And then there were two... My new Super Major

[lectricman]

Well, you know what they say about Fordsons, once you have one, one is never enough! I wasn't looking for another tractor when I saw a Craigslist ad for "Tractors and parts" last weekend, but the last picture in the ad was a Fordson. So naturally, I had to see it in person. At first glance, it didn't look good. Missing hood, two flat tires, parked under the edge of a shed barely out of the weather. Then I noticed the raised PTO and the fact that it was a live drive model. The guy said "It ran when I parked it there 7 or 8 years ago". Well, they all say that. But I had to try it. Hooked up a battery, turned on the fuel petcock, and with the first push of the starting lever she fired right up! An hour later I was unloading her off the trailer at my house, along with two spare rear tires that I talked him out of. It's official, my Fordson habit is growing...

Serial #: 1578236 That makes her the 2,350th Super Major built
Engine: N7D: Nov. 7, 1960
Gearbox: M31D: Oct. 31, 1960
Rear axle tubes: N9D: Nov. 9, 1960
Hydraulic cover: N2D: Nov. 2, 1960

[marveltone]

That thing is a beast! I love it!

Joe

[Bensdexta]

How much may we ask?
Great find

[fordson993]

nice fordson

[AdrianNPMajor]

Cool-looking (and cool!) tractor. Great find.
Best
Adrian

[lectricman]

How much may we ask?
Great find

$1100. Not a bad deal if you ask me, considering that wore out junkers are typically around $1800-$2000 locally. I put a cheap set of gauges on it yesterday to keep an eye on the vitals since the originals aren't hooked up. Oil pressure when hot is around 10 psi at idle and 20 psi at half throttle with the old oil still in it. I think it might have a bad head gasket, though. I noticed a lot of condensation and steam coming out of the oil fill after it had run for awhile. So I changed the oil; the old oil looked like it had been in there since 1960 anyway. I also drained and refilled the radiator with fresh water. Today it will get a new fuel filter and fresh fuel.

[AdrianNPMajor]

Not a bad deal?! That's a very good price. Try buying that amount of excellent engineering, engineering that's still relevant and useable today, in any other part of the economy for the same money. I'd like to say I'm not envious, but .......
What's the attachment on the three point linkage? And is it attached directly to the draft control yoke? If so, it needs to be attached to the pin below, and if the attachment is not one that needs draft control, then two pins need to be inserted to save the draft control mechanism from forces it's not designed to take.
Love the faded orange colour. What's the story behind this?
Best
Adrian

[lectricman]

I absolutely agree about the engineering comment. I had never even heard of Fordson when I got my '56 Major several years ago. Now I can't see myself owning another brand of tractor. The sheer simplicity and quality of construction on these machines is something that you won't find in today's equipment. When you can take a machine that has been sitting for several years that wasn't properly stored to begin with, and drive it onto the trailer to bring home, that is saying something.

What's the attachment on the three point linkage? And is it attached directly to the draft control yoke? If so, it needs to be attached to the pin below, and if the attachment is not one that needs draft control, then two pins need to be inserted to save the draft control mechanism from forces it's not designed to take.

That is my three point lifting boom. I put it on to try and free up the hydraulics, as they were stuck in the up position. It has since been moved to the proper location on the yoke.

Love the faded orange colour. What's the story behind this?

I have no idea! The guy I bought it from said that it is exactly the way it was when he got it. He intended to restore it and just never got around to it. Lucky me!

[AdrianNPMajor]

If your hydraulics won't lower, it's likely to be the unloading valve stuck in the raised position. If it is this, hanging a weight on the three point linkage won't do any good. The solution is to remove the hydraulic lid, withdraw the unloading valve plug, then withdraw the unloading valve piston. It will have a rubber O ring. This will need replacing.
Best
Adrian

[oehrick]

Congrats on a great addition to the squad

MAD is the medical term, Major Aquisition Disease - once caught its incurable

The non-hydraulics pattern seat looks odd to me - were they a common fitment or has this been grafted from elsewhere d'ya think?

