my spring plowing with it on Saturday. When I had to drain the calcium ballast out of a rusted out original rear rim a couple years ago, I was worried how that would affect its plowing ability. Oddly enough, it made it much better, and saved me a considerable amount of gas...

Another “save” for the Cub this afternoon, delivering gas to my John Deere lawnmower when it ran out on the far side of the lawn: The new tool box rack, that I made for it, works great for a 6 gallon gas can.

I really have not had much “real” work to do with the Cub yet, but I needed it again today to jump start my Ford 8n. The sound of that “6 on 6” volt jump start is much more pleasing to the ears (and undoubtably easier on the tractor’s electrical components), than the screetchy “12 on 6” volt...

I would skip the paint job, especially if it is still wearing the oem factory paint. The latest trend in classic tractors seems to be to leave them in their “work clothes”. Those ones even seem to fetch the higher prices at auctions. After you paint over the factory finish, you can't ever get...

This is my second Cub. I didn’t have very good luck with my first one, but it was pretty well worn out when I got it. This one is in much better shape, and likely has less than 500 hours on it. What I missed most about my old Cub, was snow plowing. This one came with a snowplow that looks...

I reworked the new toolbox frame a little, welding it and painting it. I also made a wood outer liner for it, so that the Rubbermaid box can be removed and replaced as needed. Now the Cub is ready for some light firewood making duty.

That’s interesting. I may need a new 6 volt battery myself. I took the good one out of my 1951 8n and put it in a Farmall Cub that I bought last fall. The Cub hadn’t been run in 17 years and the 6 volt battery on it was shot. It came with another 17 year old 6 volt battery that had never...

I live in one of the most heavily salted areas of the country and I have yet to buy a new truck during the current century. When my first 00 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 standard cab long box rusted to the point that it would not pass state inspection, I gave it to my father in law. He uses it for snow...

The 17 year old battery cranked the old Ford tractor over for a while, but not long enough or fast enough to start it. I drove the Cub over to it and did my first ever 6 volt on 6 volt jump start. In the past, I’ve always jump started my 6 volt tractors with a 12 volt battery, while the...

Maybe that’s how they work. I ordered some black flex-seal tape, to cover up the big holes, that I had to cut in the back of the fixtures to fit the $ 7 six volt bulbs. That is supposed to get here tomorrow. I’ve got a 17 year old, but never used, 6 volt battery on a charger now. I topped it...

I would recommend something about 25 hp, 4wd with front loader, R-4 tires, and a hydro transmission. If you go any larger, you will need to deal with emissions, paying more money for less efficiency, but cleaner exhaust. I think a Kubota from the close dealer would be a smart move. You might...

I also use a JD 246 with fertilizer hoppers, that I paid $ 200 for about 25 years ago. The shoes were about worn out on it when I got it. My father in law gave me his old JD 290 a few years later and the shoes on that were like new. I swapped them out with the worn out ones on my 246, and...

I’ll look for an 8 volt one and compare cost to a 6, if they have both. I’ll probably go with whichever one costs less. I imagine I’m going to get sick of sharing one battery between two tractors pretty soon.

Do the 8 volt batteries keep their charge ok with the tractor’s 6 volt generators ? This Cub has good compression and it starts very easily on 6 volts, as does my 1951 Ford 8n. That tractor only has 1200 hours on it. The Cub don’t have an hour meter on it, but judging by the wear (or lack...

I can relate to that, and also what a little car can do. We got hit with two Blizzards last winter, up here in western NY, not far from the Canadian border. The second, and biggest one hit just before Christmas. We had picked up our daughter, who was away across the state for college, the...

Happy Easter everybody. My old barn is down, but He Is Risen !!!

I would have liked to save both of those 36’ x 46’ timber framed barns. The problem was that the foundations were failing at the same time as the roofs. Fixing them would have cost several times more than building the new metal building. I had to take the first one down fast, because it was...

This is my second one. I bought the first one, mostly for cultivating corn, but I didn’t care for it for that task. I much prefer the two-row 3-point cultivator, that I use now, on my other tractors. I really missed my old Cub for light snow plowing though. The offset engine was especially...

I drove the Cub around a bit after sunset last night, to see how the new headlights worked. They worked very well. The “dim” setting provided just enough light to see ok, and the “bright” setting provides plenty of light for snow-plowing with the front blade. I’m not sure how the factory...

In order to minimize the fire hazard, because of all the wood around and stored up on the loft above, I do most of my welding and grinding outside, under the 10 ft x 25 ft side porch :

That’s a beauty Big Barn. I see where the name comes from. I like the portable welding curtain. My metal shop is only 10 ft x 12 ft. I made it, in the corner of my 36 ft x 50 ft metal-sided pole barn, adjacent to a 20 ft x 12 ft wood shop. You can see my arc welder on its cart and my oxygen...

I made this one from junk that I had laying around. The top is a piece of heavy gauge 12” c-channel. I don’t like small castor wheels on carts. One of my old barns fell down on a big-wheeled dolly, making pretzels out of the handles, so I cut them off and used the remains for the back legs of...

