Did the 8Ns ever come with a backhoe?

A guy on Dieselbombers wants to know was there ever a backhoe made for the 8N?Post a picture of one to if you would so I can prove they existed to him.Thanks

Ben.........heres a "quickie" of an 8N with dealer installed "Funk" 90hp 6-cyl conversion 'stedda' factory 26hp 4-cyl; and a Sherman backhoe and Dearborn front plow. Just copy and paste the picture to yer non-believer "friend". There were about 8000 Funks and about 250 flathead V8's Funks outta about 1,000,000 N-Tractors mfg'd........Dell

Sherman made a backhoe for Ford "N's", there were probably othees. A photo or two have been posted here over the years. (Notice I didn't say putting a backhoe on an "N" was a GOOD idea!)

A quick GOOGLE search turned up THIS one:

<img src = "http://blueontario.net/images/Tractor/100_1199.gif">
Sherman Backho

There where a number of company's that made ones that could be put on an 8N. As Bob said a Sherman. Scout also made one

One of my old AF buddies who now lives in Mass. just this week sent me a DVD and one of the pictures was of an 8N with a backhoe and loader on it sitting in the weeds. I called him to ask about it and he said it belonged to his son in law and one of the rear wheel rims had rusted through and didn't know if or when it would ever be resurrected????

I bet it could be bought????

Zane

I had a ARPS hoe on my 8N, used it for years with no problems. I did not however, use it for jobs better suited for my John Deere excavator.

Ben,

Yes, very early design backhoes were available for the 8N. Maybe the most popular one was made by Sherman, a company that made many special optional attachments for the N tractors.

I have run one of these backhoes. It has the early 4 hyd lever hydraulic controls, plus the 2 levers for the outriggers. The hoe needs a lot of hydraulic flow, but the N only has about 2 gal/minute. So the hoe has its own large hydraulic pump run by the tractors PTO shaft. Of course the N's PTO is not live or independent of the main clutch. So you have your choice, you can either dig or move. My solution for long trenches was to dig until the trench was too close to the tractor, then lift the outriggers, and then use the boom, the dipper arm and backside of the bucket to push the tractor forward. One time I was too tired and made an operator error and pulled the tractor and hoe into the trench. Boy, did that take a lot of explaining, and a pretty tough hide to handle all the ribbing I got for that error.

I dug a couple of basements and septic systems with that setup. It was slow by todays standards, but sure enough was one heck of an improvement over a hand shovel. I did previously dig one small basement with a hand shovel, so I could really appreciate the Sherman hoe. But I do not have any pictures, as that was about 35 to 40 years ago.

I think Ford was a leader in creating the TLB, a dedicated digging tractor that revolutionized the construction industry.

Paul in MN

hey, i'm the guy from DB, thanks be..

i'm in maine. find out if that Guy in mass wants to get rid of that backhoe and maybe get a condition report if thats possiable?