The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

An old friend recently came to me and said that he wanted to sell his old crawler tractor that has been in his family since new. Now I'm afraid it is not Blue, Orange, and Gray. ... But I could not help myself as either it was me, or the scrap man. I remember he had this tractor at our local tractor show when I was a kid and I had a cow over it. Yes, it was truly love at first sight with that magnificiant all powerful Iron tracked beast. As fate should have it, times have come full circle and it is now in my yard. It is a 1939 International T-20 TracTractor. It was bought new in 1940 as I have the original bill of sale and some photos of it working on the farm with it's owners when it was young. The blade was added from the parts machine in the early 1980's and was used around the original owners house to grade the lawn. It sat idle for about 15 years half under a shed until I came along and revived it recently and brought it home. Dandy Dave!

You are an old softey Dave!

Dandy Dave wrote: had a cow over it.

Whats your meaning of 'cow'

Nice looking mchine, could be very handy around my place also
Kiwi Kev

Kiwi Kev wrote:

Dandy Dave wrote: had a cow over it.

Whats your meaning of 'cow'

Nice looking machine, could be very handy around my place also
Kiwi Kev

To, "have a cow." (Slang) It means, To want something in a big way. Could be a hot girl, a hot car, a Super Major County Crawler.

This is actually the 4th T-20 I have owned. I had a parts machine years ago, and a running tractor, and now this one, and a parts tractor that came with it. I used this tractor to pull it from the mud, and get it to a spot that I could get my trailer backed up to, and winch the parts machine on for the trip home. But this is the first one I fell in love with as a Youngster. Dandy Dave!

Over here 'to have a cow' means to get upset, to get the sh??s over something or someone
Kiwi Kev

Thanks for putting up the picture of your new little toy. She looks real cool , have fun playing with it.

Kiwi Kev wrote:Over here 'to have a cow' means to get upset, to get the sh??s over something or someone
Kiwi Kev

LOL... ... Someone should write a Dictionary on World Slang to go along with Websters Dictionary. Dandy Dave!

Mervyn Spencer wrote:Thanks for putting up the picture of your new little toy. She looks real cool , have fun playing with it.

Thanks Mervyn.

It took a bit to get it going as it was sitting with the radiator sticking out of the shed roof. Water dripped on it when it rained, or when snow melted off of the roof, and it froze the starting crank. The first challange was getting that free. The casting that held the crank had some previous repairs and was relitively weak. Luckily I had a good casting in my parts collection at home that was from a 10-20 Industrial stationary unit. The T-20 has the same Displacment of an F-20 Farmall. The few differences are, The F-20 has thermo cooling and a flat belt for the fan, and the T-20 has a waterpump that is the same as an F-30 and a V belt of the same. Also the T-20 has a fuel pump, where its F-20 wheeled tractor partner does not. A very common problem with these tractors is, if they sit for a time, the valves stick and can be a pain to freeup.

Anyway. After I got the crank handle freed up, I stuck it back in the hole and stepped on it and found the engine to be stuck. It had already had some oil soaking the cylinders for a while. On the side of the engine is two hand hole covers that are the same as the radiator cap. I pulled one off and luckily the crank was in a good position. I selected a piece of wood from a nearby pile, set it against the crank, and gave it several taps with a hammer to send some viberation though the cylinders to break the rings free. I have done this on 3 or 4 of these old farmall tractors though the years, and if the engine is only lightly stuck, it works everytime. Yup, sure enough. It worked again. The motor spun over with little effort. The valves were another problem, and it took about 3 trips, inbetween soaking with penetrant to get them freed up so they were working smoothly. Also, I had to remove the carbuetor and clean it, and remove the mag and put in new point's, coil, and condenser as the spark was very weak. The fuel tank luckly was under the shed roof and was very clean inside. A repair to a leaky fuel line and a bunch of flips with the hand crank and it finally spit and spuddered to life after sitting silent for so long. That was a good feeling. After it ran a bit and was hitting on all 4 cylinders I took it out for a spin and it steered on both sides like it should, and also the clutch worked fine, and the transmission works in all of it's gears.

Since I have brought it home, I have flushed out the engine and changed the oil and filter and installed a new valve cover gasket. I will need to pull off the blade cylinders and put in new packing as they settle rather quickly as I drive it around. I also have a new fanbelt to install.

Oh, did I mention the junk man hates me??? I foiled his evil plan and rescued another grand old machine from the grips of his red hot torch. Dandy Dave!

Thanks for sharing you story Dandy Dave, sounds like you really are going to have a lot of fun .

Mervyn