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The original concept behind the 2N was that it was a converted or "stripped down" version of the 9N to conserve materials for the war effort. a few models were made like this: no tires, steel wheels front and back, no battery or starter or generator, magneto ignition with hand crank, and usually without lights. These were only made for a couple years and even during those years, rubber tires and standard ignition system tractors were built somewhat randomly. The vast majority of the 2Ns are correct in having rubber tires. The easiest way to tell a "wartime 2N" is that it will have the hand crank permanently (more or less) mounted in the front axle, as in, non-removable. Also, if the grill is original, you can see a small hole where the choke rod actually went through the grill so you could work the choke while hand cranking. Most of the magnetos have been replaced, but that would also be a sure giveaway. No 9N's or 8N's ever had steel wheels, but there were optional bolt on steel lugged "extension rims" that were used to give added traction in loose conditions. These look more like the John Deere steel wheels, in that they have several spokes, and the cleats are offset. The original steel rear wheels had two rows of cleats bolted to a smooth, wide, flat rim, and were welded (i believe) to a pressed steel center disc. Hope this clears things up for ya!
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