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Fordsons Physics? kinda long

I

IA Leo

Member
I have seen more than once that Henry's Fordson was considered dangerous due to back flips caused by the worm gear final drive. Huh? So they put sheet metal fenders to enclose those wicked looking drive wheels and made the fenders stick out to the rear and enclosed the area for a much needed tool box.
My knowledge of physics leads me to understand any method of driving the axle will cause a lifting motion on the tractor's front. Any method. Ever notice how short the Fordson is? I asked this question of a JD model D. It is equally as short. The answer I got was the radiator system took a fork lift to put it on, it was very heavy.
I suspect the reason the Fordsons back flipped is due to the way the hitch was rigged and to not enough weight in front.
The worm gear drive is historically inefficient, creating much more heat and sapping the final pulling power of the engine.
How about stretching that amount of horsepower out like a Farmall H or a John Deere B and putting a heavy front post way to the very front.
I don't see how worm gears cause rear-up.
Leo
 
Tractor book we had said the Fordsons flipped over when the steel wheels froze to the ground. I would think that would apply to any tractor with cleated steel wheels. Most any tractor has enough torque to turn itself over.
 
I agree with you. I don't see how it makes a difference if worn gear or ring gear drive. All the outside forces are are comparable when viewed from the outside, relative to the ground. Close coupling to rear of axle and the lack of a long, low drawbar had a lot to do with the fordson rearing up. With a long drawbar, as the tractor tries to rear up, the hitching point rotates down, so the weight transfer effect is stopped.
 
I think the general consensus is that the worm gear rear end got a bad rap in this case, but there are a couple of factors where it contributes to rollovers: First, the center of gravity is higher with the worm gear than with a hypoid gear, due to the worm gear sitting above the axle. (I believe it was later moved below the axle, which would improve the CG.) The other thing about a worm gear is it doesn't like to be driven backwards; I've never driven a Fordson, but I suspect releasing the clutch in a rear-up wouldn't release the torque on the axle, so the inertia of the tractor might cause it to continue to rear up after releasing the clutch.
 
i think your right, its not the drive set up as much as its the way the hitch is made, and not enough counter weight on the nose, a problem shared by some other early tractors too, later ones were designed different and less of a problem,also operator training comes into play, take a person with little or no previous tractor experience and have him start to drag logs out of the woods and about half the time he's hooked the chain to something above the centerline of the tractors rear axle, causing the tractor to rear up when a load is applied to it, same as will happen when the tractors rear tires are frozen to the ground, most people raised on a farm know to make the first move of the day in reverse to avoid this
 
I don't know, but check out where the drawbar or tongue attachment point was on these Fordsons.

Note that most all tractors transfer the draft load attachment point ahead of and generously below the rear axle centerline (axis). I believe this arrangement tends to pull downward on the tractor chassis with a moderate amount of pull-down being transferred to the front wheels.
 

I think we also need to realize that the very first Fordson owners were most definitly NOT experienced tractor operators and just did not know how quickly that mechanical beast of burden could cause injury or even death, and even the designers and engineers of that day were not aware of the potential dangers.
 
I agree, its physics and there were lots of fordsons in "new" users hands as opposed to the eary 20 ton steam tractors that didnt have the power to weight ratio to flip. Again the law of physics dictated this.

The later success of ford was the furgeson 3 point that did in fact pull from below and slightly in front of the rear axle, so that the load actually pulled the tractor down and not up and over... This made a lightweight tractor that did twice the work as it predicessors so that now all the hp could be used.

Any time you pulled a stump with a chain wrapped around the axle of most any tractor, if you had enough power, you flipped it over. end of story, end of the driver.
 
First tractor I ever drove was a Fordson. It had the long teardrop fenders, but my dad still warned me about it rearing up.

Couple of things I remember, the worm gear howled like heck, and the tractor ran its best in hot weather when the radiator was boiling. With a non-pressurized cooling system, my dad never bothered to screw the radiator cap down. He did something once to cause the tractor to rear up, and it pitched the hot radiator cap back into his lap.

My dad was also an onnovator. He once put a cross spring onto the steering drag link to cause a slight pull to the left when he was plowing. Just enough to hold the right front wheel against the left side of the furrow so he could let go of the steering wheel and twiddle his thumbs till he got to the other end of the field.

He also designed and made an adjustable wide front end under a Fordson before the manufacturers ever thought of it.

Memories........
 
I used a Fordson for several years back in the 70s pulling an engine-drive JD baler. It worked better than the 2N because it was heavier and the frontend DIDN'T lift up. I think the main cause of them flipping over was because the clutch was slow to release, especially when the tractor/weather was cold. My radiator leaked, so in winter I put water in after I got it started in case it wouldn't start. One time I was pulling up to the milkroom door to get the hose and put the crank right thru the door. I was standing on the clutch and pulling up on the steering wheel with all my strength.
 
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