Ford 8100 4x4 Good tin work and good engine.

[Mursal]

I noticed she has chassis rails ...............

 

[Nearly]

I noticed she has chassis rails ...............

that's the side of the belly plate.

 

[Nearly]

The 8100 was always something of an oddball machine as it was part of the 700 Series line-up but at the same time somewhat apart from it; and the fact that the long six-cylinder motor stuck out much further in front of the cab than the four-cylinder machines made it look somewhat weird, especially as the standard front axle taken from the 6700 and 7700 was turned around to face the opposite way. This made the wheelbase the same as the smaller tractors but made the 8100 look even more ungainly! It was also not even built on the production line at Basildon as County Commercial Cars from Fleet in Hampshire assembled the 8100 for Ford alongside its more familiar product of 4WD Ford tractor conversions.
One of the main reasons for the appearance of the 8100 was that there was a large gap in the Ford tractor line-up between the 7700 and the 126hp 8700 and many farmers needed the higher power take-off horsepower of the 8700 but wanted something more lightweight – the 8100 was Ford’s answer to this. Ford did not expect to sell a great many 8100 tractors but in fact it did become quite a popular machine and, perhaps inevitably given County’s involvement, a four-wheel drive version soon appeared that addressed one of the 8100’s main drawbacks – that of too much weight forwards over the front axle.

1980 saw the 8200 make its debut, still with 115hp available but this time from the same engine as used in the bigger 8700 model. This addressed several of the problems associated with the truck engine used in the 8100 which had proved to be somewhat thirsty! County assembled the 8200 under the same type of arrangement as the 8100 which still remained in production alongside the 8200 for a time and some were even built with four-wheel drive fitted! The front axle arrangement chosen for the 8200 was sourced from Schindler and fitted on the County production line at Fleet.

lifted from 'Tractor and farming heritage magazine'

 

[Mursal]

All good stuff, thanks ...............
And the truck engine they talk about, was that the one out of the Ford D series, I wonder?

 

[multi power]

ok im confused, i know for sure 8200s were made by county, but doesnt the plate on this tractor suggust it was built in belguiem ? alough if so i would heve thought it would have been at antwerp ?

 

[Nearly]

ok im confused, i know for sure 8200s were made by county, but doesnt the plate on this tractor suggust it was built in belguiem ? alough if so i would heve thought it would have been at antwerp ?

there's a 'Made in England' sticker above the 'Ford Tractor (Belgium) Ltd Antwerp Belgium' one

 

[multi power]

there's a 'Made in England' sticker above the 'Ford Tractor (Belgium) Ltd Antwerp Belgium' one

so why the ford tractors belgium plate

 

[Mursal]

And it wasn't built in Belgium and converted in England, no ..............

 

[Nearly]

So the locals can understand it?
It is a European re-import, so would have been stickered up in native language when sold new?

Just as long as I get a logbook, don't really care.

 

[multi power]

So the locals can understand it?
It is a European re-import, so would have been stickered up in native language when sold new?

ok i think i have got it, built in england for export to mainland europe ?

 

[Blue.]

And it wasn't built in Belgium and converted in England, no ..............

The adapter plates were from Belgium.

 

[Nearly]

The adapter plates were from Belgium.

EVA, yes

I'll have to check if mine says EVA on belly plate.

This tractor will have covered some miles backwards and forwards then.

'Axles were supplied direct from Schindler to Ford at Basildon for the 8200 tractor introduced in 1980. The previous model, 8100 tractor, was not fitted with four wheel drive in Britain, whereas the French version, built by EVA had the option of the Schindler axle.'
from 'Ford Tractor Conversions'

Arthur Batelle was the UK agent for Schindler axles from 1977 to the mid-80's, I have the Ford parts book for the Schindler 8100/8200 conversion and also the Drivers information for the Schindler 4wd conversion with T A Batelle named as UK area sales executive. Damn Ebay!
That's why I bought the damn tractor because they are such a tangled web of various parts and designs.

 

[mb86]

that's the side of the belly plate.

Would it not have originally had chassis rails? According to my ford bible, models for France and Switzerland had a Dorset 2714E engine and models for UK Austria Belgium Germany Italy and Sweden had the more powerful 2715E in.

 

[multi power]

Would it not have originally had chassis rails? According to my ford bible, models for France and Switzerland had a Dorset 2714E engine and models for UK Austria Belgium Germany Italy and Sweden had the more powerful 2715E in.View attachment 78892View attachment 78893View attachment 78895View attachment 78897

is

Would it not have originally had chassis rails? According to my ford bible, models for France and Switzerland had a Dorset 2714E engine and models for UK Austria Belgium Germany Italy and Sweden had the more powerful 2715E in.View attachment 78892View attachment 78893View attachment 78895View attachment 78897

that book the ford tractor story, part 2, basildon to new holland ?

 

[Nearly]

@mb86 just reading those pages now, (@multi power yes p72...)

So mine must be a European conversion with full belly plate then. I must get there earlier in the day when I next go down to look in full daylight.

See, much more interesting than a boring old 7810.

 

[mb86]

Yes it is a good read for any ford man.

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

ok i think i have got it, built in england for export to mainland europe ?

Exactly.
Same as my 4630.
Built for French market but sold in this country for some reason.

 

[tomlad]

i bet Brian on the fordsons tractor pages will know about this he's a moderator , ex fitter.

 

[John 1594]

The subframe was made by a large ford dealer in belgium called Wille Evrard???

 

[tomlad]

Arthur battelle as in old 20 parts ?
did know he was a tractor dealer .