1939 Aluminum Hood Ford 9N: Tractor of the Century

It was October, 1938, and a “handshake agreement” between Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson would result in what is generally regarded as the tractor of the century. Incredibly, the prototype of the 9N Ford-Ferguson would be designed and built is a matter of months. There hasn’t been as revolutionary a tractor introduced since this ground-breaking design saw the light of day on June 29, 1939 in Dearborn, Michigan.

Henry Ford once said, “I have walked many a weary mile behind a plow, and I know the drudgery of it”. The advances made by the 9N put nearly 20 million agricultural working horses out of business. Henry Ford recognized the use of hydraulic power as the wave of the future, and when he saw the Ferguson three-point hitch demonstrated, he immediately came to an agreement with Ferguson with the desire of building a tractor that was inexpensive, rugged, and reduced the grueling physical workload for the farmer.

The beauty of the Ferguson system was that its three-point hitch system allowed an operator to change to any of 18 implements in a matter of minutes, and with its patented Draft Control, the hydraulic system would regulate the working depth of the implement. So effective was the Ferguson system that virtually every tractor built since the 9N has used variations of the system. A bevy of standard features included rubber tires, an electrical system utilizing a starter, generator and a direct-driven distributor, and a rear Power Take Off. Essentially using a 28-horsepower Ford Model A engine, and with a price tag almost half of any comparable tractor, this was a value-rich machine.

 This 1939 Ford 9N will cross the block at the 3rd Annual Gone Farmin' Tractor Auction August 3-4, in Walworth, Wisc. 

Early examples of the 9N were built with aluminum cast hoods, grills, and side panels. Approximately 600-700 were built with alloy parts. Most original hoods were destroyed under harsh working conditions, or replaced with steel hoods when the harder material was available. There are fewer than 35 known examples of original aluminum-hood 9N tractors remaining. I recently received a phone call about some rare Ford tractors, and I headed out into a blizzard to see what was being offered. When I saw this 1939 aluminum-hood 9N, Serial #528, I knew that braving the elements had been worth it. While hundreds of thousands of 9N’s and their Ford successors have been built, pristine examples of a very early 9N are something of a Holy Grail. This will be an outstanding addition to any serious collection.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mecum Auctions
Presentation Department
262.275.5050 

MECUM AUCTIONS CELEBRATES 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS AT INDY 2012
Offering Over 2,100 Cars at Dana Mecum’s Original Spring Classic Auction, May 15-20, 2012 

WALWORTH, Wis., March 21, 2012. – Mecum Auctions will celebrate its Silver anniversary at Dana Mecum’s 25th Original Spring Classic Auction.  More than 2,100 vehicles will cross the auction block May 15-20, 2012, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Ind.

Over six massive action packed days; collector cars, motorcycles, and road art from all genres will be displayed in nearly 1 million square feet of buildings and tents during the world’s largest collector car auction. Since the very beginning, Mecum’s Original Spring Classic has always been the industry’s epicenter for the world’s finest muscle car offerings and 2012 is absolutely no exception.  Some of this year’s main attractions include a 1967 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro (Lot S134), one of less than 10 known to exist and the only Butternut Yellow example to have survived the test of time.  The 1963 Corvette ZO6 (Lot S165) piloted by the legendary Mickey Thompson at Bonneville, a fully restored 1968 L88 Convertible (Lot S188), and the very last L88 Corvette (Lot S233) to roll down the assembly line highlight the incredible line up of Corvettes to be offered.

On Saturday May 19th, NHRA drag racing legends Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and “TV” Tommy Ivo will watch their history making dragsters take center stage.  Prudhomme will offer the record breaking 1982 Pontiac Trans Am “Pepsi Challenger” (Lot S182) from his private collection, and the 1974 Streamlined Top Fuel Dragster (Lot S200) piloted and more famously crashed by Tommy Ivo will go up for sale just moments later.   

While the success and exponential growth of Mecum’s Original Spring Classic is most certainly the result of dedicated hard work and customer service, Dana Mecum candidly comments, “This is what I envisioned my auction to be in the beginning, it took 25 years for everyone else to catch up!”    

