No more whining about tractor...

[hubcapsc]

The tractor dude came over and fetched my 8n back to his shop so he could break it in two and
replace the ring gear. And the clutch and bearings while he's in there...





Here's the old ring gear (new ring gear still wrapped up right beside it)...
Usually the ring gear stops at the same place in relation to the teeth on the starter motor, so
usually ring gears wear in just one place. I knew I had a problem
when the starter would lock up sometimes. My buddy Dan came over to help look at it and
we took the starter off and reached in there with a big file and filed down the gnarly bad teeth on
the ring gear...





After we did that the tractor didn't lock up, but if the ring gear stopped at the bad place,
the starter would just spin, so I'd put the tractor in 4th and grab the lugs of the rear tire and
rock the tractor a little till the ring gear moved off the bad place... you can see the shavings we left
in the housing when we filed down the teeth...

The tractor dude says (in spite of how old and clapped out it looks) that my 8n is in real good shape,
one indicator is a pin and associated spacers and bushing that holds the front struts on... the original
ones are on my tractor, and that is supposed to be rare... he replacing them because they're not
tight anymore...



Here's a whole bunch of Valkyries 



-Mike

[BudMan]

You're definitely going the right route to correct the problem.  Fix it once and fix it right.   BUT, there is a cheaper less ummm, "professional"  way to handle worn ring gears.  First, prevent the hanging just as you did with the file, then rotate the ring gear 90 degrees and re-bolt it to the main shaft. 
The flywheel will generally stop in either of two places, each 180 degrees apart.
I would never suggest doing this on something like a good 8N like yours, but for a beater, that just needs to make a few more crops, or in the case of a car eek out another year or so, it will avoid the cost of a new gear.
Good idea on replacing the throw-out bearing! It's a small investment to keep from having to look inside that bell housing again for a LONG time.

[John Schmidt]

That old tractor sure brings back some memories, especially that solid metal seat. First time my uncle turned me loose on one to mow a field, he told me be sure to take something soft to sit on. I didn't and by lunch time I was so red and galled from sitting and bouncing for the last 4-5 hours I couldn't continue. The next day I finished the field, but did it with the seat flipped back while I stood most of the time. Oooh the memories!

[Jack B]

A while back someone had a picture of a 8n with a Valkyrie motor. Looked cool

[Charlie McCready]

Here's the Valk powered 8N......http://marvinbaumann.com/valkyrie.html