Fordson Major Backhoe

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:19 am

Hello to all and many thanks to Brian and Oscar for their help in my joining this forum. I recently purchased a Major (Ser.#1430502 as best I can make out) which I believe is a 1957 machine supposedly purchased new in 1959. It has a Ford 713 backhoe/loader with snowplow that doesn't look like it has ever been off the tractor. The whole rig is painted yellow but the Fordson blue and orange are showing through on the tractor. It was sitting outside for the last 15 years and I was told it was last run about 6 years ago. I don't believe that the three point hitch and PTO have ever been used as the PTO cover is heavily coated with a lot of road dirt and there are no rockshaft arms on the square drives. There are spokes that look like small paddles welded on to the rear right hand wheel that appear to be professionally manufactured. Does anyone know if this was for reinforcement and if so was it supposed to be only on the one side? I will change the injector oil,engine oil and filter and flush the cooling and fuel systems before I try starting it but is there something else I should watch out for? I know I'll have to wait for warmer weather here in New England so I have plenty of time to plan. I have photos if anyone would like to see them.

henk · Post by **henk** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:38 pm

Hello Kim and welcome to the board.
Of course pictures are welcome. It tells us more than words.

Mike Kuscher · Post by **Mike Kuscher** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:55 pm

Hi Kim and Welcome!

Yes, please post pictures, I'm intrigued with your description of the 'paddles' on the rear wheel.

Mike

Post by **Oscar** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:52 pm

Hi Kim!

You emailed the photos to the general email address of this website. That won't work, I'm afraid. You need to upload the photos yourself to a webserver and then put links to your photos in this discussion. The reasons I won't do it myself are:
-I get a lot of requests like that, too many for me to handle
-I don't have the server space to put all those photos on
-It is very easy to do yourself

There are zillions of websites that allow you to upload your photos for free. Just pick one.

PS: make sure you make the photos smaller before uploading them. Photos made with a digital camera are too big to just upload and display into a discussion like this one. You can downsize them to appr. 30% of their original size with Windows Photo Editor or some other software. Uploading will go a lot faster too.

Regards,
Oscar

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:08 pm

Thank you Oscar. I will try the photo download as you desribe as soon as I can. When I used the www.fordsontractorpages.nl , I got a message that said the address was not reachable so I used the info@ address and it went through so I thought it was OK. The photos must be the problem. Thanks.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:33 am

I put the photos on photobucket and when I hit send, it said that www.fordsontractorpages.nl was an invalid address. Any idea what I am overlooking? I'm new at this. Thanks.

Post by **Oscar** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:09 am

Hiya Kim,

An email address (of a person) always has the @ sign in it, an internet addres (of a website) does not. In addition, websites always have "http://" or "https://" at the beginning of their address. You can only send emails to proper email addresses. So if you want to send me an email, for example, you need to use info@fordsontractorpages.nl. If you want to visit my website, you go to http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl. Big difference.

About the photos: every photo that is on a webserver has an internet address, just like a website. Take this address for example (copy the line into your browser's white address bar, press enter and you'll see it):

http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl/pics/newmajor.jpg

Now each of the photos you uploaded to photobucket has an address like this. If you watch one of your own photos on screen, you can put your mouse above the picture and upon a right-mouse click you'll see a little menu appear. If you use Internet Explorer, as most people do, the bottom menu item is "properties". If you click that, the internet address of your photo will appear. You can select that address and copy it.

Now the fun begins.

To show that photo in a message on this forum, you paste the address in your message surrounded by what we call image tags. An image tag is a bit of code that tells the forum software to display the photo in the message. The image tags have square brackets around them, i.e. "[" and "]". I will display them with round brackets, because if I do not then the software will think I am trying to post a photo, whereas in reality I am trying to explain the concept to you. With round brackets instead of square ones, the image tags are (img) at the start and (/img) at the end. So to show a photo in a message on the forum you type

(img) paste photo address here (/img)

but with square brackets instead of round ones. Going back to the photo I used as an example at the beginning, i.e. the photo with address http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl/pics/newmajor.jpg, I can show it here by putting it around image tags and the result is.....

