I was looking around for some information on Ferguson tractors when I ran
across your site. I thought I could add a few interesting stories to your
collection, so here goes:
I bought my 49 TO-20 from an older gentleman who had kept it under a
shelter so it was in unusually good condition for a tractor this old. Someone
had repainted it in 8N Ford colors but otherwise it was in stock condition. My
wife had actually suggested that I buy a tractor to keep the grass cut around
our pond and pasture, so she was actually proud of the old Fergie when I brought
it home. The first time I used it was a couple of days later. I discovered a
bad gas leak around the bowl assembly that required me to replace the whole
assembly, which was surprisingly easy to find at a local farm supply store.
That was just the beginning of some bad luck, but I'm glad I fixed the
gas leak problem first, since fire and old Fergies seem to go together. I took
her out into the pasture and cut for about 30 minutes when I ran out of gas.
After walking back home and refueling her she didn't want to crank, the battery
was dead. I drove my truck out and jumped her off and started cutting grass
again. I also had the old muffler under the tractor problem and after cutting
for about 30 minutes I smelled smoke. I stopped the tractor to notice grass
burning under the tractor. I put that fire out and continued. Another 15
minutes and I smelled smoke again, but this time it was from grass that had
gotten caught on top of the mower and was being set afire from the friction of
the PTO unit. I decided two fires in one day was enough so I stopped.
The next day I was going to cut the grass around our pond but she
wouldn't turn over at all, the battery was totally dead. Instead of jumping her
off I decided to just replace the battery since I didn't want to be dependent on
jumper cables for the rest of the day. The tractor had been converted to a 12
volt system so a battery was easy to find, I installed it and proceeded to make
fireworks for the 4th of July a few days early. When I hit the starter to crank
her, the switch that is on top of the transmission (and directly under the gas
tank!) shorted out and sparks came shooting up like a Roman candle. I jumped off
the tractor to see the following: grease and oil on top of transmission
beginning to burn, battery cables burning into and melting insulation, sparks
and fire shooting up under the gas tank, and smoke beginning to boil out of the
starter. I tried to snatch the battery cables loose to stop the short but it
burned my hand. Fortunately I had parked the tractor near a water hose the day
before as I wanted to make sure the hay on the mower was completely cool and not
on fire. When I ran to the faucet and tried to turn it on, the faucet handle
broke off in my hand. I had a pair of pliers in my back pocket so I grabbed
them, quickly turned on the water, grabbed the hose and ran toward the tractor.
By then the fire was going full force so I just started spraying and praying. I
didn't know if the gas was going to catch fire and my new Dodge truck was parked
next to the tractor. I had parked up close so I wouldn't have to carry the
heavy battery very far. I stood as far away as the water stream would allow and
still wet the tractor.
I put the fire out without further incidence, but now I need to rewire
the starter, replace the starter switch, etc. I'm just glad that I had fixed
the gas leak before this happened because I might not be able to type this story
from the burn unit at the hospital.
So a word to the wise, whether inexperienced tractor owner or old pro:
keep those gas leaks fixed and oil and grease cleaned off! My wife now thinks
I bought a piece of junk, but I'm beginning to wonder if she and the man who
sold me the tractor might not be in a conspiracy since she took out a new life
insurance policy just a few weeks ago.
Thanks for listening to me vent and lets keep these splendid old iron
horses pulling! -- Michael Miller