ford 8N tractor maintenance
I’ve held off mowing my pasture, not by choice, but because of a problem with the hydraulic lift on my 1950 Ford 8N tractor. But, I got some good advice on the phone from the mechanic at Smith equipment where I bought the thing. So this weekend I ripped it open and fixed it myself. This was the first time I skinned my knuckles working on my tractor, so I had a bit of pride in the accomplishment. But more importantly, I thought that some of you fellow Ford 8N owners may benefit from the walkthrough on how I fixed this.
First a disclaimer: I’m no tractor repair expert–I’m just a guy who bought one and was successful at fixing a particular propblem. I doubt very much that I’ll have any insight into any problems with your Ford 8N or other tractor that you may care to write me about, unless they walk and talk a lot like this one I’m about to describe. Treat this like a conversation with your neighbor over the back fence–I may very well be full of beans.
Okay, now a description of my particular problem: When I attempt to lower the lift by pushing the quadrant lever forward fully, my lift doesn’t drop, with or without the PTO engaged. If I engage the PTO, the lift will raise, regardless of the position of the quadrant lever. Generally, when my drive shaft on my brush hog contacts the deck because of the lift doing this, I say words that my kids have to ask the meaning of.
Tools you’ll need: an 11/16″ socket wrench or other type of wrench.
If your 8N acts like this, here’s the procedure that worked for me:
- Remove the access cover from the rear housing right below the quadrant lever. This access cover has a dipstick in it and is held in place by six bolts. The oil level in the sump is normally right up to the bottom bolt hole, so if you’re on your clean shop floor, put down something to catch the oil drippings.
- Note the vertical arm that extends below the surface of the oil. In my case it had come unseated from the valve spool located at the bottom. Push that arm toward the back of the tractor to seat it back into the valve spool. You shouldn’t have to force it or pry it, hand pressure worked okay for me. It does return slightly forward even when it’s correctly seated.
- If the lift was raised, it should drop when you seat the arm properly, as long as you have the quadrant in the forward position.
- If you don’t mind getting your hands oily, you can reach down into the sump and feel where the arm operates the valve spool. Operating the lever (moving it up and down) will produce a movement in the spool if you’ve got it seated again. Careful not to pinch your fingers.
- Being careful to avoid getting crud in the sump, replace the access cover.
It’s not too difficult really, and with a socket wrench ready, I can get that cover off, fix my lift, and be back in the seat mowing again in under ten minutes.
As near as I can tell, that arm just gets jarred loose if I run with the PTO disengaged and bounce around a lot. I looked in the shop manual too for some advice on this, but came up empty. I’m grateful to my mechanic for explaining it to me.
I hope this article helped you, if you didn’t get the solution you were looking for, I’d invite you to have a look through John Smith’s excellent Ford 8N FAQ page. Emailing me may get you some sympathy, but not a whole lot else in all likelihood.