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1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:29 am
by Old52
I am about to launch into a rebuild of the transmission to at least replace the seals and maybe some bearings depending on what I find inside. I have the seals now, but will need to sort out bearings as required...I have posted pictures of the almost 70 year old friend, which has been very reliable, but needs some work. I'll do the clutch at the same time, once every 70 years should be about right. Heck I just replaced the front tires last summer! Original Firestone made in England...we have owned this since 1955, so it is a two owner tractor :)

https://postimg.cc/gallery/XvqVY6G

Bob

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:52 am
by Billy26F5
What a lovely early Major! Make sure you keep these early features, as it makes your Major stand out as a very original early one. The ato. clutch release looks great too.
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:59 pm
by shepp
Lovely early tractor from the first 4 months of production, flick over brake latch, flat drawbar, ribbed as well as seamed rear wings, still very original (apart from the exhaust!), you have done well to keep it so good!

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:48 pm
by Old52
Thanks Sandy. Yes, as far as I know the only change from stock is the choke cable (which I changed about 50 years ago and as a youngster, it never occured to me to keep the old parts...), the muffler, the rad hoses, tires and the governor plate was replaced. Other than oil changes, grease and gas, a proper rear light for snow blowing in the winter, nothing else has been changed. It needs painting, but my wife prefers the "patina" ;). Doing the clutch and gearbox will be the first real work on it....

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 11:31 pm
by Billy26F5
Don't paint it, clean it up well and then you'll see you've actually got a superb original coat. Here's what can be achieved by doing this:
Image
Image
The same Billy 17 years apart. About 8 of those cleaning! (note this isn't actually the original coat)
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:03 am
by Old Hywel
I’ve only seen screw-on hi/lo gearknobs on later Majors. Livedrive, perhaps?

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:41 am
by Billy26F5
No live drive, the original design gearbox casting doesn't allow a dual clutch in as the cross shaft is 2" further forward. The earliest H/L lever had a large removable knob and was fixed to the shaft with a pin. This always came loose and was replaced with the clamp style used later and a single piece lever until the Power Major, when a smaller separate knob was fitted.
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 11:15 am
by shepp
The steering wheel centre boss is a little unusual? Or is it the angle of the camera? Still with a bit of blue paint on the high/low shift knob, my1952 Major is the same, one owner until 2014 and 4210 hours from new.

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:35 pm
by Billy26F5
I don't think the steering wheel is original, this Major could be one of the early ones that had an aluminium steering wheel, as oppose to the more usual Bakelite type, but neither would look like Bob's one.
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:46 pm
by shepp
That is what I thought Sandy, it' s a bit like the boss on the TEA and TED 20 Ferguson tractors with the metal spokes. The rim looks very shiny so it's probably a replacement, but that only knocks half a mark off the score for the rest of the tractor, it's very nice and original!

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:12 am
by Old52
Thought you might enjoy this as a lazy temporary solution to the oil leaking from the transmission to the rear. I just pump the oil back into the transmission as needed to top it up. I haven't used the tractor enough lately to know at what rate the oil is leaking past the seals, but at least I can keep the transmission properly lubed before I take it apart :)

Bob

https://postimg.cc/wt81h9PY

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:16 am
by Old52
Hi Sandy:

I also agree on not painting it, maybe a clear coat after a good cleaning and oil leak repairs...I do know that I spray painted it many many years ago with spray cans from Canadian Tire, which is why the paint is a bit blotchy on the hood...

Bob

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:56 am
by Billy26F5
Be a bit careful doing that, as the oil comes out very fast. The area near the dipstick and filler cap (in general) is one of the areas that needs to be cleanest, as you're frequently opening the holes in order to inspect and top up the oils.
I did think you still had the original paint. I still think it will look better with just a clean.
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:35 pm
by Old52
I have found that the oil flow is easily controlled with the lever, and so far I have only done it in cool weather, so the 80w90 gear oil is pretty thick. It is just a temporary solution, until I get everything ready for the dis-assembly.

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:44 am
by mathias1
Old52 wrote:
Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:35 pm
I have found that the oil flow is easily controlled with the lever, and so far I have only done it in cool weather, so the 80w90 gear oil is pretty thick. It is just a temporary solution, until I get everything ready for the dis-assembly.
Hi you can do this job in 1 or maximum 2 days. It's not that difficult.

