City kid to agriculture transplant experience lol Never needed to keep things down only lift them with the ford's 3 point - that day I learned I need some extra equipment if I'm going to make this sickle mower work lol
Ya that's called a "trailer mower" meant to be towed by a rigid drawbar. Look for data on the correct measurements for the pto connection and driveline to drawpin. Make sure the 9N is heavy enough to tow the mower on your terrain. Great video
Yup, that's a drawbar mower. But keep at it, if you are going to be a farm boy you need to get hot and sweaty and itchy baling hay in July. Wait till you have to figure out how to fix the twine tie system on your antique baler (there are old New Holland youtubes that can help). Double-clutch skill also helps you start out in second and then switch to third once you have a little momentum. We have confidence in you!
@@thomasknobbe4472snicker yep sure do, and better hope you don't have ground hornets up your way, because you will learn how to leave a tractor running in a hurry if you do.
You can buy a hitch that bolts to the back of your 9N. The 3-point hitch has no down pressure, only up, so it won't work with equipment with a negative tongue weight.
@@grillinrandy395this is the way to go, towing anything on the three point can be very dangerous as sudden braking can send the lift arms and everything flying upwards. I think there are bolt holes with threads on the underside of the rear differential where a proper pulling setup can be mounted well below the center of the wheels so you can’t do wheelies either.
By old tractor standards you do not go on a road trip. XD Our tractor from the early 60s only cross the road for snow plowing into the ditch now. And it still has better tires then that thing. But eh. It is a light machine and good roads.
Back then it could be a bit of distance between fields or from one side of a farm to the other. Can't lose light just driving around! Love the channel!
8N's are terrifying in road gear. I own two and both have bad brakes and will sometimes go into a death wobble from the tie rods and steering boxes being worn. So don't even get me started on how fast one with a Sherman overdrive transmission and a Funk V8 conversion would go. That being said, they are pretty fun to putt around on and are fairly reliable work tractors if you choose to use them that way.
My dad's friend had one with a funk conversion kit. He found out that the steering box and tie rods was the same as a Ford truck from that Era. His would trip along down the road at 55mph.
Those old N series tractors didn't have a double acting cylinder on the three point. You can actually just lift the drawbar up anytime by hand. To pull a trailer you are supposed to use what are called "stay bars" to keep the drawbar down.
Goes to show what I know lol I've always used it for lifting, never to keep things down - I see that if I want to use this sickle mower with the ford, I best get that figured out!
@ThunderHead289 if you've got the bolt holes for it, there are drawbars that mount to the bottom of the axle that beat the bar across the 3-point any day.
Most tractors have no down pressure on the 3 point hitch, even modern ones. It's not necessary 99% of the time. That mower is set up on a carriage made to hook to a standard drawbar. Never seen a sickle mower set up that way but lots of disk mowers are.
Fix it up! That Gremlin is an absolute treasure. If I had one, I'd just freshen up the motor but keep it economic as a daily; then save the full sized Ford I drive for all the hefty motor work.
You pushed my buttons with this video. I personally owned both a gremlin and a 8N. Both were fun . The gremlin was a six cylinder with a manual. Sipped fuel. The 8N ran great, moved down the road pretty quick and had good power. Like yours it started every time.
At this point gasoline tractors were competing with steam and diesel. Ford was really proud of their gasoline engines and they could do something that others couldn't. And every farmer already owned a good single or double bottom plow and now they can drag it significantly faster across the feilds. This is how my grandpa explained it to me. In the sixties diesel technology got significantly better and essentially killed the gas tractor with capacity, not speed.
A lot of the time back in the day, the family only had a car and a farm truck and the tractor for the fields, so they had to haul the harvest by trailer to the local grain silos or into town which could be several miles or tens of miles and it was high gearing in tractors which allowed farmers to pull loads over the roads faster. They didn't have their own semi trucks on the smaller farms, so the tractor doubled as a tractor trailer (thus the term). Not to mention, some farmers had several fields they farmed and they were several miles from one another.
Great old tractors right there. I had six of them at one time. The higher gears were called road gears. As you seen they work well. I suggest that you have a "one way" adapter for the PTO if you want to stop when using a bush hog. The extra gears were not standard for the tractor. That was an aftermarket option.
I do have an overrun coupler on it - I had quite the experience on my first use of the brush hog! It's all been a fun learning experience, but I've used the heck out of the thing in the last 3 years, just keeps on going.
Top gear on the tractor is for road transport. Officially. Back in the '40's, it probably doubled as the family car when they went to the country store/post office in town. Like my mom's family of 12 siblings on the farm. The tractor with a trailer hauled a lot of kids around when you need to.
Back in the day apparently people often used tractors for transportation. Compared to a Model T or A they weren't that bad to drive. Minneapolis-Moline even made the UDLX Comfortractor with a car like cab for that market segment, of course they only sold like four of them. One has to remember that the steering components were all tighter then too. On the 9N and/or 8N there's a bearing in the bottom of the steering box that goes bad, if you get a lot of slop on the wheel that's one thing to look at. Fixed one on a buddy's 8N or 9N made a hell of a difference. Before they opened a redimix plant near Royal Iowa, the lumber yard had 9N or 8N Fords with little PTO cement mixers. They tossed in the cement ingredients by hand at the yard then went to beat hell through town on the things to the cement job they had a bunch of the damned things. Being like 6 or 7 at the time it was the most exciting thing in town. Well second to the rich farm kids racing their new muscle cars on main street, was about 1970 after all. Seldom saw a deputy in Royal then and they tended to look the other way when it came to rich farm boys.
Had a friend in Ohio back in the 70's he was an Oldtimer back then .He lost his License for life from many DUI's .He drove an old tractor like the one in this post . He drove that thing to the Bar everyday 😊
@midnightrunner684 When I was a kid, an old guy drove an old tractor to church every Sunday. In northern Minnesota -40 isn't unusual. I don't remember him ever missing church, no cab, no heat, nothing, he was there! Of course, my mom road to Church in a Model A no heat in that damned thing either. People were tougher back then.
Where there's a will, there's a way, or when you do things that way, you better have a will. Still a fun time as always and hope you fix up that old Gremlin.
On those old N series Fords always check your distributor bearings for play. When they get worn and loose its impossible to set your dwell correct and causes them to start hard. Easy fix actually that makes a huge diff.
Definitely worth a look - my governer has a lot of play which effects response time, totally functional and to most people wouldn't even care or notice, but I know lol
You haven't lived until you've driven a Farmall F-20 with a Heisler road gear addon (capable of 35 mph) and have the steering wheel come off into your lap......
