New to Fordsons with questions

Took me a while to find this Fordson board, but here it is!

Last night I bought two Fordsons. One is a 1923, and seems to be pretty stock, except for there is a place to put a battery just under where the coil box is. No battery though. The person I bought the tractors from, is the brother of the person who died, and he knows nothing about them other than the 1923 was run only a few months ago. From what little I know about Fordsons, it probably doesn't need a battery, but, what voltage would you suggest? I am presuming 6V, but think it wise to ask.

Next question is about the starting procedure. From what I can gather, the gasoline (not kerosene)tank needs to be turned on. The spark lever should be almost full counterclockwise, but not to the ground (?) button. Pull the choke halfway back, make sure it is in neutral, then crank the handle without using your thumb. Have I missed anything?

The person I bought it from says he believes the tractor has to be run on kerosene once it is running, and to never put gasoline in the main tank. I am a John Deere person, and it seems to me that it would be OK to run gasoline all the time. Is this so?

Lastly, the second Fordson has solid rubber tires on steel rims, pneumatic tires on the back that look like truck tires, a large protective plate filled with round holes to protect the radiator, and a hook that is an integral cast part of the worm drive cover on the back of the differential. This clearly is a definite purpose setup, and I am wondering what it may have been used for.

Thank you for any input you may have. Greg

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you *do* use a hot-shot battery for starting, be sure to unhook it as soon as the tractor is running, otherwise you'll tend to de-magnetize the internal magneto, worsening your ignition troubles even more.

Agree with Bob N.Y. that running on gasoline only is fine. Kerosene was a lot cheaper in the 1920's, that's why engines were designed to run on it. Nowadays, though, gasoline is cheaper (if you can believe that, a nearly $3/gal.!) If you do decide to try kerosene someday, start the engine on gasoline and let it run for 5 or 10 minutes to get the manifold well warmed up, then switch over to the kero. (The hot manifold vaporizes the kerosene and it is that vapor which allows the engine to run, albeit with slightly less power than when running on gasoline; everything's a trade-off).

Have you changed the oil yet? Make sure you use non-detergent oil (it's still available, but you may have to look around a bit to find it). If you use regular (detergent) oil you'll free up decades of accumulated gunk that will gum up your engine, and you don't want that. If you decide to do an engine rebuild someday, you can then switch over to modern detergent oil.

Enjoy your Model F's -- they're a lot of fun!

-- Maine Fordson

Soundguy

Since the Fordson F doesn't have an ignition switch (with the exception of the very early 1918 models with the keyed switch on the side of the coil box), most folks just turn the handle on the side of the sediment bulb to cut off the fuel supply. The engine burns whatever kero is left in the line, and then when you turn on the fuel the next time you want to start up, gasoline is the first fuel to go back to the carburetor.

This procedure is also an advantage when the tractor is going to set for quite a while (i.e., for months, over the winter), as there will be no fuel in the carburetor to evaporate and leave a gummy residue behind to cause you carburetion problems.

Soundguy

-- Geo. D.