Restoring a Special Fordson

By Farm Collector readers
Updated on October 2, 2023
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courtesy of Tom Carlson

Check out these letters from our faithful readers detailing their Fordson restoration and seeking to identify some of their vintage farm equipment.

Restoring a special Fordson

My grandfather bought this 1937 Fordson row crop Model N tractor new and I have restored it. This tractor is one of 250 built with this type of front end and the side-arm steering the casting out front is to mount a cultivator on.

Most Fordson transmissions had two slow speeds and a road gear. This one has a special ratio transmission. It has three speeds for field work and no road gear. Top speed is 4.3mph.

This tractor got a new engine in 1946. The story is that a piston pin came out and damaged the cylinder beyond repair. No parts were available during World War II. The piston was removed and the engine was reassembled. It would still run on three cylinders but lacked power, so it was used on light loads, to rake hay and pull wagons. A new engine came from England (where the tractor was built) in 1946. I have the cultivator, manuals, tool kit and receipt.

Today it goes to displays, runs with threshing machines and plows, and is in parades. I found this tractor in a falling-down shed of my uncle’s and brought it home. Restoration took a while as it was a complete disassembly. I made a new fuel tank for it. The tractor was purchased from Keegan Implement Co., a Minneapolis Fordson dealer. The 1937 tractor was purchased in 1938.

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