I have a 8N Ford a 1952 and we use it on the farm as our poor mans side by side. I have 2500 dollars in the old tractor, and my sister has a side by side that cost close to 31 thousand dollars. we ride together and both of us have fun. Tractor Fun ridding on country roads or on the farm.
Those tires will go a looooong time with your use! Run 'em until they pop! You should see some of the crap gashed open tires we used to run. We were lucky to have dirt when I was your age...
Those old Ford tractors are indestructible. My grandfather bought one in July of 1950. He still had it in 2008 when the engine finally threw a rod and cracked the block. Sold for scrap, despite my protests.
I was wondering if you were going to show off the magic carb controller on this old tractor. There were half a million ferguson, ford/ferguson, and ford tractors made every year for a decade or so. That's why it seems like they are around. Our hardest working tractor on the farm was a Ferguson 35 (35hp, 4-cyl) that had live pto and a lower and higher gear than the Fords (the sherman shifter on yours was aftermarket/dealer install as I remember, not many around).
I used to live in the middle of nowhere, Kansas (Mcpherson). They had an old tank as well. I agree, it's pretty strange seeing an old war beast just sitting there, growing rust in a small town. Now, how about putting a carb cheater on the 9N?
It was a common complaint that they weren't very low geared but they were extremely useful for hay and brush cutting and general live stock work most farmers around me kept them around for that and used a massy or a john deere for plowing
Luke. Few things about your 8N... Front wheel wobble...it's fine...they all do it, but not terrible or expensive to tighten up. 1. Worn tie rod ends 2. Tighten lash on steering box 3. Check wheel bearings 4. The hardest...new kingpins and bushings fit and reamed to size. The Feguson style 3 point hitch is only power up and gravity down. The 8/9Ns are a very economical and user friendly tractor that are the ultimate in simplicity. Henry Fords aim as a former poor farm boy was to build an affordable and economical tractor for small farmers. Yes they had good speed. If you needed to run to town for supplies...why take two days to do it? Take the Missus and the 12 children to church on Sunday on a haywagon...lol. or sneak off to the VFDubya for a nip....lol
I started school in 1960 and one of the local farmers about 1 1/2 miles from the school worked at the school. He drove his old 8N Ford tractor to work every day rain or shine, because he did not own a car. His brother next to him had a Model T that they drove to town on weekends to get groceries. They both passed away in their late 80's. He also row cropped his 60 acre farm with the 8N until he got to old to farm.
you should be using the 2 rigid bars that hold the drawbar down, , you hook them to the top center link holes, and they go to both outside ends of the drawbar, you have to leave the 3 point lever in the full down position, when doing that
spent my youth driving tractors and equipent from hay field to hay field. we also did the mowing, raking and bailing so Dad could swing by after work and haul a load of hay home.
I love your content Luke but like an old tractor, you might have a screw loose taking that machine to those speeds. Happy you made it back and look forward to watching you revive your wife's new daily driver.
We had a Ferguson TO20 which is basically that same tractor. Had the same gearing. Use to drive that in high gear in the field and hold on for dear life. Was a good machine. Just needed power steering as we had a loader on the front and it was very heavy.
Dad put a 302 into an 8n when I was a kid. It would leave about 8ft of black marks and carry the front tires about 16inches in the barn. It would to straight up in the yard. He used it to pull the girl scout christmas float one year in our local parade.
Oh man watching that RF wheel threatening to jump ship had me laughing. I almost miss when I was young and not averse to sketchiness. These days I'm lucky to talk myself into taking a trailer of trash to the dump when I've got a tail light out.
Thanks for such a fun video. Who would have fun watching you drive it to pick up the equipment, mission accomplished. Now you have me eager to see more on the car I thought from day one was ugly never wanted one now still think it’s ugly and want one. Go figure. Keep me in mind as a potential buyer. Would definitely install a carb Cheater. Take care once again nice seeing you again in Bristol. Some day my treat we will have to as they say break bread together Bill in Fort Wayne Indiana
@@ThunderHead289 Gearing is what made the 8N. There is an operator manual still available for that tractor which I found very useful. Just be careful when pulling from the rear of the tractor and keep your foot near the clutch. Enjoy Luke!
But do NOT ride the clutch... you'll prematurely wear it out. IIRC, getting to it requires breaking the tractor in half which is a royal PITA for even the most experienced mechs. Don't ask me how I know that! Best farming wishes! - Max Giganteum PS Since you've had a racing mower... it only makes sense that you'd upgrade & join the secret society of race tractors. You'll be pulling the sled soon enough laddie! Also, I was surprised to see Emily in the vid. Apparently, she's braver than you are - at least with bees.
I have a 258 six cylinder 3 speed stick shift. It would get 20+ MPG. Also had a 26 or 28 gallon gas tank. Usually in midwest the tops of the front fenders rusted BAD...that one looks awesome in that respect. AMC used a mix of other mfg parts. AC Delco ignition parts, Motorcraft alternators and starters, etc. K swapped Gremlin might be super cool :-).
Ran a couple of ford tractors, so hardly any experience. Still have my dads Farm all Cub (well, son has it completely disassembled in his pole barn currently, lol.) so that's where my experience is with old tractors started. Road gear is for out racing bees & thunderstorms, lol. Had 2 Gremlins, a'73 in HS got great mileage, hauled 3 buddies & skis on top in the winter, & 1 & camping gear with the back seat folded down... The '74 in collage was a buddy project, lol. We managed to squeeze 9.2 @ 142mph for a couple of years, but the body was about the only original AMC left, harhar... Fun for what they were, kinda nimble with the short wheelbase. Have fun, gotta see what it looks like clean... Thanx !
Looks exactly like the one I use in farming simulator. Ferguson or something. A great video, really like videos where you get something else filmed. It just makes the channel more interesting to me and probably a lot of other viewers who enjoy nature, technology and mechanical skills.
Reason they look similar is because after WW2 the handshake agreement between Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford fell apart. Ferguson owned the British factory making tractors for Ford, so he made a few changes and introduced the "new" Ferguson TO-20
Reminds me of the old Ferguson tractor grandpa had. He got it after returning from WWII. Lasted till he died and it ended up in the hands of my dad, who cracked the block.
With so many Gremlins popping up on RUclips lately, someone needs to arrange a round up, meet up and Gremlin challenge. Sallys speed shop Junkyard digs Sleeperdude Turnin rust (Pacer) Who did I miss?