With the completion of the lights, the Cub is finally ready for snow plowing, just in time for spring. Actually, it’s not now, because I have a little bit of welding and and straightening to do on the plow frame, before I put the plow back on it this fall. I moved my boat with the front hitch...

The new $ 7 ea 6 volt 25 watt sealed beam lights that I bought on e-bay arrived and I installed them today. Unfortunately, I had to modify (cut part of the back out), the oem fixtures to make them fit. I imagine that others, that cost more than $ 40 ea., Would not have needed the fixture mods...

I did some work over at my parents place today. The first pictures is the (6) ft pull-type disk and the (2) section drag that I plan on using over there with the Cub. The last picture is a big ash tree (about 30” diameter at the base) that fell down across one of the woods trails. It split...

That plastic box is temporary. Hopefully, I can locate an old wooden box, that I always used on my previous Cub and Allis Chalmers model C. It worked great for holding a chain saw, a few log chains, and some felling wedges. I sold both of those old tractors, when I had to thin the herd, as I...

The temperature was above 50 early this morning, so I put a second coat of Farmall red on the drawbar and step. After (8) hours, they were dry enough to mount. Now this tractor is ready for some field work. While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I put a 6 volt work light on back. I...

If you go with a Deere, the mechanic/dealer relationship might not be so important. A Deere dealer is the closest to my place. I’ve only been there about every 100 operating hours, over the 17 years since I bought my JD 4120 brand new, to pick up oil filters. I didn’t even buy it from them...

The temp was almost up to 50 F, out in my pole barn, so I put a couple coats of rusty metal primer on the “new” step and drawbar this afternoon. Next time the temperature gets up there, and I have some time, I’ll get a couple coats of Farmall red on them.

Just kidding, I don’t think she’d take the tongue weight of that 350 ft Lursenn. It should be able to handle my 1989 17 ft Sylvan Pro-Fisherman with a Johnson 70 on back though.

I can’t imagine such a thing as that spike harrow doing a very good job of “organic” weed control. A spring tooth type, like this 6 foot 2-section 3-point model, would probably do a much better job: I bought this old Pittsburgh Forge one used for $ 125 from a neighbor about 35 years ago:

The weather outside was horrific today, so it was a good day for working in the pole barn. I made a step from 3” angle iron, to make it easier to get on and off of the cub. I also modified the plow frame (drilled (2) 9/16” holes) to accept a front mount trailer hitch. That should make it...

Not sure where those trailer wheels came from. It belongs to a friend who I met thru his father. His dad was the head mechanic at the local IH dealer, for many years. He and his father always serviced my old cub. He let me borrow his trailer to pick this one up, drop it off at his place, and...

This is my second cub. I think the first one I had was a 56. It was more or less completely wore out when I got it and I swore I’d never have another red tractor after all the trouble I had with that one. They say life’s about second chances, so here goes nothing I suppose. I got this one at...

If say more like “young and dumb”. The first thing I did, when I got out of college and got a good high-paying job, was went out and bought a fancy new 4x4 pickup truck. I had my old 2wd pickup off the road plenty of times before that and never got it stuck. With the new 4x4, I just kept...

I’ve never got stuck with my 4wd field vehicles (Chevy tracker, 3/4 ton regular cab Chevy pickup, or Dodge Durango. The main reason for that, is that I try to stay out of the mud with them. I did have a very close call with the Durango last fall, but putting the pedal to the metal powered me...

My prior UTV was a Chevy tracker. That was ok, but I’m liking my current Dodge Durango a lot better. The tracker was a little narrower, allowing it to fit into more spots, but the suspension was not as good. The shift cable also broke on it, so I had to use a vise-grip on the end to get it in...

I try to stay out of the mud, but I almost buried that old Durango last Thanksgiving, shortly after that photo was taken. It was fine on the hayfield and the lanes, but I took a shortcut across a turnip plot, that had been worked up and planted last August. I felt the wheels start to slip...

My vote is for the 4x4. When my old pickup rusted to the point that it wouldn’t pass state inspection, I took it up to my father in law’s place up in the mountains. He uses it to to keep the driveways and logging roads up there open in the winter with a snowplow, and I use it for hunting in...

I was out working on my pole barn yesterday, when I could hear big sheets of ice and snow sliding down off the tin roof. It was a scary sound. I can’t imagine trying to go in and out of doors on the sides while that’s happening. That’s why both of my man doors are under porches and (3) of...

On my 36 x 50 x 12 ft pole barn, I put (2) overhead doors on the front end (1) on the back end, plus a larger overhead door on the back side. We get lots of snow, up here near the Canadian border, so I don’t use that big side door much, in the winter. It’s the only door that I can get that...

One other thing to factor in is fuel cost. Diesel is now almost $ 2 more per gallon than gasoline, which largely negates the efficiency difference. The flat head four cylinder engine in the 1951 & 1952 Ford 8n just might be the most fuel-efficient gasoline powered tractor that Ford, and maybe...