Need help and info with fordson

[Howler]

Hi, we have just unearthed an old fordson tractor (see pictures below) that was put into a barn in the mid 70's. It was my Granchers that he purchased 2nd hand at some point after world war 2. It was used a lot and then stored in a barn from the mid 70's til now. His farm is being sold so I have unearthed it and brought it back to our farm to hopefully get it back up and running along with the help of my dad. The back tyres blew back up to our amazement and the one front tyre, but it will need new front tyres!!!! Im hoping it will be a nice investment for my 15 month old son, and will be lovely for it to reach a 4th generation on the farm.
Im looking for any info that anyone can give me. Specifically dates, what model is it, things that shouldn't be on it that arnt original. We'd like to get it back to its original state.
Heres what my dad knows: From looking at the paint work it looks to be originally painted orange, but has at some point been painted green.
Dad can remember it having a new manifold and as you can see from the picture we still have the original. He seems to remember a rod used to go from the original manifold to the radiator to help starting but didn't have it with the newer manifold. Also the bars for the canvas on the radiator seem to have been thrown away at some point!!!
It used to have a wipak? (not sure on spelling) magneto which we still have but was changed to a lucas and had to have the timing of the tractor changed.
The engine cranks over with the handle and apparently when it was put by in the 70's the piston rings needed doing and the magneto needed replacing, but it was driven into the barn, so in theory it should start, but we haven't tried yet til got some new oil etc in it.
We haven't had a good clean up of it yet but on the left side of the engine it reads:
Made in England
N6015A
1
Fordson
Can you get the excact age from this number? Also where would the serial number be on this tractor.
Any info would be brilliant and am looking forward to getting stuck into it. Can you still get parts for these. For example could we get an original manifold and magneto or are we best leaving it as is. Also where would the best place be to get parts.We would also like to get it back to the original orange or harvest gold as I think its known. As you can tell im very new to this restoration process and only have a bit of experience on modern zetors!!!

[brockwood]

Hi that’s a nice n the engine no which if original will date it some ware in the late 30,s it is usually stamped on the machined surface above the front of the manifold which is a 50 on e27 as is the steering wheel and magneto the original manifold can be a contrary unit the tractor appears to be a early harvest gold as it has the blue front axle support with out the mounting pad i cant make out the air cleaner but something looks odd from the right the intake hat on the left is usually raised about 18" that is the original manifold the lever at the top is the choke with a rod from each hole one ford the other back many parts and a manual are available from old 20 on the web cheers b

[super6954]

Hi Welcome to the forum .
Thats a nice looking tractor your very lucky to have it and be able to save it . Personally if it was mine and had the family connection, I would clean it down to remove the dust ,get it running nice, change the front tyres for a nice used pair and leave it as it was last used . It would probably mean more to you and your dad remembering it as Granpa left it in the 70's .
A lot of guys also like to see original barn find working clothes tractors, at shows these days. I kinda find myself getting bored looking at rows of shiny tractors these days to . I have a few fordson majors here and decided on complete and driving. Then pretty well leave the rest alone as i found them . These old fordsons will never have a great financial value as there are to many around still . The sentimental family value will always be priceless .
Regards Robert

[brockwood]

Hi I would endorse Roberts comments I have 7 of these motors working only 2 have been painted the blue n after a few years started to rust and had to be delt with the crane had been sandblasted and undercoated red its now e27 blue. any way a couple more answers engine nos 807581-8266778-1937 826779-837825 38 837926-945237 39 854238-874913 40 engine oil book says 40 weight mono no detergent we have found a lot of rattles stop with older style oil instead of modern thin goodness knows what that gets in them often the worse rattle is the front pulley it can be fixed by putting a set screw in the side. to change the oil there is a drain plug in the plate on the bottom of the sump you would want to clean the filter undo that same plate drop it off and a large conical mesh filter will come out on it wash it all and replace can be a trial as there often missing the locating tabs I hold a rod up trough the drain hole into the cone to centre it .as far as the engine goes I would do the valves and make sure of a good maggy they will then usually run good enough to see if it needs more done .the clutch on these can be from bad to terrible its mutti plate steel on steel wet [the fly wheel acts as a centurial pump to oil the mains ] the clutch often won’t release ours is ok if left a few minuets for the oil to warm up to adjust the turn the rod so the pedal just has some clearance under the axle it should releases half way down then a gap then the brake should be felt often its too tight which makes jerky take offs and stops. to adjust take off belt pulley and work trough the hole there’s a claw in front of the thrust block with an adjuster screw it needs half inch clearance. we always run with the belt pulley running you then know if the clutch has stopped on e27s the linkage is used as a clutch brake on n/s if its at idle clutch in and you blip it will some times brake free hope some of that is of help b