You know I'm not quite as tall as you are, but I tend to be longer in the wasit, and I still can't keep my knees in the proper angle to use the pedals correctly. I don't have a Ford, but then the Ferguson TO20, and TO30 are basically the same tractor as the N series Fords are. I haven't a clue how you use the pedals as tall as you are, because I purchased a different seat, and did a little modification in order to make it a lot more comfortable, as well as safer in my opinion. For around a $100.00 dollars you can get yourself a proper seat with lumbar support adjustable spring loaded, and the ability to slide the seat itself backwards for ease of getting on an off the tractor. I also welded a piece of 4x1.5"C channel together for additional hight. Which I also offset the holes in the in it so that it bolted down to the original studs, but allows me to move the seat mounting hardware back a few inches this gave me the proper seating setback to use the pedals correctly according to let being slightly behind on the foot boards. Which also allows me to get on and off my tractor without having to feel like I mounting a horse by slinging my leg over the seat then sitting down as I am certain you are doing Now I can simply stand up and step off the foot board in either direction without having to step over the seat and leave the tractor backwards as you are. With the addition of the proper seat with backrest and the adjustable spring my lower back no longer aches for hours after shredding the pasture are dragging my driveway. It's well worth the few dollars, and a hundred dollars isn't a small amount of money to me, but it dam sure makes using my tractor a pleasure instead of something I dread doing now. I don't know if you have Tractor Supply, are Attwoods where you are, but I know you have the equivalent, and if not you can look online for the same setup or something close enough to mine for yourself. I promise you won't regret it, especially if you plan on cutting your own hay with a the equipment small enough for the tractor you have, because you will be literally on your tractor for several days depending on the amount of hay field you plan on processing. Between the cutting, possibly raking twice depending on moisture, and baling it, and then moving it to wherever you plan on storing it. Yeah, might should be accessing the WWW now to find yourself your own proper seating arrangement, because you will thank me later if you do choose to follow my lead here. Wish I had the Sherman overdrive on mine, but at least I have 4 gears to choose from. And it doesn't matter if you adjust the tightness of the wheel bearings they all seem to have the same tendency to wobble going down the road at any speed. BTW, the tractor will ride better if you only have maximum of around 12 psi in the rear tires, and about 30 in the front steers about as good as it gets for them anything lower just makes it harder to steer one handed around the pasture as your working whatever implement you have on at the time. Good luck on your adventure into the hay business young man, and keep the AMC, they're a pretty nice machine to hot rod. My cousin had one with a hopped up 390, top loader 4 speed, and N50's on the back. Thing was a wicked little hot rod for sure, just have to go easy and use 2nd gear on rainy days otherwise you don't get very far if you follow me. Peace n Harmony my young friend
Damn dude I finally get to being an adult with enough money to try and find an AMC Gremlin and it feels like everyone else is getting one Tho the fact that the inventor of the carb cheater shares my taste is nice
Wanting a Gremlin... oooohhhh the irony! Why? Because like the Pinto, amongst other cars, you couldn't give those things away by 1990. Nobody and I mean NOBODY wanted them. Now? They're collectible like the Pinto. Speaking of nobody, nobody saw that coming back in the day! Best wishes! - Max Giganteum
My Dad bought some tired Massey-Ferguson backhoe back in the day and had me follow him home on it. I remember being terrified by the condition of the tires. "It'll be fine," he said. They were much, much worse than this. About 30 minutes in I also realized it had no brakes. But we made it.
Be careful with these little tractors. I have one and I love it. Mine is old enough and still has the magneto on it. I planned update it. I have a new one as well I think it's from the 50s. Like any tractor they can roll or flip but my opinion they don't have enough stance and rubber to be on a very steep grade mowing across it. I like to say I got two of them and one like this one with a roof on it which is kind of interesting. Are great little tractors for pulling smaller logs out of the forest with log hauler. I can go on about them but they're great little tractor 🚜. Like anything else just know it's limitation. I think a guy that can build a carb cheater can figure it out quite well
❤😂😅😮🤯😁😁😁😁😁😁😁👍🇺🇸thank's for sharing brother Hope you all have a great day From a Canadian to a yank that tank was cool looking Can't wait to see what you get up to next Saving up for my carb cheater for my 95 Ford 150 But I'm going to have to buy a smartphone first 😂 Keep your stick on the ice brother Just saying
Yeah, well our old 1939 John Deere "A" would fly down the road in 6th gear and I always had the same question...why? LOL! For some reason youtube unsubscribed me and I just assumed you had stopped posting videos until today when the Gremlin popped up on my feed and I clicked it and saw I was unsubscribed. But I'm subscribed again now and binge watching to catch up, LOL! In 1st gear the old John Deere would creep along and that was fine when you wanted the torque for mowing heavy alfalfa or clover. We had an old pull type JD mowing machine and you wanted to go slow in heavy stuff so you didn't break the wood pittman arm on the mowing machine. We rebuilt the hydraulics on the "A" and made a 3 point hitch for it, but the only 3 point tool we had was the 3 bottom plow, LOL! Everything else we had--rake, square baler, disc, harrow, bush-hog, wood splitter, etc were all pull-type. We built a couple of our implements from scratch. The harrow was 3 pieces of heavy angle iron welded into a triangle with railroad tie spikes welded to the angle iron. We built our own wood splitter and instead of running it with an independent engine like a Briggs, we just quick coupled it to the hydraulics on the tractor, set the tractor to idle and split wood all day that way.
