1948 Coop #3 tractor with new paint and new brakes. Dryland corn and swathed millet compliment the #3.
Sincere thanks for the mind boggling source of parts for the old tractor users and hobbies.
Bob Christenson of Bismark, North Dakota
1948 Coop #3
A Ford and A Farmall
1951 Ford 8N was my first project over the winter of 2017 and 2018. A friend had ask me for help reinforcing a lean-to. The Ford was parked underneath. I was only going to buy it to park outside as lawn art. Well guess what, I had to see why it wouldn’t turn over. One thing led to another and I was hooked. That’s how I caught the bug for restoring old tractors.
The Farmall 100, belongs to a local farmer. It was the first tractor his Dad bought when they started the farm, back in the 50’s. I did a partial restoration on it in return for a Farmall Super A.
Lonnie Love
Sequim, Washington
See you at the Auction!
Have you made plans to attend the Mecum tractor auction in Shorewood Illinois? 175 tractors are up for auction, including the Wayne Greenwood collection.
The auction preview will take place Friday August 5th from 12-6 pm. The auction will start on Saturday at 9 am beginning with memorabilia, then tractors.
Stop by the Steiner Tractor Parts table for a free catalog and say hello!
For more auction details visit Mecum Gone Farmin’
How to Date your Ford Tractor
You can learn exactly when your Ford tractor was manufactured. It just takes a little bit of know-how to find and decipher the codes on your tractor. Here’s how:
First, locate the date code. You’ll find it on the right side of your tractor, imprinted on the flywheel housing. Look just behind the starter and above the lug nut in the flywheel housing.
You should find a series of three codes. The first is the tractor’s model number. The second is the production code. The final is the tractor’s serial number. These three numbers can give you TONS of information about your tractor, but today we’re going to focus on finding out the exact production date of your tractor.
To determine this, look at the tractor production code, also known as the unit date code.
The first digit of the tractor production code gives the production year. For tractors manufactured between 1965 and 1974, the digit corresponds with the last number in the year. So a tractor that is manufactured in 1965 would have a production code that begins with the number 5. A tractor manufactured in 1971 would have a 1 at the start of its production code (shown above on my Ford 3000).
Next comes a letter, which represents the month. January is A, February is B, and so on.
Then comes the day. This is a simple numerical date, 1 through 31.
Finally comes the shift. A tractor made on the midnight shift has a production code that ends with the letter A. The day shift got B, and second (afternoon shift) got C.
I know that this method works for Ford models 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000, but I’m not sure about other models. Let me know what kind of results you get on your own tractor!