Look forward to hearing more as you explore............

[lectricman]

I have been doing a little reading on the hydraulics. This is my first tractor with draft control, so it is all new to me. I know I'm going to have to do some work on it. The oil needs to be changed, and I want to change the filter while I'm at it. Is the only way to change the filter through the top cover? I haven't been inside the rear housing of a Fordson yet. Also, here is a pic of the hydraulics on my tractor. Does everything look to be in order or is something missing? It seems like there should be another knob somewhere on there. Thanks!

[lectricman]

Congrats on a great addition to the squad

MAD is the medical term, Major Aquisition Disease - once caught its incurable

The non-hydraulics pattern seat looks odd to me - were they a common fitment or has this been grafted from elsewhere d'ya think?

Look forward to hearing more as you explore............

Thanks for the diagnosis! Now I have something to tell the wife when she asks why I need two tractors! As far as the seat, I don't know. This is the first one I've seen with that type of seat. I do enjoy the taller stance, though, as I am 6'5'!

[AdrianNPMajor]

It all looks pretty complete. Just a knob missing off the auxiliary service control, and a plug missing from the jack tapping point.
There are two filters - an inlet and an exhaust. The inlet is accessed from below the tractor, the exhaust is only accessible by removing the lid.
The photos below give you an idea of what you are going to find (with a few minor differences).
Best
Adrian

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[URL=http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/ ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[BearCreek Majors]

Nice looking toy you picked up!
The seat looks like it may be off a industrial fordson that didn't have the threepoint, thus it is taller than the original seat. I always use the center hole as the attachment point for the threepoint top link, it wasn't uncommon to break the top yoke when hooking onto the top pin. And if your hunting down fenders make sure they are for the Super Major as they don't have the cutout for the brake drum as the earlier Majors do.
What part of Fla are you at, I lived over in Dixie county for a while when I was a kid.

Pat

[lectricman]

What part of Fla are you at, I lived over in Dixie county for a while when I was a kid.

Pat

I'm in Hernando County, about 45 miles north of Tampa. I have a lot of family in Wisconsin that I've never met. Mostly in and around Slinger. I'm sure you've heard of Wolf's Head motor oil, right? Family company.

[BearCreek Majors]

Yup, we have Wolfs head up here as well. And I’ve been by Slinger many times, there’s a nice little museum in Hartford that focuses on the history of the Kissel automobile that’s only a few miles away.

Pat

[ford5000y]

As for the Super Major's seat, do not worry . The two Fordson Super major here in our area has the same seat as that one.

Good thing that you managed to get a set of rear tyres. Tractor tyres were quite expensive, here in the Philippines the price of a set of rear tyres would make a farmer think and say "I think the old tyres could still do some more work". For instance, my grandfather's 1973 ford 4000. I could still remember a rear tyre it has back then. A goodyear 38 rim one. They only replaced it by the time there is literally almost NO treads left at all. Now it needs a new set of front tyres but again due to price,my gradfayher still has the LITERALLY disintegrated front tyres in the tractor and still in service!!!

[oehrick]

And in the UK one of mine is so worn Dad had wrapped any old chains he could find round it to give some grip.............

Rick

[lectricman]

Tires have gotton pretty expensive stateside, too. I probably won't be buying new ones anytime soon! I am on vacation next week, so I hope to spend some time with the new girl. I just hope the other one doesn't get jealous!

[neilarmo]

I just hope the other one doesn't get jealous!