Looks like a nice original 9N Ford, it's even still the original all dark gray color. I've been doing a little research into what was original on the 9Ns since I bought mine and quite a few 9Ns and 2Ns were repainted by dealers because it raised the resale value on them back in the day, potential buyers wanted the more modern 8N look. 😊 You have a Sherman or Hupp auxiliary overdrive unit. From what I read, the maximum speed with the overdrive is a little over 18 mph, which is flying on 9N Ford. 😂 Our old 9N didn't have the auxiliary transmission, and when driving from farm to farm, it was painfully slow. I assume that's why a farmer would spend extra money when buying a new tractor back in the day. Also, back then, some farmers owned no other vehicles other than the tractor, so it was also what they drove to town to shop, go to church, etcetera. When I was a child, I had one old relative whose only vehicle was his M Farmall, which seemed kinda strange to me back then. I'm working on a 1940 9N Ford tractor, ruclips.net/video/xOcbIcXuMW4/видео.html This one has an auxiliary transmission, I'm hoping it's an underdrive because 1st gear on a 9N is too fast for many situations. My brother is convinced that it's the relatively rare over/ underdrive, giving you the best of both worlds, a 9 speed 9N! I couldn't get that lucky, so it's probably the overdrive. 😢 I'm not planning on driving it on the road much, so overdrive isn't going to be that useful. If I want to go fast on a tractor, I own Farmalls.😊 I believe our old 9N was pretty economical to operate, lacking on power but a cheap to run. The most economical tractor I have running right now is my 1944 H Farmall. I drove the H to Creston, Iowa, once to pick up some items I bought at an auction down there. On my return home, I filled the tank in Creston, then refueled in Greenfield, and I couldn't squeeze 2 gallons in the H. I actually overfilled the tank in Greenfield, that's about 23 miles between the gas stations, so I think that's not bad for a tractor. I enjoyed how you got creative pulling the sickle mower! 😂 Looks like a New Holland. I have an IH sickle mower that I bought at an auction SW of Prescott. It has a big weight welded under the tongue to counteract the negative tongue weight. I used a come-a-long, in the place of a hydraulic cylinder to raise the sickle off of the ground and pulled it home with my pickup. I hit 65mph on the highway once and the mower trailed like a dream. 👍
I remember picking up hay bales with my Papa when I was around 10, and I always liked his old Ford truck and tractor. When I went to college I worked on a USDA Test Farm in the summers,where I often plowed all day getting the fields ready for planting. Great memories, and thanks for taking me back! And my Daddy was looking at a Pacer in 1976 for the gas mileage,but I always wanted one of the Levi's Gremlins with the blue jean interior.😂
That gremlin is sweet! Tottal score. I have 3 old tractors all case. M , super m and a 730 diesel. Only 1 of my tractors have tires that are not dry rotted, but the rest of them have been on the tractors holding air since I was born 31 years. My family's farm that's getting passed along threw generations I'm going to be the 4 generation of helmers on the farm. Love the videos Luke! You seem so relatable coming from a Wisconsin city boy/ farmer!
Rice county Minnesota has a tractor show on Labor Day weekend every year. This year Ford is the featured tractor. We are about 70 miles north of the Iowa border. Bring your 9N on up. You can camp at the show grounds if you want to. Rice county steam and gas engine.
In the 40s and early 50’s farmers often used there tractors to haul grain to elevators in small towns, nobody wanted to wait in the long lines there during harvest. Tractors were also used to haul livestock to auctions. Many family’s could only afford one or the other (car or tractor).😮
I'm fascinated with any old car that has been parked in some nook and cranny for decades. It's extra cool when the car has a story behind the reason the owner stopped driving it and why did they never drive it again.
My grandpa’s Ferguson 30 has an aftermarket hi-range and it’ll supposedly do 45, lol. I’ve seen it go, and it’s definitely fast, but I haven’t driven it in high range on the road.
Since it has a nice interior then it comes down to the body. If the body is pretty solid I would definitely keep it, Gremlins were pretty cool. No, I would not LS swap it, a turbocharged 258 six would be extra cool.
If I am not mistaken these were also used for hauling to some degree. The term "tracror Trailer" I belive came from this time period. Awesome tractor, wishing I had the land to own one.
Im sure someone said it but the problem with your sickle bar mower wanting to go down is your 3 point hitch. If it were working correctly you can turn on the pto then pull the three point lift lever up and when it gets to the desired height you can press the clutch and leave the lever all of the way up for towing things. You will need a drawbar under the tractor to actually use your sickle bar mower. Good luck
City kid to agriculture transplant experience lol
Never needed to keep things down only lift them with the ford's 3 point - that day I learned I need some extra equipment if I'm going to make this sickle mower work lol
Ya that's called a "trailer mower" meant to be towed by a rigid drawbar. Look for data on the correct measurements for the pto connection and driveline to drawpin. Make sure the 9N is heavy enough to tow the mower on your terrain.
Great video
Yup, that's a drawbar mower. But keep at it, if you are going to be a farm boy you need to get hot and sweaty and itchy baling hay in July. Wait till you have to figure out how to fix the twine tie system on your antique baler (there are old New Holland youtubes that can help). Double-clutch skill also helps you start out in second and then switch to third once you have a little momentum. We have confidence in you!
@@thomasknobbe4472snicker yep sure do, and better hope you don't have ground hornets up your way, because you will learn how to leave a tractor running in a hurry if you do.
You can buy a hitch that bolts to the back of your 9N. The 3-point hitch has no down pressure, only up, so it won't work with equipment with a negative tongue weight.
@@grillinrandy395this is the way to go, towing anything on the three point can be very dangerous as sudden braking can send the lift arms and everything flying upwards. I think there are bolt holes with threads on the underside of the rear differential where a proper pulling setup can be mounted well below the center of the wheels so you can’t do wheelies either.
By old tractor standards those tires are pretty good.
By old tractor standards you do not go on a road trip. XD
Our tractor from the early 60s only cross the road for snow plowing into the ditch now. And it still has better tires then that thing. But eh. It is a light machine and good roads.
Our tires are worse than that and we drive 7 miles to and from a field in the summer making hay. they have a few years let in them.
People on Facebook marketplace would call those new tires I’ve seen it multiple times
So true..
COULD SELL THOSE IMPLEMENT TYRES TO A RAT RODDER....@@Cherokee93
Back then it could be a bit of distance between fields or from one side of a farm to the other. Can't lose light just driving around! Love the channel!
Hi 👋 thunder head 289 I like 👍 Ford 8n tractor 🚜 they are so cool 😎 the 4. Gear ⚙️ is top running 🏃♀️ gear ⚙️ to get you to the next field 😮
i wanna see a carb cheater on the tractor! it would be nice to see how well they work on an updraft!
Same
Same!
I would like to try one on my Ford Model T, I am constantly messing withe the air fuel mix.
That's what i thought he was gonna do
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
8N's are terrifying in road gear. I own two and both have bad brakes and will sometimes go into a death wobble from the tie rods and steering boxes being worn. So don't even get me started on how fast one with a Sherman overdrive transmission and a Funk V8 conversion would go. That being said, they are pretty fun to putt around on and are fairly reliable work tractors if you choose to use them that way.
My dad's friend had one with a funk conversion kit. He found out that the steering box and tie rods was the same as a Ford truck from that Era. His would trip along down the road at 55mph.
Wheel/tire tramp at high speed.
Good backup when you lose your driver license
Put your feet on the steer arms to keep the play out.
