What colour is original?

[Nick]

Ive always wondered what colour the front grills in the nosecone on the major and dexta should be. Personally i prefer silver grilles, but what colour were they from factory?

[henk]

Oh boy,

Here we go again

[Brian]

Nick, you are stiring up a hornets nest! Try here "BrianOnTheGrills".

Go to the wiki from the home page, "fordsontractorpages" and "dotty" are the codes you want.

There is also a link on the "Misc" board in the "stickys"

Item F.

Henk, I am not going to bite!

[Nick]

Whoops, i reckon theres some history here. I was actually having an argument about this with my mrs the other day!
Mine are silver at the mo, but because its not original, i shall now change them to blue!

[fergusont20]

mine are orange on my major

[Gman]

Hello all, hope your projects are doing better than mine. I've had my Power Major for 25 years, it is an import to US and it has grey wings and wheels. Is this correct? I hope to get the rust under control at some point and put some new paint on her thinking I would like to go with all blue on tractor, orange on wheels and silver on grills. I have wondered if she was painted before I got her. Is there any true sign to indicated she has been painted, I know on cars what to look for but not on tractors. Thanks for info and good luck to all.

[henk]

Brian,

A few weeks ago I have bought a video called Ford & Fordson on film 4. On it are original instruction films from the Major about ploughing and Ransomes combines. Also a film about the introduction of the Dexta.
Guess what!!!!! The Dexta has orange grills.

Gman,

All majors have orange wheels and the rest bleu, except the new performance models. These have grey fenders and grey wheels.

[shergar]

hello all , been to a local agricultural show at the weekend there was a good slection of vintage tractors, inc two 1952 restored fordson major diesels both with orange grills and blue front wheel hubs and blue rear wheel nuts , my major i can only describe as original condition has blue grills and the front wheels are all orange, anyway the tractor that won best in show was an immaculate ford 3000 super dexta,(no orange grills there) believe me every inch of it was perfect, but being a numpty forgot my camera sorry guys

[Gman]

Brian,

A few weeks ago I have bought a video called Ford & Fordson on film 4. On it are original instruction films from the Major about ploughing and Ransomes combines. Also a film about the introduction of the Dexta.
Guess what!!!!! The Dexta has orange grills.

Gman,

All majors have orange wheels and the rest bleu, except the new performance models. These have grey fenders and grey wheels.

Thanks Henk. Did imports to US come in all blue and then dealers painted the wings and wheels grey? I can see the orange under the grey on the wheels but on the wings there is no blue. If my Power Major has never been painted I may reconsider any new paint on her. Again thanks for the info.

[Mervyn Spencer]

With regards the export tractors, were they exported completely assembled or were they assembled in the country they were exported too?

[shergar]

hello all ,

my major i can only describe as original condition has blue grills and the front wheels are all orange,

sorry guys hope you don't think i'am poking the hornets nest with a stick but found some blue paint under the orange on my front wheel hubs or could this be a undercoat colour

[henk]

In the same video the front wheel hubs of the Major are blue. Rear wheel nuts are first silver and than blue. On the Dexta the rear wheel nuts are orange.
Tractors that go to Finland in the video are loaded whit rear and front wheel rims in orange and steel around the rims and also with rubber tyres.
Cant see any reason the New and Power Major was delivered with grey fenders to the USA. I know that the 5000 Major was grey. I think Brian knows when the USA Fordson became grey.

[JC]

I've seen a lot of them, in my part of the US, with white or light gray wheels and grills, but almost none with orange wheels. I don't know when they were painted that color, but two of my Majors have no other color under the white. The Major that I just got, with the multiple coats of paint, seems to have orange as the original color on the front wheels. I can't figure out if there was an official US paint scheme, or not.

[Kim]

My '57 Major was sold new as a backhoe/loader tractor and was painted yellow with black wheels. Underneath the yellow/black on the tractor is blue/orange. When I finally get around to painting it, I'm not sure what to do! Comments please!

[henk]

Kim,

When the major is a industrial version, I would paint her yellow. If not I would go for the blue orange.

Industrial versions has other rear axle and brakes.

[Julian in SC US]

Hello All
My understanding is that all FMD, PMD, SMDs imported into the US were all painted the same blue as UK tractors and had orange wheels. The New Performance Super Major which is also labeled as Ford 5000 (but not the 1965 Ford 5000) was painted a slightly different shade of blue with beige sheet metal and wheels. The New Performance Super Major 5000 was introduced in the US in July 1963 to match the color scheme of the other US models like the 63-64 4000. The blue is not the same shade of blue as what was used on the 1965 World Series 5000 or the earlier Majors and CNH no longer acknowledges that color ever existed. I have several original samples of the beige from underneath the instrument panel of two different tractors, and it is the same color as the beige on the red and beige Ford hundred series. CNH calls this Gray Enamel, 1939-1962, MIJ-957-SE5DS. After almost fifty years, that beige color has faded on all exposed samples and will look almost grey or white, but I have confirmed it matches what you buy from CNH for a Ford hundred series. The only models that used this scheme also had a decal that said Ford Diesel 5000 on the side of the hood and matched the 63-64 Ford 4000. I also think this is the same color scheme as the blue and gray Commander 6000. The beige is absolutely not the grey of the 1965 and later years. If anyone can help with the US blue color for 62-64, please chime in. If anyone has any info that conflicts with the above, please post it.
Thanks,
JH

[Julian in SC US]

A link showing the various US paint schemes for US Fords is below- scroll toward the bottom to see the colors mentioned above.

http://www.oldfordtractors.com/idhistory.htm

jh