Et voila, there's your photo.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:03 pm

Thanks for your patience Oscar. I will stay at it until I get it to work! Rome wasn't built in a day(because my wife wasn't bossing the job).

Meanderer · Post by **Meanderer** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:02 am

G'day Kim,

Couple of more tips for you.
Seeing you are using Photobucket, you will find that when you put your mouse cursor over the image you have on there, a box drops below with a few choices ..... the bottom being Image Code. If you then highlight the code shown, copy it, you can then paste that into your Fordson Post exactly where you want it. The Tags Oscar mentioned are included. (Always put on a new line and at least one clear line between text and image as well as between image and image).

When you put images to a host like Photobucket, please make sure you leave them there; don't move them from one album to another; nor change their name. If you do any of the above, the image will no longer show in your post on these pages. Mind you, if you understand that, you can actually move them providing you come back here and EDIT your post to direct it to the new Location.
It is really frustrating for people searching posts to find threads where images no longer exist that the text is refering to.

It doesn't matter how OLD your post is, an EDIT button shows on the top right of the post for the Author's screen only. (As well as moderators I presume).

Hope that helps ya.
Regards,
Rick

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:42 am

I hope I got this right! Photos of my Major with a Ford 713 backhoe. The weather is finally warming up so I can get started on it soon.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:49 am

It is interesting how the Power steering pump is mounted low and along side of the generator. Looks like those paddles really beef up the wheels. Dandy Dave!

essex pete · Post by **essex pete** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:24 pm

Great photos ( I will duck but I always find the conversions more exciting than plain ag!)

Is the chain on the stabilizers for safety, for lifting them or because part of the hydraulic system is inop?
Power steering looks a different make from the UK ones.
Interesting that the tractor was supplied with lift cover for 3 point.
The front loader is high spec for the era with double acting lift rams and parallel linkage.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:19 pm

Hello Pete. The chains were necessary to hold up the backhoe and stabilizers to get it on the trailer and home. It sat for so long I'm sure the engine is stuck. I can't get a bar on the front of the engine to try to turn it over as the front pulley direct drives the hydraulic pump for the backhoe/loader( it is one HEAVY DUTY loader!). I will pull the valve cover soon to see what the valve train looks like and be sure the valves aren't stuck before I try to turn it over. The starter winds over but I haven't engaged it yet. The power steering seems to be identical with the setup on a Nuffield 10/42 that I have. As soon as warmer weather arrives I will get started on it. I have to work on it outdoors as it won't fit through my barn door! Thanks for your interest.

Julian in SC US · Post by **Julian in SC US** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:57 pm

I have a November, 1960 Super Major with a Ford 712/723 loader/hoe and it has the identical power steering unit. Also has three point lift without lower arms.
The entire frame kit to mount a Ford loader/backhoe on a Major was available as a package and could be applied to any existing ag tractor. That may explain why you see some tractors with the 3 pt lifts installed . The standard 713/723/755 hoe could be quickly removed by loosening two clamp bolts and disconnecting two hydraulic lines.
JH

henk · Post by **henk** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:32 pm

Hello Kim,
Nice catch, but a bit of work.
Strange thing about the tractor is the breather on the diesel pump. This was not used on the New Majors. Could it have a newer engine?
What's the lever for above the rpm meter?
About the lift cover, These tractors were standard delivered with no lift and hydraulics. Mine was bought without it. It was also missing the pedestal for the pump. All was optional. Could be that if you need the pump you had to buy the whole package, pump and cover.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:08 am