I'm not sure if it was Sherman or another company, but I used a 9n that had an underdrive box added to it. Made it quite usable.
I like the non OSHA approved gas containers. At least you can actually pour gas into the tank, unlike the new ones, which require three hands to pour.
Get yourself a justrite cas can. They are pretty nice albeit expensive for a gas can.
You can buy replacement spouts at places like Menards, probably online too
Those old N series tractors didn't have a double acting cylinder on the three point. You can actually just lift the drawbar up anytime by hand. To pull a trailer you are supposed to use what are called "stay bars" to keep the drawbar down.
Goes to show what I know lol I've always used it for lifting, never to keep things down - I see that if I want to use this sickle mower with the ford, I best get that figured out!
@ThunderHead289 if you've got the bolt holes for it, there are drawbars that mount to the bottom of the axle that beat the bar across the 3-point any day.
Most tractors have no down pressure on the 3 point hitch, even modern ones. It's not necessary 99% of the time. That mower is set up on a carriage made to hook to a standard drawbar. Never seen a sickle mower set up that way but lots of disk mowers are.
@@ThunderHead289there's aftermarket position control device you can buy.
Fix it up! That Gremlin is an absolute treasure. If I had one, I'd just freshen up the motor but keep it economic as a daily; then save the full sized Ford I drive for all the hefty motor work.
You pushed my buttons with this video. I personally owned both a gremlin and a 8N. Both were fun . The gremlin was a six cylinder with a manual. Sipped fuel. The 8N ran great, moved down the road pretty quick and had good power. Like yours it started every time.
At this point gasoline tractors were competing with steam and diesel. Ford was really proud of their gasoline engines and they could do something that others couldn't. And every farmer already owned a good single or double bottom plow and now they can drag it significantly faster across the feilds. This is how my grandpa explained it to me. In the sixties diesel technology got significantly better and essentially killed the gas tractor with capacity, not speed.
100% keep the gremmy. you got the mav, wife gets the gremmy, econobox challenge!
That old Sherman Transmission coming in clutch ❤
A lot of the time back in the day, the family only had a car and a farm truck and the tractor for the fields, so they had to haul the harvest by trailer to the local grain silos or into town which could be several miles or tens of miles and it was high gearing in tractors which allowed farmers to pull loads over the roads faster. They didn't have their own semi trucks on the smaller farms, so the tractor doubled as a tractor trailer (thus the term). Not to mention, some farmers had several fields they farmed and they were several miles from one another.
I grew up with an 8N and an 800 and a Gremlin. I didn't know how lucky I was.
Great old tractors right there. I had six of them at one time. The higher gears were called road gears. As you seen they work well. I suggest that you have a "one way" adapter for the PTO if you want to stop when using a bush hog. The extra gears were not standard for the tractor. That was an aftermarket option.
I do have an overrun coupler on it - I had quite the experience on my first use of the brush hog! It's all been a fun learning experience, but I've used the heck out of the thing in the last 3 years, just keeps on going.
Keep the Gremlin! Pretty sure I haven’t seen an interior that nice on a barn find.
Now, back to the video.
Top gear on the tractor is for road transport. Officially. Back in the '40's, it probably doubled as the family car when they went to the country store/post office in town. Like my mom's family of 12 siblings on the farm. The tractor with a trailer hauled a lot of kids around when you need to.
Wow at how clean the interior is on that gremlin the outside has that rare sell it in a jar barn dust 😂
Back in the day apparently people often used tractors for transportation. Compared to a Model T or A they weren't that bad to drive. Minneapolis-Moline even made the UDLX Comfortractor with a car like cab for that market segment, of course they only sold like four of them.
One has to remember that the steering components were all tighter then too.
On the 9N and/or 8N there's a bearing in the bottom of the steering box that goes bad, if you get a lot of slop on the wheel that's one thing to look at. Fixed one on a buddy's 8N or 9N made a hell of a difference.
Before they opened a redimix plant near Royal Iowa, the lumber yard had 9N or 8N Fords with little PTO cement mixers. They tossed in the cement ingredients by hand at the yard then went to beat hell through town on the things to the cement job they had a bunch of the damned things. Being like 6 or 7 at the time it was the most exciting thing in town. Well second to the rich farm kids racing their new muscle cars on main street, was about 1970 after all. Seldom saw a deputy in Royal then and they tended to look the other way when it came to rich farm boys.
Had a friend in Ohio back in the 70's he was an Oldtimer back then .He lost his License for life from many DUI's .He drove an old tractor like the one in this post . He drove that thing to the Bar everyday 😊
@midnightrunner684 When I was a kid, an old guy drove an old tractor to church every Sunday. In northern Minnesota -40 isn't unusual. I don't remember him ever missing church, no cab, no heat, nothing, he was there! Of course, my mom road to Church in a Model A no heat in that damned thing either. People were tougher back then.
That tractor has better oil pressure and a lot better mpg than my 351 Cleveland ;~)
Where there's a will, there's a way, or when you do things that way, you better have a will. Still a fun time as always and hope you fix up that old Gremlin.
Thanks for the cool video Luke. Nice Gremlin!
On those old N series Fords always check your distributor bearings for play. When they get worn and loose its impossible to set your dwell correct and causes them to start hard. Easy fix actually that makes a huge diff.
Definitely worth a look - my governer has a lot of play which effects response time, totally functional and to most people wouldn't even care or notice, but I know lol
Some of those tractors had crazy fast road gears. I've never been more terrified under 30 mph.
You haven't lived until you've driven a Farmall F-20 with a Heisler road gear addon (capable of 35 mph) and have the steering wheel come off into your lap......
25 to 30 mpg is pretty good for a old 40s Ford tractor most modern cars from 2022 can't even hit that lol 😂😂
Ha, agree. Although my 2013 Chevy Impala with a 6 cylinder gets a bit better than 30mpg on the highway.
When I was a boy, we had Apple Orchards in my town. They would cruise the tractors at that speed with a full wagon full of apples.
I have a 8N Ford a 1952 and we use it on the farm as our poor mans side by side. I have 2500 dollars in the old tractor, and my sister has a side by side that cost close to 31 thousand dollars. we ride together and both of us have fun. Tractor Fun ridding on country roads or on the farm.
Those tires will go a looooong time with your use! Run 'em until they pop! You should see some of the crap gashed open tires we used to run. We were lucky to have dirt when I was your age...
Those old Ford tractors are indestructible. My grandfather bought one in July of 1950. He still had it in 2008 when the engine finally threw a rod and cracked the block. Sold for scrap, despite my protests.
