8N almost done, well almost

Today I put the air cleaner on the tractor which was a chore just a bit easier than removing it. By greasing the pipe which goes to the carburetor it went on a tiny bit easier.

After a wonderful Memorial Day meal and a mandatory nap. ( I hope you believe it is mandatory), I decided to change the oil in the 8N. The oil drain plug used to be a one inch square fitting; however, long ago and far away someone did something to it and it was tapered and rounded. In order to get it off I used a big pipe wrench and a piece of two by four below that with a bottle jack holding it all in place so the wrench would not slip off the drain plug. With a lot of effort it began to turn and I was able to remove it. Before it came off I thought I had hit an oil well. This black, thick, evil looking stuff came from around the plug. At one time it was oil, but now looked as though it was ready to be used to oil a road. I replaced the oil drain plug with a new one and put five quarts of oil in the engine. Then… I decided to change the oil filter. The old tractor takes a NAPA 1010 filter canister. The 8N Owner's Manual hardly mentions the oil filter at all. It certainly does not say how to remove it so I experimented and found a socket just larger than ¾ inch would fit the nut. It seems the cap is compressing a spring and it removed itself soon enough. The canister has a ring to lift it out so I did – part way. It would not clear the fuel line. After studying the possibilities, I removed the bolts holding the oil filter housing to the engine and eased the filter out. Of course I had a new one to put in and it went in with only a little twisting, turning, jiggling. Another quart of oil – total of six – and the tractor is almost ready to drive. I am going to grease the fittings and check the coolant level. The battery is on a trickle charger and is ready to go.

This has been a very productive four days!

Tractor Boy

Farmall Cub Switch Replacement

It was a cold, wet, dreary day in Central Texas. Perfect weather in which to replace the light switch I replaced last week. The first replacement was blowing a 20-amp fuse in less than a second when turned to the farthest right position. Fortunately, I had added a separate fuse holder to the circuitry when the replacement did not have a fuse position. I spoke with the nice folk at Farmall Cub Forever and ordered a three position six-volt switch which arrived a few days ago. This time I took pictures so you can see what I was doing. Again, I replaced one wire at a time. The switch has a protrusion which fits in a notch in the console, and I replaced it so the two were properly aligned. I discovered it was easier to take the console off this time, and I did not need a small monkey to reach in the confined space. I did; however, forget that I placed a piece of board between the hydraulic housing and the hood/fuel tank. So, when I started up the Cub to see how well it would run, there...

Farmall Cub greasing

Replacing gear oil and greasing the ’49 Cub ought to be a straight forward task(s). Well it hasn’t been. The transmission fluid was tan, looking like tan paint. Folks on Yesterday’s Tractor Farmall forum said it meant water had got inside the transmission. I wonder whether this tractor was under water at one time. I bought a Spectricide brand insecticide pump, put kerosene in it, and flushed the transmission, then refilled with 90 weight gear oil. The gear oil looked like and had the consistency of thin honey. Pic 1300 shows the transmission filler plug. A lot easier to reach than the plug for emptying the transmission. Note it has a square head. All of these plugs are square headed. Three and a half pints later, the transmission was back together. After the transmission, I decided to check the steering gear oil. It was not tan. It was black as could be so I flushed the housing with kerosene again and refilled with ¾ pint of 90 weight gear oil and replaced the filler plug. Pic 1301 s...

Farmall Cub carb and oil

The past few days I have been working on my Jan 1949 Farmall Cub tractor. I replaced the oil filter which was made of cardboard with one from NAPA with a metal body. Pic 1264 shows the oil drain location on the right side of the engine. 1268 shows the oil drained, and 1269 shows the old oil filter. The oil was a bit dirty, but much, much cleaner than the black oil I drained from the 8N Ford. The oil filter reservoir cap needed cleaning and painting so I took care of that too. A dental pick was used to scrape off mu7ch of the dirt, followed by a small steel brush. Then a coat of primer and two coats of Farmall red made a pretty looking cap. It is a good thing I have tools! A set of used dental picks, several small brushes, a cleaning tank, left handed drill bits, and finally a can of carburetor cleaned were all used to clean and restore the carburetor. Tractor Supply sells a kit for the IH carburetor on the 59 year old tractor. Pic 1261 shows the carburetor as removed ...

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