The Mighty Ford 8N Tractor 1947-1952

​You might wonder why I chose an almost antique tractor for an essay. I hope by the end of this essay that it all becomes quite clear.


The 8N tractor was, and to the best of my information still is, the most popular tractor ever made, worldwide, with 530,000 units manufactured during its heyday. At the time it was distributed the average retail price in 1952 was $1404.


So what? Well, the current average 100 h.p. John Deere tractor costs between $60,000 to $85,000 depending on the unit. Now I realize that comparing the 8N, with roughly 20 horsepower to the aforementioned tractor is much like comparing apples to watermelons, but here is my point. First both tractors are row-crop tractors. What that means is that a farmer can use either one for plowing potatoes, or whatever. Of course, given the John Deere’s tractor is bigger, faster and more powerful, and most importantly, can work a larger farm, it’s more productive, hands down. No argument there. But will they both function on a small farm, say 300 acres or less? Of course. But at what cost?


Remembering my accounting class in college, (actually I would rather forget that miserable class), if the said farmer is going to amortize the cost of her equipment over, let’s say 10 years, and the farmer paid around $2,000.00 for her well-kept Ford 8N, given no repairs, for simplicity’s sake that would be $200.00 a year.


Now, if the John Deere, again given no costly repairs, and the tractor cost $80,000, it would amortize at roughly $8,000 a year. Now I understand that the more expensive tractor could farm more acreage. BUT that would mean she would have to buy more acreage thus increasing her debt service. Now I know there are a thousand bean counters who could drill large holes in this argument, but suppose between this farmer and the government that it was agreed that the ideal small farm was to be 300 acres (approximately) not more, and maybe less. Now if farmers agreed that they would not purchase more land, the fixed cost for each farmer, per acre would be the same.


Let’s throw in a little politics into this equation. Suppose the government decided in all its wisdom, that small farms were beneficial to both the consumer and the small farmer.


O.K., but what does all of this mean to my original venture into antique tractors. Many lefties, myself included might say, well just go to the farmer’s market and, who in the hell cares, about rusty old tractors and small farms anyway? I have visited a few in my neck of the woods where guys with long hair and pretty ladies in long cotton dresses are happy to sell us more privileged types piles of assorted veggies, at prices that are slightly or excessively more than the local supermarket. (More on that later.)


But what about that single mother with several children who lives in a “food desert”? For those of you unfamiliar with this term it refers to an urban area, most often in an impoverished area of a city that no longer has a food market. What food might be available is often highly-processed junk passing for food. Much of this food is made with products I wouldn’t eat myself. Why is this? Essentially, the government hands out large sums of cash to corporate farms to grow unhealthy shit. If you don’t believe me, please research farm subsidies. Now I want to be emphatic that these subsidies go primarily to giant corporate farms and not the 300 acre farm we have been discussing.


Well, to some people this is just capitalism doing what it always does, give that single mom food stamps, (or whatever they call it now) and the problem is fixed. Who needs small farms anyway? I suspect with the new administration coming in that Trumpanomics will raise its ugly orange head and food for the poor and the few small farms left will be seen as a drag on the society and a bunch of losers feeding at the public trough. And, of course, well if you live in a “food desert” that’s your own damn fault and you should pack up your decrepit old mini-van and move to the suburbs, buy a McMansion and plant flowers instead of pole beans.


So you can perhaps now understand why many college educated folks with a little bit of cash and idealistic values flee to rural areas and buy old Ford 8N tractors and ten acres of overgrown pasture, raise goats and sell farm-fresh eggs.


Whew, sorry about my rantings about old tractors but I will try to provide clarity before I end. You see, the old Ford 8N is not just a rusting hulk behind an old barn but symbolic of what we can do to get out of this whole mess. If a corporation, given financial support would re-introduce a basic, no frill tractor, much like the Ford 8N, and it could be financed at a very low interest rate and this unit subsidized to immigrants with farming knowledge (and there are plenty who come to the U.S. with agrarian experience) part of the problem could be fixed.


As for agriculture land, there are many areas of the country where small farms were the norm 100 years ago. Many of these farms now lie fallow and could be cultivated again. Land purchase could again be governmentally subsidized. Hell, if we are giving gobs of money to corporate farming we can well afford to prime the pump of the poor. This would increase local food production. As for “food deserts” well this problem is complex but not unsolvable with creative thinking, pressure on big-box stores to come, or return to urban areas, or promoting urban farming.


The answer to many of these problems is not larger and larger farms but quite the opposite.


Commodity prices are low, and maybe that way for the immediate future. According to government statistics, midsize farmers are fleeing farming in droves, despite more demand for grain production as a burgeoning worldwide population strains the boundaries of starvation. Rising fertilizer and equipment costs and that big bugaboo inflation eats at the debt-ridden farmer, who might have felt pressured to buy more land to be more productive. We haven’t even addressed the cost of cattle feed for a world that is more and more starved for meat and fuel.


Add, the inevitable change of climate conditions and its increasing effect on crop production and areas of the U.S. that may be unsuitable for farming not too long in the future and what we are witnessing is a “perfect storm” headed our way.


I truly believe all problems are solvable but I also make trips to the grocery store near me and, like most of you, take a sharp breath in when I see the rising cost of eggs and milk.


Peace


Hilton


Stats on Ford 8N for your perusal
manufactured with a 3 point hitch will
allow the various equipment additions:
1. Post hole digger
2. Cement mixer
3. Mower
4. Back blade
5. Scoop
6. Chipper
7. Plow
8. Rakes
etc.


4 speed transmission
4 inline cylinders
wheel base 70”
length 115”
width 64.75”
curb weight 2410 lbs
Even now, according to what I learned parts are readily available.


This was not a perfect tractor by any means, and refinements and alterations to improve efficiency were made over the years. For more information check online.