An old farmer told me once that those high gears were so they could save time getting to other crops/plots when harvest and planting.
Drove one for a summer for the old Iowa Conservation Commission. Used a mower deck for the most part. Great little worker.
I was wondering if you were going to show off the magic carb controller on this old tractor. There were half a million ferguson, ford/ferguson, and ford tractors made every year for a decade or so. That's why it seems like they are around. Our hardest working tractor on the farm was a Ferguson 35 (35hp, 4-cyl) that had live pto and a lower and higher gear than the Fords (the sherman shifter on yours was aftermarket/dealer install as I remember, not many around).
I used to live in the middle of nowhere, Kansas (Mcpherson).
They had an old tank as well.
I agree, it's pretty strange seeing an old war beast just sitting there, growing rust in a small town.
Now, how about putting a carb cheater on the 9N?
It was a common complaint that they weren't very low geared but they were extremely useful for hay and brush cutting and general live stock work most farmers around me kept them around for that and used a massy or a john deere for plowing
Fix the Gremlin. I agree. Prepare for the worse and be surprised and happy when it works out good.
People with your resourcefulness and creativity are going to be kings VERY soon.....
Luke. Few things about your 8N...
Front wheel wobble...it's fine...they all do it, but not terrible or expensive to tighten up.
1. Worn tie rod ends
2. Tighten lash on steering box
3. Check wheel bearings
4. The hardest...new kingpins and
bushings fit and reamed to size.
The Feguson style 3 point hitch is only power up and gravity down.
The 8/9Ns are a very economical and user friendly tractor that are the ultimate in simplicity. Henry Fords aim as a former poor farm boy was to build an affordable and economical tractor for small farmers.
Yes they had good speed. If you needed to run to town for supplies...why take two days to do it? Take the Missus and the 12 children to church on Sunday on a haywagon...lol. or sneak off to the VFDubya for a nip....lol
Incidently...if you get a chance to buy a Fordson Diesel ...jump on it
i appreciate that this isn't even a gimmick and that you're just into these kinds of shenanigans as a matter of course
Keep and restore the AMC gremlin. Would love to see a restoration video on it.
It's nice to see Emily again
I started school in 1960 and one of the local farmers about 1 1/2 miles from the school worked at the school. He drove his old 8N Ford tractor to work every day rain or shine, because he did not own a car. His brother next to him had a Model T that they drove to town on weekends to get groceries. They both passed away in their late 80's. He also row cropped his 60 acre farm with the 8N until he got to old to farm.
Got to work with what you have. I fully approve of the jerry rigged tow assembly. 👍
Ahh, hearing that old starter crank that Ford brought back childhood memories!
you should be using the 2 rigid bars that hold the drawbar down, , you hook them to the top center link holes, and they go to both outside ends of the drawbar, you have to leave the 3 point lever in the full down position, when doing that
I had a1952 9N. I could mow 3 acres on less than 2 gallons of gas. I enjoyed that tractor.
Good morning Luke brother Hope your well @Thunderhead289
That interior is MINT! Thank the previous owner for storing the car away from sunlight.
Beautiful view of the water
spent my youth driving tractors and equipent from hay field to hay field. we also did the mowing, raking and bailing so Dad could swing by after work and haul a load of hay home.
I don't know squat about tractors or hauling but my inner sketchy optimist was saying, "At least the pointy things are pointed backwards."
I love your content Luke but like an old tractor, you might have a screw loose taking that machine to those speeds. Happy you made it back and look forward to watching you revive your wife's new daily driver.
We had a Ferguson TO20 which is basically that same tractor. Had the same gearing. Use to drive that in high gear in the field and hold on for dear life.
Was a good machine. Just needed power steering as we had a loader on the front and it was very heavy.
Dad put a 302 into an 8n when I was a kid. It would leave about 8ft of black marks and carry the front tires about 16inches in the barn. It would to straight up in the yard. He used it to pull the girl scout christmas float one year in our local parade.
In the early years tractors were driven to the fields not hauled. Speed was to get to work faster!
Wish i lived somewhere that i could drive my 1952 john deere that far. It has a fairly fast 4th gear as well.
Probably some real farmers laughing and saying "Look at that city slicker with that sickle hooked on backwards. He'll be dead in a year."
I drove this tractor with my grandfather. Great memories
Oh man watching that RF wheel threatening to jump ship had me laughing. I almost miss when I was young and not averse to sketchiness. These days I'm lucky to talk myself into taking a trailer of trash to the dump when I've got a tail light out.
Got a 49 with a early 60s Wagner front loader. Love the old girl but she sure makes me respect the fellas that used them daily.
Luke always enjoy your videos especially the humor you make it fun
Thanks for such a fun video. Who would have fun watching you drive it to pick up the equipment, mission accomplished. Now you have me eager to see more on the car I thought from day one was ugly never wanted one now still think it’s ugly and want one. Go figure. Keep me in mind as a potential buyer. Would definitely install a carb Cheater. Take care once again nice seeing you again in Bristol. Some day my treat we will have to as they say break bread together
Bill in Fort Wayne Indiana
I would be more worried far the other drivers as to the death scimitar on the back waving through the air. Put an amc 343 in the barn find.
I have seen many 8N’s flipped over because of operator error. Great little tractors which are relatively inexpensive to own and operate.
I've used the heck out of it, most aggressive being a six foot brush hog which is way oversized. I'm amazed at what it's been able to do.
The Ferguson tractors did the same thing. It happened to one of my dad’s family members when he was a little kid.
@@ThunderHead289 Gearing is what made the 8N. There is an operator manual still available for that tractor which I found very useful. Just be careful when pulling from the rear of the tractor and keep your foot near the clutch. Enjoy Luke!
But do NOT ride the clutch... you'll prematurely wear it out. IIRC, getting to it requires breaking the tractor in half which is a royal PITA for even the most experienced mechs. Don't ask me how I know that! Best farming wishes!
- Max Giganteum
PS Since you've had a racing mower... it only makes sense that you'd upgrade & join the secret society of race tractors. You'll be pulling the sled soon enough laddie! Also, I was surprised to see Emily in the vid. Apparently, she's braver than you are - at least with bees.
Ford made these tractors based on the back end of the Ferguson. under license.
I didn’t know I needed this info until I watched this. Thanks!!