Why Tractors are Better than Women

You can ride on a tractor any time of the month.
Tractors don't have parents.
You can share your tractor with friends.
If your tractor makes too much noise, you can buy a muffler.
If your tractor smokes, you can do something about it.
If you smoke, your tractor doesn't care.
Tractors don't whine unless something is really wrong.
Tractors don't care how many other tractors you have been on.
Tractors don't care if you look at other tractors or if you buy tractor magazines.
Tractors don't care how many other tractors you have.
If your tractor is too loose, you can tighten it.
You can have a beer while riding on your tractor.
You can have a different color tractor and show it to your parents.
You don't have to be jealous of the guy working on your tractor.
You don't deal with priests or blood tests when registering your tractor.
If you say bad things to your tractor, you don't have to apologize before you can ride again.
You can ride on your tractor as much as you want and it won't get sore.
Your parents don't keep in touch with your old tractors after you dump them.
Tractors always feel like going for a ride.
Tractors don't insult you if you're a bad driver.
Your tractor never wants a night out alone with other tractors.
Tractors don't care if you're late.
You don't have to take a shower before driving your tractor.
It's always O.K. to use tie-downs on your tractor.
If your tractor doesn't look good, you can paint it or buy new parts.
You can't get diseases from riding on other tractors.
Tractors’ curves never sag.
Tractors last longer.
Tractors never get pregnant.
On your tractor, you can control the speed and time of arrival.

[chriss]

I just hope the other one doesn't get jealous!

Why Tractors are Better than Women

You can ride on a tractor any time of the month.
Tractors don't have parents.
You can share your tractor with friends.
If your tractor makes too much noise, you can buy a muffler.
If your tractor smokes, you can do something about it.
If you smoke, your tractor doesn't care.
Tractors don't whine unless something is really wrong.
Tractors don't care how many other tractors you have been on.
Tractors don't care if you look at other tractors or if you buy tractor magazines.
Tractors don't care how many other tractors you have.
If your tractor is too loose, you can tighten it.
You can have a beer while riding on your tractor.
You can have a different color tractor and show it to your parents.
You don't have to be jealous of the guy working on your tractor.
You don't deal with priests or blood tests when registering your tractor.
If you say bad things to your tractor, you don't have to apologize before you can ride again.
You can ride on your tractor as much as you want and it won't get sore.
Your parents don't keep in touch with your old tractors after you dump them.
Tractors always feel like going for a ride.
Tractors don't insult you if you're a bad driver.
Your tractor never wants a night out alone with other tractors.
Tractors don't care if you're late.
You don't have to take a shower before driving your tractor.
It's always O.K. to use tie-downs on your tractor.
If your tractor doesn't look good, you can paint it or buy new parts.
You can't get diseases from riding on other tractors.
Tractors’ curves never sag.
Tractors last longer.
Tractors never get pregnant.
On your tractor, you can control the speed and time of arrival.

.

[BearCreek Majors]

those tires sure makes your tractors rearend look big, whey yes....yes it does!

Pat

[super6954]

Hi neilarmo
looks like the moderators and members on this forum have a better sense of humor, than some of the ones on yesterdays tractor forums If you posted this on there somebody would of whined how offensive it was to women, and got it removed by now, and probably you banned from the forums as well .
Got way to many highly religious guys down there on that forum, with no sense of humor on some of the boards .
Thanks for posting is pretty funny and all in the mind, guess some minds are a little more crooked round here .
Regards Robert

[neilarmo]

Hi neilarmo
looks like the moderators and members on this forum have a better sense of humor, than some of the ones on yesterdays tractor forums If you posted this on there somebody would of whined how offensive it was to women, and got it removed by now, and probably you banned from the forums as well .
Got way to many highly religious guys down there on that forum, with no sense of humor on some of the boards .
Thanks for posting is pretty funny and all in the mind, guess some minds are a little more crooked round here .
Regards Robert

Thanks Robert, I knew it was getting towards an 'off topic' post but I hoped the mods would see it as relevant to the OP.
Neil,

1952 E1A Major
1961 Roadless Super Major
1963 NP Super Major
but I'm not buying any more dear, honest.

[lectricman]

Did a little work with the new girl day before yesterday, I ran the bush hog for about an hour mowing some tall grass and undergrowth. I am definetly getting water in the engine oil, I just don't know from where. I hope its the head gasket and not a liner o-ring The oil pressure also got pretty low after a while. Around 15 lbs at speed and 5-7 at idle. I know that the oil is comprimised with the water getting in it, and it is only 30w to begin with. I have a feeling that a full rebuild is in my future Oh well, at least I will have a chance to make it right again.