8n/9n Guys

Soundguy · Aug 1, 2008

As the others have said... Yes.. you can get an 8n and graft a loader and a hoe onto it ( sherman digger fits ).. but it will be a lumbering underpowered unfeatured hulk. At a minimum you will be putting a front mounted pump on it..and the sherman digger will not be quick disconnect to throw that mower on.

In some areas you can find a running N and a 5' mower and a blade for your price. Those are the items it will be fine for... The loader.. whether jungle gym style with down/power up and trip dump.. or a full hyd loader.. yeah.. it works.. but the 8n was not designed to use a loader... it steers hard.. but yeah.. it is better than a shovel and wheel barrow.

Generally yo can find slightly larger, more capable fords for just a lil more cash.. like a 660 or 861... one with ps and a hyd remote would be great for a mower, blade, a loader and even a small light duty hoe.

soundguy

Offy · Aug 1, 2008

I fully argee with the majority here. I have had my 9N for 20 years and I really enjoy it but a loader and back hoe would basically ruin its usefulness. It does a good job at bush hoggin' and moving a back blade or box blade. I finally got a tractor with a fel and back hoe and use it conjunction with the 9N to work the dirt.

Farmwithjunk · Aug 1, 2008

My first memories of riding with dad on a tractor were of his NEW 8N with a loader. We would drive down into a shallow creek on the home place and scoop up gravel to put on the driveway. (I was 3 or 4 yo) As a youngster that was enthralled with anything "tractor", I can still recall being very much UNimpressed with the progress we made with that tractor and loader. It was better than a sharp stick in the eye, but not by a huge margin. There are much better options as far as loader tractors go. Many of those options in the same general price range as a nice N.

JC-jetro · Aug 1, 2008

Hi Steve,

Power of persuasion here you know

Lots of great and sage information... what a country if you asked me.... where can you find all of this so freely and affordably. By the way I forgot to mention that In lieu of full functional front end loader I have a " on the cheap, no sophistication, no hyd needed Rear End Loader... AKA dirt scoop"

. Although it by a long shot falls behind FLA but again is better than a shovel and a wheel barrow

it sure affords you to clumsily pick up stuff and dump. Dumping is more difficult than picking things up, but can not beat it for $250 or so for brand new and much cheaper used.

JC,

Dargo · Aug 1, 2008

I don't know what the prices are now, but on my wife's side of the family we have an old Ford 5000 that has a FEL and backhoe on it. I think it has about twice the power as the 8N if I'm not mistaken (I'm sure someone here will know). Although it seems to be rather heavy, for a gas powered tractor it does a reasonably decent job. I've personally never been involved in taking the backhoe off though. That may be a big issue. I don't know. Anyway, that particular tractor seems to be much more capable than our 8N. I would think you'd end up destroying a good old tractor to put a FEL and backhoe on an 8N and work it hard. The front end on the 8N just doesn't look like it would hold up if you were to carry much around in a FEL. Again, I'm sure Soundguy or someone else could tell you more on that part as well as about the Ford 5000. I only mention that particular tractor since we have one in the family and I've used it some.

jinman · Aug 1, 2008

JC-jetro said:
By the way I forgot to mention that In lieu of full functional front end loader I have a " on the cheap, no sophistication, no hyd needed Rear End Loader... AKA dirt scoop" .
JC,

Great point, JC! Now tell us about that green machine hiding in that barn. Is there something you've been hiding from us? Huh...be honest now...

JC-jetro · Aug 1, 2008

jinman said:
Great point, JC! Now tell us about that green machine hiding in that barn. Is there something you've been hiding from us? Huh...be honest now...

Jim,

Oh man

, I'm busted, nothing passes them "eagle eyes" of yours

That JD-2510 gasser belongs to my neighbour, she uses that for mowing and racking hay. She's got a cab JD-6300 ?? I belive for cutting and bailing hay. she runs her cattle on my place during late winter(outside of deer season) and spring since I got running water. I get to park my rig and implement in her barn. My lil Ford occupies 1/4 of the barn mixing it up with the big boys.

JC,

Soundguy · Aug 4, 2008

Twice plus. The gasser probably dings in the upper/mid 60's.. but I bet it's tough to feed her. I know a gasser 8xx and 4000 really drink it.. i can only imagine what a gasser 5000 costs to run.. but yeah.. lots of tractor there.. one fo fords best tractors in that size/hp range..

soundguy

Dargo said:
I don't know what the prices are now, but on my wife's side of the family we have an old Ford 5000 that has a FEL and backhoe on it. I think it has about twice the power as the 8N if I'm not mistaken (I'm sure someone here will know). Although it seems to be rather heavy, for a gas powered tractor it does a reasonably decent job. I've personally never been involved in taking the backhoe off though. That may be a big issue. I don't know. Anyway, that particular tractor seems to be much more capable than our 8N. I would think you'd end up destroying a good old tractor to put a FEL and backhoe on an 8N and work it hard. The front end on the 8N just doesn't look like it would hold up if you were to carry much around in a FEL. Again, I'm sure Soundguy or someone else could tell you more on that part as well as about the Ford 5000. I only mention that particular tractor since we have one in the family and I've used it some.

wolc123 · Aug 4, 2008

An 8n or 9n works real well on a 5 foot brush hog as long as you use an overrunning coupler. With a $1500 budget, I think they would be the best if not only option for the tasks you describe. I would certainly forget about the loader and the backhoe as these are not a good tractor on either of those implements. For moving dirt and small digging jobs, a pond scoop would be a much better idea. I actually used one on an 8n to make a 50 ft diameter , 8 ft deep pond. It took me a while but was a lot faster and easier than I could have done with a shovel and wheelbarrel. To operate one of these in the "pull" direction (like I dug the pond), an 8n or 9n would work well, but to use them in the "push" direction, a 9n would be better as they have reverse gear equal to 1st, while on an 8n, reverse is equal to third gear. This higher gear makes it difficult to fill the scoop by backing into a pile. Some of the earlier 8n's may have had lower geared reverse, and a Sherman transmission option would give you a high and low speed reverse but these are not nearly as common as the standard models. The higher speed reverse of the 8n is a lot better for pushing snow with a rear blade than the slow crawl of the 9n and I have used mine to move mountains of the white stuff over the years. Anytime you use any implement in reverse on any of these models, you will want to be sure to use stabilizer bars on the lower links to avoid bending them. Finding a 9n in decent condition for under $1500 is relatively easy in most ares of the country, while the newer 8n's usually will cost you around $500 more. There was also a model known as the 2n in between the 9n (1939-1941) and the 8n (1948-1952), but most folks just call them 9n's since they were nearly identical to the 9n. No tractor before or after has better parts availability than the 9n/2n/8n so you will always be able to get what you need to keep them going. The tractors that replaced the 8n's had live hydraulics but the hydraulics were a liitle less durable. Also, they were clumsier and a big step backward in power/weight ratio as well as a little less fuel efficient. The power/weight ratio of the n's were phenominal for their era. These were the first mass-produced tractor with the 3 pt hitch, which negated the need for all the dead weight that the others needed to do well on a plow. Adding a loader to an 8n is a particularly poor idea because it takes away this light weight advantage.