I have a 258 six cylinder 3 speed stick shift. It would get 20+ MPG. Also had a 26 or 28 gallon gas tank. Usually in midwest the tops of the front fenders rusted BAD...that one looks awesome in that respect. AMC used a mix of other mfg parts. AC Delco ignition parts, Motorcraft alternators and starters, etc. K swapped Gremlin might be super cool :-).
Those tires will run years from what I could tell.
They make a real nice vinyl seat cover for those tractors that actually has some good padding in it . 😂 I had one on my 8n
Ran a couple of ford tractors, so hardly any experience. Still have my dads Farm all Cub (well, son has it completely disassembled in his pole barn currently, lol.) so that's where my experience is with old tractors started. Road gear is for out racing bees & thunderstorms, lol. Had 2 Gremlins, a'73 in HS got great mileage, hauled 3 buddies & skis on top in the winter, & 1 & camping gear with the back seat folded down... The '74 in collage was a buddy project, lol. We managed to squeeze 9.2 @ 142mph for a couple of years, but the body was about the only original AMC left, harhar... Fun for what they were, kinda nimble with the short wheelbase. Have fun, gotta see what it looks like clean... Thanx !
Looks exactly like the one I use in farming simulator. Ferguson or something. A great video, really like videos where you get something else filmed. It just makes the channel more interesting to me and probably a lot of other viewers who enjoy nature, technology and mechanical skills.
Reason they look similar is because after WW2 the handshake agreement between Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford fell apart. Ferguson owned the British factory making tractors for Ford, so he made a few changes and introduced the "new" Ferguson TO-20
That's the "gotta take a poop speed" on the tractor 🤣🤣
In the fields the toilet is just around the bush so no hurry there😂, you can walk slowly.
Reminds me of the old Ferguson tractor grandpa had. He got it after returning from WWII. Lasted till he died and it ended up in the hands of my dad, who cracked the block.
Nice work Luke, id say keep that Gremlin it’s just too cool to get rid of but if you do I’d love to buy it!!
With so many Gremlins popping up on RUclips lately, someone needs to arrange a round up, meet up and Gremlin challenge.
Sallys speed shop
Junkyard digs
Sleeperdude
Turnin rust (Pacer)
Who did I miss?
You know I'm not quite as tall as you are, but I tend to be longer in the wasit, and I still can't keep my knees in the proper angle to use the pedals correctly.
I don't have a Ford, but then the Ferguson TO20, and TO30 are basically the same tractor as the N series Fords are.
I haven't a clue how you use the pedals as tall as you are, because I purchased a different seat, and did a little modification in order to make it a lot more comfortable, as well as safer in my opinion.
For around a $100.00 dollars you can get yourself a proper seat with lumbar support adjustable spring loaded, and the ability to slide the seat itself backwards for ease of getting on an off the tractor.
I also welded a piece of 4x1.5"C channel together for additional hight.
Which I also offset the holes in the in it so that it bolted down to the original studs, but allows me to move the seat mounting hardware back a few inches this gave me the proper seating setback to use the pedals correctly according to let being slightly behind on the foot boards.
Which also allows me to get on and off my tractor without having to feel like I mounting a horse by slinging my leg over the seat then sitting down as I am certain you are doing
Now I can simply stand up and step off the foot board in either direction without having to step over the seat and leave the tractor backwards as you are.
With the addition of the proper seat with backrest and the adjustable spring my lower back no longer aches for hours after shredding the pasture are dragging my driveway.
It's well worth the few dollars, and a hundred dollars isn't a small amount of money to me, but it dam sure makes using my tractor a pleasure instead of something I dread doing now.
I don't know if you have Tractor Supply, are Attwoods where you are, but I know you have the equivalent, and if not you can look online for the same setup or something close enough to mine for yourself.
I promise you won't regret it, especially if you plan on cutting your own hay with a the equipment small enough for the tractor you have, because you will be literally on your tractor for several days depending on the amount of hay field you plan on processing.
Between the cutting, possibly raking twice depending on moisture, and baling it, and then moving it to wherever you plan on storing it.
Yeah, might should be accessing the WWW now to find yourself your own proper seating arrangement, because you will thank me later if you do choose to follow my lead here.
Wish I had the Sherman overdrive on mine, but at least I have 4 gears to choose from.
And it doesn't matter if you adjust the tightness of the wheel bearings they all seem to have the same tendency to wobble going down the road at any speed.
BTW, the tractor will ride better if you only have maximum of around 12 psi in the rear tires, and about 30 in the front steers about as good as it gets for them anything lower just makes it harder to steer one handed around the pasture as your working whatever implement you have on at the time.
Good luck on your adventure into the hay business young man, and keep the AMC, they're a pretty nice machine to hot rod.
My cousin had one with a hopped up 390, top loader 4 speed, and N50's on the back.
Thing was a wicked little hot rod for sure, just have to go easy and use 2nd gear on rainy days otherwise you don't get very far if you follow me.
Peace n Harmony my young friend
Fun video. Great use of a ratchet strap.
Uncle Luke doing sketchy things is the best Uncle Luke.
At 7:54 I see a great revival opportunity for Luke. I'm sure he could have it running in no time.... :)
I really like content like this. thanks Luke!!
Damn dude I finally get to being an adult with enough money to try and find an AMC Gremlin and it feels like everyone else is getting one
Tho the fact that the inventor of the carb cheater shares my taste is nice
Wanting a Gremlin... oooohhhh the irony! Why? Because like the Pinto, amongst other cars, you couldn't give those things away by 1990. Nobody and I mean NOBODY wanted them. Now? They're collectible like the Pinto. Speaking of nobody, nobody saw that coming back in the day! Best wishes!
- Max Giganteum
My Dad bought some tired Massey-Ferguson backhoe back in the day and had me follow him home on it. I remember being terrified by the condition of the tires. "It'll be fine," he said. They were much, much worse than this. About 30 minutes in I also realized it had no brakes. But we made it.
I think Ford was trying to make there tractors faster then there Early Model A and model B and Model T's 😂😂
When your hauling loads from field to farm, time is money. A drawbar would be handy.
