Dating various Fordson N and E27N's

[helpfuljim]

Hi everybody,
Joined the site to try and help a neigbour date some of his tractors! He has about 50 altogether, a mixture of tractors of various makes and also quite a few tracked crawlers. He has about 10 or so Fordsons some from the 1930's up to the 1960's (super majors etc).
Most of the later ones we have been able to date reasonably well but some of the earlier ones we are struggling with as the serial numbers don't seem to follow the correct format 6 or 7 numbers. I have listed below the serial numbers we got from the bell housing of the tractors and also the numbers from the gearbox side of the bell housing, could someone also give me a explanation of the signifiance of those numbers? The numbers we assume is something to do with the ratios but what about the letters.

Tractor 1. Serial number T90462R gearbox number STD77

Tractor 2. Serial number T92443R gearbox number SR43

Thanks in advance for any help. Jim

[ni_e27n]

Hi Jim,

I believe the 'T...R' denotes a replacement engine from the tractor reconditioned engine scheme. The original engine number was ground off the and a new 'T...R' number was stamped on the LH flange of the bellhousing.

Regards,
Derek

[Timeee]

Dear Jim

The TR (Fordson Factory Reconditioned) engines are little help in determining the age of the tractor. The gearbox numbers you quote are merely the codes for the ratio of the gearbox fitted (Standard 7.7, Special Ratio 4.3) with various gearbox combinations of Low Top Standard Ratio, Low Top Special Ratio, High Top Standard Ratio and High Top Special Ratio being fitted to tractors.

The best way to date your E27 N is by the casting codes found on items such as the front axle, engine block, gearbox casing and rear transmission housing. Look for a letter, number, letter combination indicating Month, Date, Year. An example being J 12K which is July 12th 1947. Codes are as follows:

Year: H=1945, J=1946, K=1947, L=1948, N= 1949, P=1950, S=1951, T=1952.

Month: A=Jan, B= Feb, C=March, D=Apr, F=May, H=June, J=July, K= Aug, L=Sep, M=Oct, N= Nov, P=Dec.

Obviously, over the years, some assemblies may have been changed, but if enough assemblies have reasonably close dates, then this will give an idea of when the tractor was assembled. I don't have the details for Ns. Hope this is of help.

Regards Tim E

[helpfuljim]

Thanks Tim E and Derek,
That information has been very helpful in dating those tractors!
Hopefully some time in the future I will find time to take and then post some pictures of my friends various tractors!
Jim

[1962 model]

Hello everone,
from information I have learned many replacement N & E27N engines here in Western Australia were not exchange reconditioned units but were new blocks which contained both the original engine numbrer and the replacement number.
Apparently instructions to the dealers were that the old number was to be transferred across to the new one.
The reason for this of course is because the engine number is required for servicing and spare parts and without it considerable confusion and delays getting the right parts would occurr!

While there was little difference for the E27N, the N replacement ( new Block ) differed and had a starter motor hole, being the same casting as the E 27 N block, it could be the replacement engines for both models could be from the same month and year or even overlap using the casting dates on the outside of the blocks.
Some consider that this degrades the "N" models markedly ( and F too I suppose ) but I don't see why although they are not the original engine, they are still genuine Ford service engines specifically for the relevant tractor, but I could be biased as I have three of them here!

While I agree with previous comments that a tractor can be dated by the assembly cast dates, it is also worth knowing that this is only to some degree, as the cast assembly dates are just the dates the housing moulds were prepared, actual casting, machining and assembly took longer and could possibly vary depending on the Model.
Here in Australia it is common for tractors bearing one year cast dates to carry Australian compliance from the following year due to the above casting, machining, and assembly times but also a considerable time at times before they were shipped half way across the world!

Of course conversions such as County and Roadless etc would take time to assemble and dates may have cast date delays to final assembly also. I have read that late County's had their rear drives purchased in bulk from Ford before the end of E1A production so those would have much earlier dates than the final assemble and compliance dates.

Mike