Western Missouri Antique Tractor & Machinery Association





FRONTIER VILLAGE GAZETTE


WMAT&MA NEWS


MAY - JUNE 2011 News Letter

EDITOR: Duane Craig

  •   Are you ready for the 33rd annual show featuring the Ford and Fordson Tractors and Implements. Show dates are June 24-26, be sure and be there. Paid Up Member tickets will be enclosed in the snail mail letter.

  •   Now is the time to get those Ford and Fordson products out of the shed and get them polished up for our 33rd annual show. Our first show to feature the Ford Motor Company’s line of tractors and implements. We are hosting the Mid West Ford and Fordson Collectors Association. In the mid forties around Johnstown where I was growing up there were many little 9N Fords. There were about three of them to one of another brand. So I remember them well. Just after the war and during they were getting very plentiful. Their small size and the Ferguson Three Point System made them very handy in replacing a team of horses or mules. It is amazing what one could do with so little in equipment in those days. Those little gray tractors probable couldn’t drag one of the wheels of one of those big articulated jobs of today. But they got the job done for which they were designed.
      The Fordson Model F Tractor was produced between 1917 and 1928. Initial production was at Dearborn in the U.S.A. with production commencing in Cork, Republic of Ireland in 1919. The engine was a four cylinder side-valve unit which produced 20 h.p. at 1,000 r.p.m. Ignition was identical to that used in the Model T Ford car and consisted of a low-tension flywheel magneto and high tension coils. The clutch was of the multiple disc in oil type, final drive was by worm-gears. Lubrication was of the splash type, oil was caught in a funnel and conducted to individual trays in which the connecting-rod cap projections were dipped. Engine cooling was by the Thermosyphon method.
      The first Ford-Ferguson tractor was the 9N, the first tractor to have both three-point hitch and a rear PTO. The 9N was first demonstrated in Dearborn, Michigan on June 29, 1939. Like the Farmall, it was designed to be a general-purpose row-crop tractor for use on smaller farms. An extremely simple, almost crude tractor, the 9N was fitted with the Ferguson system three-point hitch, a three-speed transmission, and featured footpegs instead of running boards. The 9N's relatively tall and wide-spaced front wheel design resulted in somewhat sluggish steering and reduced maneuverability compared to competing machines such as John Deere's Models A and B, and the Farmall 'Letter series'. Uniquely, the exhaust was routed underneath the tractor, much like an automobile.
      All 9N tractors were painted dark grey. This tractor has a rear Power Take Off (PTO) which could be used to drive three point or towed implements. The Ferguson hitch was designed to solve some of the problems found in the earlier Fordson tractors such as flipping over if the plow hit an obstruction.

  •   There is not a great lot of breaking news around the club, except getting ready for the 33rd Annual Show. With that there are a lot of grounds keeping and general clean up. There is always something that can be done prior to show time. One thing to make note of is the Rail Road guys will not be running the trains on the every second Sunday as has been the rule in the past. Interest has waned and sometimes they are there all afternoon with no riders. They will honor special event request by appointment. If you have a special event and would like to have the railroad in operation call one of them and they may be able to help make your event special.
      Another one of our members was added to the Golden Roll, Jim La Rose. He was a much valued past member, His passing will leave a void in the activities of the area. He will be greatly missed.

  • Donations:
    Richard Radford has donated an Allis Chalmers Model 60 combine and Allis Rotor Baler to the club, which will enhance our club owned, equipment which can be preserved and displayed. Thanks Richard.

  • How I began collecting Ford Tractors. By Vic Jadlow
    I grew up on a dairy farm in Bourbon County, Kansas. We used Fords on that farm in the 1950’s. In 1997, I attended the Lathrop show when I noticed an 8-N with a 6-cylinder engine. I had never seen or heard of a Ford with a 6-cylinder engine. I told several people that I sure would like to have one of those 6-cylinder Fords. It wasn’t long before some friends, Shawn and Cara Hornbeck, were at an auction in Nebraska and overheard a man say he had two 6-cylinder 8-N’s and he would like to sell one. Later, I met the Hornbeck’s at Fremont, Nebraska. We traveled to Uehling to make the purchase. Now I have two 6-cylinders and one V-8 Funk conversion as well as various other 8-N’s and 100 and 101 series tractors.

  • My 8N Ford. By Duane Craig
    I know most of you know that I am partial to John Deere Tractors, but I owned an 8N Ford once. In 1954 we moved back to the farm in Bates County from Kansas City where we had lived for three years. We bought our first tractor that summer. I had been working part time while we lived in KC so I had a partial interest in the 1938 Farmall F 20 that we started with. The next year we put out a crop with it swapping work and tractors as needed with neighbors, since we didn’t have a cultivator for the F 20. The next spring we traded the F 20 off for a B John Deere with a cultivator. This was big time for me I have always loved the sound of a two cylinder Johnny Popper. The summer of 1957 I was working in Kansas City and my father and younger brother were still on the farm in the Johnstown area of Bates County. I had hopes of returning to the life of a farmer. I bought a 1951 Ford 8N from Glenn York’s Dealership in Butler, MO. Although I only got to use the Ford on the weekends I had high hope's of some day returning to the farm to live. A year later Dad got the Wonder Lust again and sold the farm and bought a grocery store. I sold my tractor and implements. The next summer Joan and I decided to move to a warmer climate, so we moved to Anaheim California. The end of my farming and the last of my tractors until I got reintroduced to John Deere’s by my son in law. But I still remember my Ford 8N. Now I get to use my daughters 800 series Ford to mow and blade with. Just some more reminiscing of an old country boy.

    See you at the show.
    Duane.



  • WMAT&MA Dates To Remember:

    June Meeting --- Thursday June 9th, 2011 7:00

    Game Night --- 2nd Saturday of each month.
    Board Meeting Every 2nd Thursday Of The Month --- 7:00 PM

    2011
    33rd Annual Steam and Gas Engine Show --- June 24, 25, 26 2011
    Summer Picnic --- August 21, 2011 (4 PM, eat at 5 PM)
    Kids Day --- Oct. 4th 2011
    Fall Swap Meet --- Oct. 14-15 2011
    Threshers Dinner & Election of Officers --- Nov 13, 2011 1:00 PM
    Hot Chocolate Night --- Nov 26, 2011 (5:00 PM Until the goodies are gone.)
    March 8th Board Meeting -- Dine out at 6 PM -- Mar. 8, 2012
    Spring Swap Meet --- March 23 & 24, 2012





    Feature Tractors:
    2011 - Ford & Ferguson
    2012 - Oliver Hart Parr
    2013 - Allis Chalmers

    Check out our web site www.wmatma.com for late breaking news and events.

    WMAT&MA
    Duane Craig
    1001 Country Club Dr.
    Butler, MO 64730












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