Dana Mecum’s 25th Original Spring Classic Auction is open to the general public with tickets available at the gate for only $15.  Gates open daily at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.  Discovery’s Velocity Network will broadcast 32 hours of live coverage from the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  For more information, and to learn how to become a registered bidder go to www.mecum.com or call 262.275.5050.

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Schedule:
Dana Mecum’s 25th Annual Original Spring Classic Auction
Indiana State Fairgrounds
1202 E 38th Street
Indianapolis, Ind. 46205
May 15-20, 2012
General Admission: $15
Preview: Gates open daily Tuesday thru Sunday at 8:00 a.m.
Auction: Starts at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday thru Sunday
(All Times Eastern)    

August 21, 2010 is shaping up to be a pretty interesting day as far as antique tractor and antique gas engine auctions go. While there are likely many antique farm equipment auctions taking place across the country that day, here are two we'd like to put a spotlight on:

Jake Shafer's Private Collection of Classic Cars and Tractors
10 a.m. @ 1211 West J and J Circle, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa 52641
Menke-Hoyer Auction Realty Co., Inc.

This auction is likely to draw a big crowd and not necessarily because of the more than 30 vintage and collector cars up for bid. Rather, the highlight of this sale is a rare 1917 Heider tractor, which auctioneer Corey D. Fraise claims is similar to two other Heider's sold at two separate Aumann Auctions within the last three years that sold for $15,000 and $30,000. Even if you don't have the bank account to take a stab at the Heider, it'll still be worth it to check out this auction and watch the bidding sparks fly. Also up for bid will be a Ferguson tractor.

The Estate of Otis Hardy
Noon, Stevinson, CA
Garlic City Auction, Gilroy, CA
(408) 612-5638

Otis Hardy was president of Branch 18 of the National Early Day Gas Engine & Tractor Assc. and amassed quite a collection of large gas engines on his 15 acre ranch in Stevinson, CA. According to the auction listing, some of the manufacturers represented in Otis' collection include Western, National Transit System, Witte, Ottawa, Reid, Fairbanks-Morse and many others. The listing also includes several photos of the many big engines up for bid.

Sam Moore

There are millions of collectors in the world who collect just about anything you can imagine.

Paintings, sculpture, autos, books, stamps, dolls, trains, match books, baseball cards, antiques of all kinds, smoking paraphernalia, pottery and dishes, toys, comic books, jewelry, arrowheads, and even string and rubber bands – you name it and someone, somewhere collects it.

In our hobby, the emphasis is on tractors, and some bring big bucks. Some old and rare farm tractors today are routinely selling in six figures. I remember when I got into this hobby more than 20 years ago, it was almost unheard of to pay more than $1,000 for a nice looking and running tractor.

To demonstrate how much things have changed, at an Indiana sale last October a non-running, original and complete 1912 International Harvester 45 hp Mogul (serial no. X1281) sold for $275,000, while a super rare Galloway Farmobile said to be freshly restored (but still needing mechanical work?) was hammered down for $165,000. A 1913 Hart-Parr 30-60 “Old Reliable” in original running condition as well as a restored 1910 IHC 20 hp Mogul Type C each brought $140,000.

Getting back to collectors, what has always seemed strange to me is how intolerant many of these individuals are toward those whose tastes run to something else. Antique furniture vs. art; rare manuscripts vs. comic books; old tractors vs. old engines. Even within collecting categories, the differences can be intense: hit-and-miss engine enthusiasts turn up their noses at the guy who has a trailer load of Maytag engines; muscle car aficionados can’t see Model A Fords; farm tractor guys aren’t big on garden tractors. And then there’s the brand competition: Chevy vs. Ford; John Deere vs. Farmall; it goes on and on.

Sometimes the intolerance is due to snobbery, but it isn’t always about money. A man might drool over a concourse condition 1931 Model J Duesenberg with a selling price of $900,000, but would turn up his nose at a vase from China’s Ming Dynasty, such as the one that sold in Hong Kong in 2006 for about $10 million. Then there was the grotesque (to my eyes) life-size cast bronze statue called L’Homme Qui Marche I, or “Walking Man,” made in 1961 by Alberto Giacometti. The piece sold on Jan. 12 of this year at Sotheby’s in London for the improbable sum of $104,3 million. I know I wouldn’t give you more than “an old straw hat or a bucket of coal” for either the bronze or the vase, but I would sure love to have the Duesy.

