E27N Major

[jambug123]

Hi all,
I have been away for a while due to work and the loss of my grandad.
I still own my dexta and have recently purchased a e27n from a breakers and starting to restore it.
The question I have is the tractor came from Canada and is a straight petrol how many are still around? It has 14x30 rear tyres are these a common fitting over there .
It is also fitted with a pressure cap on the radiator with no calormeter was it common for these tractors to have the glass jar type precleaner instead of the normal flat top.

Regards
James

[CalGG]

My E27n most likely came down from Canada I got it while living in the North of New Hampshire. Pity, the previous owner died of heart failure at an early age.

Mine is straight gas. It works very well with our cold winters. It never fails to start, though I admit to using "starting aid" when the temps are -20C.
This one had a nutted bolt plugging the calorimeter fitting, but I found a very nice industrial gauge and fitted that with a compression fitting. Nice to keep the gal "on the boil" when real power is required. That takes full radiator blind in winter.

I can't imagine a "pressurized" top tank But can't see any harm. I would like to see a photo of that cap if you can.

This 1950 model has the usual oil bath air filter with the elevated snorkel. I don't run that intake piping though, as I live in forest, and such a pipe is just something else to get hung up. The pipe hangs from the shop woodwork. Our air is very clean however.

Tires and wheels for this one are standard issue with weights. Perhaps your tires are "dealer fitted".

[super6954]

Hi James
I'm located in Manitoba Canada, In reply to your many around question, Yes there are quite a few round still This side they were all straight petrol's here from what I have seen. I scrapped 3 last year due to messed up engines/ other issues. I have 1 runner in my collection right now besides the p6's, there is one in a local museum, a friends son has a restored one. I was offered 2 more for parts and another friend bought one for parts for his P6 to get lights and a grill, plus a few he didn't buy. Thats the list from the top of my head without thinking hard, or going to far. It will be rarer in the U.K though I'm sure , as most of them had the tvo engine .

Some of the ones here had the pressure cap fitted, I think the way the radiator core is has something to do with it, Those ones maybe didn't have the internal overflow pipe the same as the non pressure ones, so thats why they could be different and some other export country's like Australia had them to. Does it have a pipe plug threaded into the radiator top where the gauge should thread in. Those gauges had a habbit of being knocked off or messed up here and guys just took them off and plugged the holes sometimes to stop water leaking out.

The glass air cleaner top is probably an add on here at some point, i have a couple of newer Diesel majors here with them fitted. My petrol E27N has the original U.K type top on and so did a couple of the scrap ones. It could of been Dealer from new or farmer fitted later, I guess the paint color might give some clue .

The rear wheels I am not sure about as factory fitted for Canada. AU had there own local 30's made and fitted on export. all the ones I had with wheels on for parts/ my runner and all my friends ones had the 36" rear and cast 19" front's like the U.K ones, I have seen one or 2 that have 30's and the pressed steel fronts like the new majors with separate hubs, my kinda hunch might be it was a later working update. The newer wide wheels and tires are very easy to find here and give more traction in the wet or snow.

Most guys put ballast ( Calcium/water) in the rear tires for extra weight here to. It rotted the rims badly over time, or the tires went bad also , So it could be they just replaced them with bigger more readily available ones as 36's and the 19's were near impossible to find used. It's only been in the last few years new 36 tires have been easier to get as well. In the day only maybe 3 makes of tractor used the 36's here and they were narrower than the major from tires that I have seen on them. It has taken a few years and some good luck to even find usable/ repairable 36" rims here for my tractors they are that rare now .

Hope that might help a bit, Thats all I can tell you from what I have seen here . I think that tractor might of been on ebay sometime last year .
Could you please post a few pictures, I'd like to see it if possible .
Regards Robert

[jambug123]

Thanks for this information much appreciated,
I will take some pictures of the tractor and post them it it stripped down at the moment for cleaning and painting.
I have done some mechanical work to the tractor before the strip down as she was burning oil on overrun and compression was low on two of the cylinders and pinked on full advance on the ignition when driving and stopped just off the full retard notch on the dash.
I have fitted new piston rings and glaze busted the bores, valve guides, cut the valve seats and lapped in the valves and nicked back the timing of the mag one tooth on the timing gears.

Regards
James

[CalGG]

If changing the magneto timing, be mindful of the impulse coupling, lest hard starting be the result.

[SkidRoe]

We also have a straight gas E27N, a 1950. Ours has 36" rears on it. I have seen likely 10 other E27N's locally over the years, all had 36" rear tires. I am thinking that your tractor has a set of E1A (New Major) wheels fitted. The majority (likely 90%) of New Majors (Mk I, Mk II, FPM, FSM, NPSM) in Canada had 14x30" rear wheels.

As far as the pressure cap goes, I only recall seeing them on P6 tractors, I thought that they were particular to the diesel, but I could be wrong... As mentioned above, if you did not dispense with the overflow tube, you would never get any pressure.

The glass jar air cleaner was quite popular on Farmall's over here, could it be a transplant??

Cheers - SR