How did you drive a Standard Fordson?

[76masseyman]

Why were they so bad! A mate had one and it was the same. He could nearly always start it, but never knew when it would happen. The David Brown tvo tractors me and some mates used to mess around with were never like that. Clean petrol and a sparking mag and you were in business. As long as you didn’t stop it on tvo and attempt a hot start!

It’s mainly the little used show ponies, and those kept for posterity that cause the issues. Usually as you want to go home and your mate needs a hand.

 

[Av Gorritt]

local paper mill had a standard Fordson on rubber as a yard tractor . There was a chap used to take a little Bedford tipper full of waste up the back and tip it . . The tractor drivers were fruitlessly turning the engine over and over with no success , Next time this chap went by he asked why didn't they take out the plugs and warm them . Oh , good idea says them . next time - mid morning by now , he went by still no success . Did you take the plugs out ? says he . Yes , and still no success, but it's sight easier to turn !!

 

[essexpete]

I helped on farm when i was about 13 till 15 when i left school mainly at harvest time this was in middle 1950's my dear old dad worked there and they had two E-27m's one of which later on had a P6 put in by E.Doe's who i subsequently started working for in 1973 until i retired [lol] the farm also had a standard ex-raf tractor that was only used in harvest for trailer towing still didn't stop farmers son shaking off a load of sheaves across a meadow that years ago had been stetch ploughed, this same tractor my dad drove with a trailer and collected a family with four kids and what bit's of furniture they had a round trip of about 60m and that thing was fast, can you imagine it no brakes on trailer i rode on it holding onto front stay, no light's, and i don't remember anything being tied on, i also remember driving same tractor across another former stetch ploughed one but got a bounce on that shook the radiator cast filler off, another thing i have never seen anyone else do was before one of the E27n's was converted dad some times have a problem starting it and would put one of his hands on front spark plug when swinging handle to check for good spark he even did this when it was running, i know he touched me one day, that made me jump.

Would you which branch of uncle Ernie you worked at?

 

[forblue]

Would you which branch of uncle Ernie you worked at?

I think you know if you know b,b in b lane at r then we know each other.

 

[essexpete]

A late friend of mine drove a model N from near Southend on sea to Newmarket in about 1947 as a 22 year old. He spent the night in Newmarket and dragged home a waggon with some old tut the next day. About 57 miles each way. A second trip later in a day had a stop at Sible Headingham, followed by a very early start on to Newmarket and back to Southend. Sid remembered hitting the centre of Chelmsford at factory and office turnout. He would still have another 20 miles to go at 7mph.
I recorded dear old Sid's tale but it was on a phone now defunct.

 

[Exfarmer]

A late friend of mine drove a model N from near Southend on sea to Newmarket in about 1947 as a 22 year old. He spent the night in Newmarket and dragged home a waggon with some old tut the next day. About 57 miles each way. A second trip later in a day had a stop at Sible Headingham, followed by a very early start on to Newmarket and back to Southend. Sid remembered hitting the centre of Chelmsford at factory and office turnout. He would still have another 20 miles to go at 7mph.
I recorded dear old Sid's tale but it was on a phone now defunct.

I have told this before and it is off topic but a similar tale of driving a good distance.
Father moved farm from Sussex to North Bucks in 1954. took all his cows and machinery which were hauled up on lorries.
With in a few weeks he realised he needed a bigger tractor but had little money so he needed a very second hand machine. Not knowing any local dealers well enough, he rang an old friend from Sussex by the name of John Christian a well known dealer at that time.
John promised to sort him out, to father's amazement the next afternoon a young lad arrived at the farm on a Formal model H , I believe. He had driven it just over 100 miles right through the centre of London!
he carried a letter with the invoice and instructions to give the lad dinner then take him to a local train station and buy him a ticket home. As they were driving to the station they passed a lorry which was from a local yard close to the lads home so they flagged it down and the driver happily agreed to give him a lift. Father gave the lad the 10 shillings the ticket would have cost which was probably half a weeks pay then so he was very happy. I never drove this tractor as Father considered it too dangerous having no foot plates and in later years a pin on the steering would occasionally drop out leaving the driver out of control until he could stop it, not much fun with a big trailer of bales and very little in the way of brakes. sadly it dropped a piston and went off scrap after about 15 years

 

[Bald n Grumpy]

Have no experience driving a standard fordson unless you count bouncing on the springy seat pretending as a toddler, the fordson started life as a shunter in a quarry and had dual rear wheels and a straight petrol engine but when fitted with ag wheels was fast. Was converted to tvo and the two large channel irons fitted down the sides were removed (gate post now).
Anyone know were VHU 22 is?