Hello Henk! The handle above the RPM meter is attached to a cable that goes down to a small pulley and then up to the decompressor lever on the front of the valve cover. The picture of the right side of the engine shows it going down and up again outboard of the block heater. It is possible that the engine(and therefore the serial number) was changed at some point. I will search for dates on the clutch-transmission-rear end castings when it warms up a bit more. It barely made it above freezing here today! The engine seems to match up well with what is shown in my ITT manual but I have heard rumors that there are some irregularities of information to be found in there(I never heard any specifics-just rumors). I won't be surprised if I have to pull the head and oil pan, but I'm hoping to get lucky.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:21 pm

henk wrote: Strange thing about the tractor is the breather on the diesel pump. This was not used on the New Majors. Could it have a newer engine?

My, built in January 1960, FPM has the same Breather in the same spot on top of the timing gear case. This Backhoe could very well be a mix match of parts. An engine swap is more than likely in a piece of construction equipment considering the abuse that they usually take. Dandy Dave!

Grani · Post by **Grani** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:45 pm

Dandy Dave wrote:
henk wrote: Strange thing about the tractor is the breather on the diesel pump. This was not used on the New Majors. Could it have a newer engine?

My, built in January 1960, FPM has the same Breather in the same spot on top of the timing gear case. This Backhoe could very well be a mix match of parts. An engine swap is more than likely in a piece of construction equipment considering the abuse that they usually take. Dandy Dave!

It is not a breather, it seems to me like a heater for the cooling water. It is useful in cold weather. Of course I could be wrong.

Post by **Brian** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:16 pm

The breather was fitted to all engines from April 1957, from the time they fitted the modified engine, so it can be found on FMD's after that date and right through to the Super Majors.

henk · Post by **henk** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:14 pm

So the breather was introduced on the mark II engine.
What a mistaka to maka.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:34 pm

Grani wrote:
Dandy Dave wrote:
henk wrote: Strange thing about the tractor is the breather on the diesel pump. This was not used on the New Majors. Could it have a newer engine?

My, built in January 1960, FPM has the same Breather in the same spot on top of the timing gear case. This Backhoe could very well be a mix match of parts. An engine swap is more than likely in a piece of construction equipment considering the abuse that they usually take. Dandy Dave!
It is not a breather, it seems to me like a heater for the cooling water. It is useful in cold weather. Of course I could be wrong.

Bet you your bottom dollar your wrong.

It is a breather. I had to take mine apart to get some kinks and bends out of it.

Dandy Dave!

Grani · Post by **Grani** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:24 pm

Dandy Dave wrote:
Grani wrote:
Dandy Dave wrote:

My, built in January 1960, FPM has the same Breather in the same spot on top of the timing gear case. This Backhoe could very well be a mix match of parts. An engine swap is more than likely in a piece of construction equipment considering the abuse that they usually take. Dandy Dave!
It is not a breather, it seems to me like a heater for the cooling water. It is useful in cold weather. Of course I could be wrong.
Bet you your bottom dollar your wrong.
It is a breather. I had to take mine apart to get some kinks and bends out of it. Dandy Dave!

Yes I am wrong again as usual

I have never seen a breather like that on a Major.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:49 am

Thats OK Grani, We all forgive you and Henk, We would not be here if we did not want to learn new stuff about old Fordsons.

Have a Fordsonful Day folks.

Dandy Dave!

essex pete · Post by **essex pete** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:21 pm

Are there crossed wires here?
Is the object in question the item with clipped on pipes and an orange/red colour?.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:43 am

Hi Pete. The orange can with the hoses clipped on is a block heater for starting in cold weather(I don't know if it's operational, but it is identical to the ones on my Nuffields). I believe the breather they are referring to is about a foot to the front of the block heater(forward of the injector pump). Brians' information on this being installed on all engines after April 1957 supports that it is indeed the original motor. If anyone has contrary information, please let me know. Thanks for all the interest and I'm still curious as to why there are "paddles" only on the right wheel. The rims seem to be an original pair. Any ideas anyone?

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