The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

thought some of you might like to see my new toy, a fordson fitted with a two cylinder two stroke opposing piston diesel engine that was built by CLM in france under licence from Junkers in germany.

I see you have thin steel rims for the front wheels. One of the reasons for the introduction of a heavy cast front wheel on the N after the F was to reduce the possibility of the tractor driving up over the back axle if the rear wheels became stuck. With a low reduction in the rear diff it was quite a hazard.
IMHO
Jerry
PS What does it sound like?

That looks like one of the more interesting conversions I've seen ! I bet it sounds wonderfull . Manual starting ? does it start
reasonably easily ? Is there a clip of it running ( maybe youtube , I'll have a look ) Thankyou for posting the photo's , Tim.

I will get a video sorted next time I have it running.

It seems the conversion was done in an F and the late N back end has been swapped over at a later date, the cut down fuel tank and the radiator top tank are from an F but the rad side panels go with the back end. I think the wheels would have come from the F as well.

It is hand start only at the minute (and it takes some cranking!) but it won't start from cold. It needs to be warmed up by filling it with warm water or starting it with the pulley. Will have to sort out some sort of electric start at some point.

An interesting looking conversion. Possibly a model 285 of 32hp @ 1000rpm.

Ours, shown below, is a 1939 LC2, 35hp @ 1200rpm. The CLM importer told me that he brought in 2 conversion kits to Australia before the war put an end to imports. The other one was smaller than ours and has probably gone to scrap.

Oddly enough, I bought this engine from the man who imported it. He must have traded it back in at some stage, and it lay outside his workshop. We fitted it to a 1939 tractor we happened to have. I should have asked more questions and taken more notes when the seller was still alive. The air cleaner is not French, and the bonnet and fuel tank were locally made. The tank that came with it was rusted out, so I fitted this ex-military one which looks OK.

As you can see, it has electric start. The battery box, which was missing, is from an Australian IH tractor. It is long enough to hold two 12 volt batteries. It needs a sniff or aerosol starting aid to get it going from cold.

In 1928 Peugeot set up a diesel engine division called Compagnie Lilloise de Moteurs. So was born the CLM. Although a CLM engine, it would also be correct to call it a Peugeot. Two strokes sound nice whatever you call them.

As to the story about the Fordson rearing up with light front wheels, it is a myth I have written about before. The Fordson was no lower geared than any other tractor. Turning over backward was caused by a high drawbar, which is bad enough on a heavy down pull, but a chain around the rear axle housing is really stupid. It was operator error, not Fordson design that was the problem.

Eric

Eric Schulz wrote:An interesting looking conversion. Possibly a model 285 of 32hp @ 1000rpm.

My engine is a CR2 and I think it's 25hp @1500rpm

Thanks for posting the clip , I must admit it made my back twinge just watching you on the handle ! , couldn't sound a lot more
different to the original engine but a really interesting conversion .

tmc wrote: I must admit it made my back twinge just watching you on the handle !

you can't be weak willed with it, get both hands on the handle and go for it. It's not like having an impulse on a mag to do the work for you!

It is currently in the workshop and I'm devising an electric start onto a flywheel mounted behind the flat belt pulley.