Hauling Farmall B

I am used to hauling Hs, Ms, etc I generally hook the hook on the underside of the frame rail and pull forward. Then in the rear I hook it through a clevis in the drawbar and done. It takes about 10 min and I am good to go. I then put my SMTA on a 7000# trailer, tied down with 2 inch straps, and hook it to the ball in the bumper (not Reese hitch) of my Mazda "pickup" jk, but I couldn't resist the temptation :lol:
I am going to look at/pick up the Farmall B on Sunday. How do you typically tie down one of these frameless tractors? This tractor doesn't yield to my normal tiedown method and I want to make sure there are no suprises when I go to tie it down.

Two pieces of 3"X6"X3/8" plate of steel with a 45degree bend in the middle, a 5/8 hole in one end and a 1.5"X 2" oblong hole in the other, can be bolted to the front bolster, one on each side. Put the chain through the big hole and use a grade 8 bolt for mounting to bolster. Jim

I like Jim's idea although I did not do it that way and it's been so long since I trailered it I can't remember how I did it. Scotty has a BN he hauls requently and would be a good one to ask if he happens by today. Only thing I will say, and I am sure you know this, is do not assume you are going to get a "smaller" tractor. It may be short but it can be every bit as wide as your MTA depending on how the wheels are spaced. Take the full size trailer.

I go at it one of two ways, depending on what else might be on the trailer and where the trailer tiedowns wind up relative to the tractor.

On the rear of the BN, I use two clevises. If chaining to the rear, I'll run a single 3/8" chain through them both and bind it down. If chaining to the front, the tires get in the way, so I'll use two chains, one to each clevis and anchor each chain to the opposite side of the trailer so that they cross. Either gives good fore-and aft tension as well as side-to-side.

For the front, Jim's suggestion of anchoring devices bolted to the front casting are a very good idea that I haven't got around to yet. What I usually do is run a couple of 20" car axle tie-down straps (I think they're each rated for 2000#) and loop each one thorough the spokes on one wheel and then pass a 9/32" grade 90 chain through the trianguar loops at the ends of the straps and anchor fore or aft of that point, depending on which way I've rigged the rear. That works OK as long as you have the two-wheel NFE like I have and no front weights on them. If yours is a single front wheel of you have wheel weights covering the spokes of the dual wheels, an anchor on each side placed as Jim describes would be your best bet. You might want to design it in a way that would allow you to tie down in either direction.

Since you probably are not concerned about the paint, just run a chain through the front wheels. After it is restored, do what the others say. Safer to use 4 chains, I have usually used only two, one for front one for rear.

Thought the front wheels and a clevis in the draw bar. Or a chain around the pedestal and then around the draw bar or some other such set up. Or you can also bolt on hooks to the many bolt places on the side of the tractor that are there for mounted equipment

As a kid, I used to go with Pappy when he'd pick up tractors with his flatbed truck. No matter WHAT series Farmall it was, one chain went through the front wheels [except for Cubs, which we chained the front axle down]; the second chain went through the rear wheels. The first chain was angled forward of the tractor, and the second chain was angled rearward. When the chain binders were secured, that tractor wasn't going anywhere.

But since the law around here in those days specified THREE bound chains, I believe we also took the third chain around/through the drawbar, and anchored it forward on the truck, at about the midpoint of the bed.

Best I can recall, that's what we did. Last hauled tractors on the old K-5 International in '69, so it's been a few years and I may not recollect correctly.

Not real familiar with the B, but I think the front bolster has tapped holes (like the C) for mounting cultivators. Go to the fastener store and get a couple of heavy duty (Not the bent loop kind you find at the hardware store or Lowe"s) eye bolts of the proper size that are certified for lifting. These eye bolts are made for lifting heavy equipment such as gear boxes and electric motors that have tapped lift holes. Screw the eye bolts in the front bolster and hook your straps or chains in them, tighten up and you are good to go. I"m not sure if you will need 5/8 or 3/4 eye bolts for the B, but either is plenty strong enough. The bolts I got were made in USA and certifed for lifting, so they are not cheap. I recall paying $8 each or so a few years back.

The eye bolt idea is a good one, but they need to be fully threaded, shouldered and rated for the load. I can't find it in their online info, But McMaster-Carr has a good heading at the beginning of their section for such bolts in their paper catalog as to how pulling at an angle reduces the rated load. Even better (and more costly) are the swivel head eyebolts made for such an application. Their design both addresses the loss of stength due to angle of pull and would accommodate being able to anchor to the front or rear of the tractor.

Yes, the rating is reduced when pulling at an angle and they do need to be fully threaded. If you get the lifting rated kind, they will be threaded. The guy at the fastener store gave me some info on the ratings for straight pull and also at an angle (I don't recall the angle). As I recall, the 3/4 inch was 6000 lbs or so on a straight pull and maybe half that on an angle. Info on this should be published somewhere, but I have not looked. Those are working loads, so that is plenty to use 2 inch wide load straps. I mostly use these on smaller tractors and the B would fall into that category.