[Dandy Dave]

Nice Find. I have not seen a tractor like that sitting in a barn around here in a lot of years. Agree with keeping it in the Family. Dandy Dave!

[Howler]

Thanks for all your replays guys. Really helpful. My dad has been asking around the family to see if anyone knows any more about its history and apparently my grancher bought it off a agricultural supplier in late 1949. It had apparently been completly refurbished and repainted green. It also came with a full guarantee as my uncle can remember them having to come out to repair the radiator a week after it was bought!!! We found the log book and it shows my grancher registered it in 1950 for £2!!
We have found the serial number on the tractor and it's 905638, but, the serial number in the log book reads 905362!!! We also found a stamp with C31 on the left of the engine below where is says N6015A. Could anyone let me know what this all means!!!!! The serial number stamp was very higgly piggly and my dad seems to think it might have been restamped but again not sure. I've seen on this forum that you can date from casting codes. Where would they be on this tractor?
Anyway, I'll be back up at the farm this weekend to give it a good clean and see what's what. We found the air pipe so it is now 18" above the bonnet rather than stick on the box. Must have been taken off to get under a beam.
Could anyone tell us where we could get the magneto refurbed? And would we be better off putting the wipac one back on? Also where could I source new front wheels with same tread on?
Thanks again for all you help, very much appreciated, keep the comments coming.

[brockwood]

Hi those no/s are in the bracket for 1942 897624. 925273 which suggests an engine change as for what to do with it the purist would have a fit but if its your grands tractor and if it was green when he had it so be it some times you have to pic a period as he got it or the simplest as your dad remembers it I have a similar problem my first tractor i got in my teens i actually worked it in the late 70/s an e27 cable loader my uncle had put a. N. loader on it in 1960 in later years it had loaded fertiliser so has a mild rust problem so the problem is uncle in his 80/s still thinks of it as his old tractor and it needs work some would say pull of the loader and put the lights and linkage back on others would say it should be industrial yellow he always wanted to leave on the linkage but the cross shaft fouled the linkage pump drive i now know 2ways around that which I think he would like however I think like my crane il paint it e27 blue and say that's my fleet colours cheers b

[Howler]

I'm assuming from what you've said then that the chasis is late 30's and the engine would be from a early 1942 model. I'm assuming this was prob put together in the late 1940's when my grancher bought it from the agricultural dealer. Is there a way of dating the rest of the tractor to see what is what age. Have to see then whether we go green or harvest gold, or just clean up and leave. Need to get running first though. Any info on magnetos or tyres???

[brockwood]

im in aus i take it your in the uk? so cant help with local suppliers however theres often adds in tractor and machinery or clasic tractorthe magy clean and set the points and see what happens its a lucas marine e27 mag quite all right b

[Howler]

Been cleaning down the tractor today and we can see that there have been Definetly 2 coats of paint. The harvest gold with then a green on top. Now we know that it was painted green in about 1949 when my grancher purchased it, but if it has had an engine change then surely it is unlikely the engine block would not have the harvest gold paint underneath it?!! The water pump and the front brace is the only part that does not have the harvest gold. The water pump just has green.
We were speaking to a guy last night who remembers a bit about them and he seemed to think they painted some fordsons harvest gold as well as green during the war depending if they were used in corn fields or not. Could this be the case . Any enlightenment would be great Just like to know a bit about its history as much as we can.

[Bluebilly]

Great find, and all the best in restoring it.

I haven't used this crowd yet, but did contact them a while ago when I thought I was having magneto problems --

http://www.ribblesdale.co.uk