Be careful with these little tractors. I have one and I love it. Mine is old enough and still has the magneto on it. I planned update it. I have a new one as well I think it's from the 50s. Like any tractor they can roll or flip but my opinion they don't have enough stance and rubber to be on a very steep grade mowing across it. I like to say I got two of them and one like this one with a roof on it which is kind of interesting. Are great little tractors for pulling smaller logs out of the forest with log hauler. I can go on about them but they're great little tractor 🚜. Like anything else just know it's limitation. I think a guy that can build a carb cheater can figure it out quite well
❤😂😅😮🤯😁😁😁😁😁😁😁👍🇺🇸thank's for sharing brother
Hope you all have a great day
From a Canadian to a yank that tank was cool looking
Can't wait to see what you get up to next
Saving up for my carb cheater for my 95 Ford 150
But I'm going to have to buy a smartphone first 😂
Keep your stick on the ice brother
Just saying
Yeah, well our old 1939 John Deere "A" would fly down the road in 6th gear and I always had the same question...why? LOL! For some reason youtube unsubscribed me and I just assumed you had stopped posting videos until today when the Gremlin popped up on my feed and I clicked it and saw I was unsubscribed. But I'm subscribed again now and binge watching to catch up, LOL! In 1st gear the old John Deere would creep along and that was fine when you wanted the torque for mowing heavy alfalfa or clover. We had an old pull type JD mowing machine and you wanted to go slow in heavy stuff so you didn't break the wood pittman arm on the mowing machine. We rebuilt the hydraulics on the "A" and made a 3 point hitch for it, but the only 3 point tool we had was the 3 bottom plow, LOL! Everything else we had--rake, square baler, disc, harrow, bush-hog, wood splitter, etc were all pull-type. We built a couple of our implements from scratch. The harrow was 3 pieces of heavy angle iron welded into a triangle with railroad tie spikes welded to the angle iron. We built our own wood splitter and instead of running it with an independent engine like a Briggs, we just quick coupled it to the hydraulics on the tractor, set the tractor to idle and split wood all day that way.
Looks like a nice original 9N Ford, it's even still the original all dark gray color. I've been doing a little research into what was original on the 9Ns since I bought mine and quite a few 9Ns and 2Ns were repainted by dealers because it raised the resale value on them back in the day, potential buyers wanted the more modern 8N look. 😊
You have a Sherman or Hupp auxiliary overdrive unit. From what I read, the maximum speed with the overdrive is a little over 18 mph, which is flying on 9N Ford. 😂
Our old 9N didn't have the auxiliary transmission, and when driving from farm to farm, it was painfully slow. I assume that's why a farmer would spend extra money when buying a new tractor back in the day. Also, back then, some farmers owned no other vehicles other than the tractor, so it was also what they drove to town to shop, go to church, etcetera. When I was a child, I had one old relative whose only vehicle was his M Farmall, which seemed kinda strange to me back then.
I'm working on a 1940 9N Ford tractor, ruclips.net/video/xOcbIcXuMW4/видео.html
This one has an auxiliary transmission, I'm hoping it's an underdrive because 1st gear on a 9N is too fast for many situations. My brother is convinced that it's the relatively rare over/ underdrive, giving you the best of both worlds, a 9 speed 9N! I couldn't get that lucky, so it's probably the overdrive. 😢 I'm not planning on driving it on the road much, so overdrive isn't going to be that useful. If I want to go fast on a tractor, I own Farmalls.😊
I believe our old 9N was pretty economical to operate, lacking on power but a cheap to run.
The most economical tractor I have running right now is my 1944 H Farmall. I drove the H to Creston, Iowa, once to pick up some items I bought at an auction down there. On my return home, I filled the tank in Creston, then refueled in Greenfield, and I couldn't squeeze 2 gallons in the H. I actually overfilled the tank in Greenfield, that's about 23 miles between the gas stations, so I think that's not bad for a tractor.
I enjoyed how you got creative pulling the sickle mower! 😂 Looks like a New Holland. I have an IH sickle mower that I bought at an auction SW of Prescott. It has a big weight welded under the tongue to counteract the negative tongue weight. I used a come-a-long, in the place of a hydraulic cylinder to raise the sickle off of the ground and pulled it home with my pickup. I hit 65mph on the highway once and the mower trailed like a dream. 👍
Can't wait to see the Gremlin.
I remember picking up hay bales with my Papa when I was around 10, and I always liked his old Ford truck and tractor. When I went to college I worked on a USDA Test Farm in the summers,where I often plowed all day getting the fields ready for planting. Great memories, and thanks for taking me back! And my Daddy was looking at a Pacer in 1976 for the gas mileage,but I always wanted one of the Levi's Gremlins with the blue jean interior.😂
That gremlin is sweet! Tottal score. I have 3 old tractors all case. M , super m and a 730 diesel. Only 1 of my tractors have tires that are not dry rotted, but the rest of them have been on the tractors holding air since I was born 31 years. My family's farm that's getting passed along threw generations I'm going to be the 4 generation of helmers on the farm. Love the videos Luke! You seem so relatable coming from a Wisconsin city boy/ farmer!
That's a nice looking gremlin. A guy I work for has 4 Ford n tractors from various years. They r true work horses.
Rice county Minnesota has a tractor show on Labor Day weekend every year. This year Ford is the featured tractor. We are about 70 miles north of the Iowa border. Bring your 9N on up. You can camp at the show grounds if you want to. Rice county steam and gas engine.
In the 40s and early 50’s farmers often used there tractors to haul grain to elevators in small towns, nobody wanted to wait in the long lines there during harvest. Tractors were also used to haul livestock to auctions. Many family’s could only afford one or the other (car or tractor).😮
I'm fascinated with any old car that has been parked in some nook and cranny for decades. It's extra cool when the car has a story behind the reason the owner stopped driving it and why did they never drive it again.
My grandfather had a 9n with a front loader. It wasn't a bad tractor but a bitch to stear with no power steering.
My grandpa’s Ferguson 30 has an aftermarket hi-range and it’ll supposedly do 45, lol. I’ve seen it go, and it’s definitely fast, but I haven’t driven it in high range on the road.
Ahaha the way the sky was over those fields, and the way 3rd sounds like a tornado siren was very very midwest
Since it has a nice interior then it comes down to the body. If the body is pretty solid I would definitely keep it, Gremlins were pretty cool.
No, I would not LS swap it, a turbocharged 258 six would be extra cool.
If I am not mistaken these were also used for hauling to some degree. The term "tracror Trailer" I belive came from this time period. Awesome tractor, wishing I had the land to own one.
Im sure someone said it but the problem with your sickle bar mower wanting to go down is your 3 point hitch. If it were working correctly you can turn on the pto then pull the three point lift lever up and when it gets to the desired height you can press the clutch and leave the lever all of the way up for towing things. You will need a drawbar under the tractor to actually use your sickle bar mower. Good luck
You need the stay bars to lock the 3 point linkage. They are bars that hook between the ends of the drawbar and the center top link mount.