 

[Daveh]

Taking spark plugs out the sodding things so you could wind it out the shed on the cranking handle, to see better why it wasn’t starting. Then playing ‘god save the Queen’ on the gear lever trying to get it in gear.

My dad used to say that if you strapped down the clutch pedal before starting the engine they would go into gear a lot easier.

 

[76masseyman]

My dad used to say that if you strapped down the clutch pedal before starting the engine they would go into gear a lot easier.

Yes, sadly a lot learn the hard way.

 

[Av Gorritt]

Still on the old Standard fordson - there was a hook on the right hand footplate with which to hook down the foot pedal . I'm not quite sure what it was actually supposed to do , - ours never worked . BUT bitter personal memories if your foot slipped off the pedal it would come up smartly and whack you right up your shin . very painful indeed that was .

 

[Lazy Sod]

Owe, I'd forgotten that. I suppose the hook was was a parking brake.

 

[renewablejohn]

We had a 3 wheel Fordson dont know the model but it was green and mainly used for belt work either driving a saw bench or grinding corn into flour. Went for scrap in 63/64 as was killed by the big freeze and blizzards of that year cracking the block beyond repair even though it was kept inside.

 

[v8willy]

Dad told me that the ones supplied to the RAF for aircraft towing on perimeter tracks were scarily fast, 1st and 2nd for towing and 3RD for dashing between jobs. The WAAF drivers were without fear he claimed.

We had an ex RAF one here long before my time, think it was a bit of a handful from what I'm told.

 

[Lazy Sod]

I didn't like hand starting the thing, I remember that. With steel front wheels and worn out ball joints, driving it on concrete wasn't much fun.

 

[Hair Bear]

Thinking on, there may have been a blue spot ratio as well?

 

[ford 7810]

Thinking on, there may have been a blue spot ratio as well?

Red &Green spot .green spot Standard ratio first &second gear then red spot special ratio which is slower first &second gear and then a choice of low top or high top.and these are just agricultural tractors the industrial tractors had a different rear axle ratio.the early tractors only had high top with a Choice standard or special ratio,the low top would be Introduced in about the middle 1930s.you would think low top would be early tractors because of steel wheels.

 

[Rusty_Relics]

Why were they so bad! A mate had one and it was the same. He could nearly always start it, but never knew when it would happen. The David Brown tvo tractors me and some mates used to mess around with were never like that. Clean petrol and a sparking mag and you were in business. As long as you didn’t stop it on tvo and attempt a hot start!

We have 7 or 8 of them in various states. We found the biggest problem with Std N's is the air tightness of the manifold and carb system, if they suck air, that weakens the fuel mixture. I've seen them on the rally field running on half choke. Of course you need a good magneto. I have been recently machining manifolds for a good friend of ours.
We have a std N fitted with a perkins L4 which got rid of the need for a starting handle

 

[Lazy Sod]

I had an L4 in a MF 780 combine and a P6 in a Fordson E27N. It was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that the L4 was a better starter. On a combine, of course, it would have done a lot less hours, and it was 10 years younger.

 

[Rusty_Relics]

I had an L4 in a MF 780 combine and a P6 in a Fordson E27N. It was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that the L4 was a better starter. On a combine, of course, it would have done a lot less hours, and it was 10 years younger.

Could it of been a 4.270 they were an L4 with direct injection which made them start good. L4 were a bit lazy especially in cold weather. I have a e27n with L4 and one with 4.270 also currently working on a e27n half track with P6.

 

[Lazy Sod]

I don't know, the handbook said it was an L4, it was a 1958 combine.