Granted, the Giacometti bronze and the Ming vase are extreme examples of collecting mania, but serious collectors are willing to pay outlandish prices for that one coveted item that’s essential to round out their collection. For instance, at the same Indiana sale mentioned above, two metal signs sold at high prices. An IHC Mogul kerosene tractor sign in good condition brought $3,300, while an embossed Case sign showing “77 Modern Machines for Profitable Farming” with a wooden frame and surface scratches was hammered down for $2,200.

A sales catalog for IHC Mogul tractors, including the 20 and 25 hp Type C models with a color centerfold illustration of the 45 hp Mogul, fetched $600, and another lot containing a copy of the Husker, a magazine published by the Minneapolis-Moline Co. and featuring the MM UDLX Comfort Tractor, along with some Gleaner 6-foot combine literature, was taken away by a lucky buyer for just $500! Six issues of Gas Power magazine from 1913 and 1914 (none of which were in perfect condition) sold as separate lots and brought an amazing total of $540.

And that’s good, especially for the seller and the auctioneer. In fact, there was, on top of the prices paid during the bidding at the Indiana sale, a five percent “buyer’s premium” that each successful bider was required to pay. Now, I’ve never been able to understand just why a buyer should be required to pay a premium for the privilege of buying what both the owner and the auctioneer are anxious to sell. What do you think, is a buyer’s premium justified? Or is it just a gimmick to squeeze more dollars out of the sale?

Starting last October, Aumann Auctions has been making video previews of their upcoming auctions. I wasn't aware of this until just recently when I stumbled on a video for the gas engines up for bid in the Gary Parker Collection auction taking place Oct. 23-24 at the Parker Antique Tractor Museum in Churubusco, IN.

I think this is a great idea that all auction services should offer. It's always nice to see a detailed list of what's going to be at an upcoming auction but nothing beats seeing those engines with your own eyes. The Gary Parker Collection videos are especially nice because they take a good long at most, if not all, of the significant items up for bid. If you're a big IHC fan, I don't think you'll want to miss this auction. Without further ado, here's the video:

Visit AumannAuctions.com for further information on the Gary Parker Collection auction.

1921 1-1/2 HP IHC M that GEM purchased last October.

Upon attending my first engine show back in August 2007, I knew that the best way for me to truly understand what was behind the chug and puff of old engines was to get my hands dirty with one that I could work on. Fortunately, Editor-In-Chief Richard Backus was in total agreement as he, too, was interested in working on an engine.

We decided that we wanted to find a small horsepower engine that was complete but needed a little bit of work to get going. Our budget was small ($400), so we figured our best best would be to buy an engine at auction. Our plan of attack was to go the route of the common-man gas engine collector: We’d ask for tips from other collectors, buy parts from the advertisers you find in GEM, and then document the whole experience in the magazine and on this website. 

And last October, everything seemed to fall into place as Conser Auction Services announced a public auction in Meriden, Kan. – just 20 minutes north of our Topeka homebase. The auction announcement listed several engines that seemed to fit into our parameters, most notably, a 1909 4 HP Ottawa on original trucks that was listed as “restorable.”

Upon arriving at the auction, we realized that our $400 wasn’t going to go too far. Most of the engines belonged to the heirs of the late Everett Bowen, and many of them were rare and in good, running condition. The rest, including the 4 HP Ottawa, were restorable, but needed much more work than Richard and I felt capable of doing. About to leave dejected, we spotted a 1921 1-1/2 HP IHC Model M that appeared to be barn fresh. We gave the flywheels a turn and found that it wasn’t stuck and had pretty good compression. Above all, it looked complete, and we decided that of all of the engines at the auction, this was the one for us. We also figured it would go for much more than $400, but we decided to place an absentee bid, just in case.

Three hours later, Richard got a phone call from Conser: We won the engine! And, even better, it only cost us $300! We’re still shocked that we got what appears to be an outstanding find for so cheap. I guess in the coming months, we’ll find out just how good a deal we got. Stay tuned!

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