See my pictures in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7456&hilit=gearbox
I did also take the gearbox apart, but that's not necessary to replace the seals.
Eventually you can start replacing the pto seals, for this one you don't need to split the tractor.

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:07 am
by Old52
Thanks Mathias for the link to your photos. What did you do about gaskets (not sure what has a gasket yet) and do you have a list of the bearings if I need some? Where did you source the clutch from also? I plan on doing it anyways, I figure once every 70 years should be OK :)

Bob

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:11 am
by Billy26F5
You'll need to make the gaskets from gasket paper.
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:01 am
by Old52
Thanks Sandy. Do you have an opinion on cleaning the gearbox by running it for a short time with diesel fuel inside to clean out the 70 years of goo. It seems to be something done by a few people to clean out these old guys...

Bob

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 7:59 am
by Billy26F5
The instruction book says not to do that, if you can get a petrol gun for your compressor you can clean it out without running, and I think petrol will clean it out better than diesel. I would do that anywhere you change the oil of now, but make sure you leave plenty of time for the petrol to evaporate completely before you fill with oil again. (By the way, we did run a dumper with some petrol in its gearbox for a few seconds (no load though) because it had been filled with grease and there was an impending overhaul now under way to replace lots of bearings)
Sandy

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:30 pm
by Emiel
Hi,

Cleaning with petrol is very unhealthy for your lungs and it evaporates, which can cause huge explosions. Not my cup of tea.

Usually I take heating kerosene for cleaning. Much safer and works perfect. If you clean when all gaskets and oil seals are away anyway it will do no harm at all.

If you decide to really strip the box, all bearings and gears out, a hot water pressure washer will be your friend.

Rgds

Emiel

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 6:58 pm
by Old52
Thanks for the suggestions. I agree about not using gasoline, too many fumes and maybe "booms" from that :) When the time comes, I will try a bit of diesel in it just to let it soak into the sludge in the bottom to loosen it up. If the bearings are OK, I am hoping to not do a full disassembly, just seals.

Just replaced the water pump yesterday as I am planning on using it to do some wood chipping soon...

Bob

https://postimg.cc/gallery/rWxzNBW

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:04 pm
by shepp
Regarding the steering wheel on Bob's tractor, at the Shrubs Farm sale in Essex today July 3 held by Cheffins is a lovely original E1A early petrol model, serial number 1226412. This tractor has the flick over brake latch, ribbed as well as seamed wings, and the steering wheel is the same as on Bob's tractor so it must have been an original type that was used. I am thinking that maybe Ford used this type of wheel on the early petrol and TVO models and a Bakelite or aluminium type on the diesel models - this is what Ferguson did, a metal spoked wheel on petrol and tvo models and a Bakelite wheel on diesel models. The original early tvo tractor on Stuart Gibbard's Fordson Farming DVD seems to have the same type of steering wheel as Bob's as well.

It is going to be a good sale, some prices are phenomenal, so far a Ford Weather shield weather cab with shell wings for a 5000 has made £3700, a Ford safety cab with flat top wings for a 5000 £3500, a pair of shell wings and lights for a 5000 £1800. The tractors should go equally well, have a look at the report on the Cheffins website.

**Update** - this petrol MaJor has just made £11,200 plus 6% buyers premium !!

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:37 am
by Emiel
Hi,

This auction ended up in ridiculous prices in my Dutch point of view.

Other way round, I would have been a wealthy man when I lived in England and sold my tractors in such an auction. :D

It’s a P/P major who got up to this £ 11.200 by the way.

Luckily I value having and using these tractors far more in fun and joy then money can buy. Don’t give mich about what they may be worth in money.

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:52 pm
by shepp
Hi Emiel

I agree with you, but all the same it is good to know that the little treasures that give us so much pleasure also give others pleasure as well - that is one reason why they are sought after. Another factor is that having money in the bank is pointless at the moment - look at the County 1474 at this sale, £196,000 plus 6% buyers premium!

Re: 1952 Fordson Major Petrol Gearbox rebuild

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 5:16 am
by Old52
Interesting to note that the "petrol" version that sold for 11,200 bps was a petrol/parrafin version (two "gas" caps), unlike mine that is purely petrol. Otherwise they are quite similar, except no hydraulics on that one. Mine has been kept running on regular basis though, that one looked like it had been sitting for a long time...I looked at the auction website and they had a good collection of old Fordsons there.

Cheers, Bob