This device is for the hydraulic lift on the 9N, 2N and TO Ferguson tractors that originally only had draft control. My ZANE THANG gives the lift position control just as effective as the lifts all the later model tractors have. No more chains and bars to hold the implement where you want it to stay while in operation. Just select the position and it will stay put. Also, it will return to any previously set position automatically. No part of the original tractor or it's components is altered. You just bolt it on in a matter of minutes with a couple of common hand tools.
Price $95.00, including shipping in the USA
Price $107.50, including shipping outside the USA
Proper adjustment of the 8N lift is next to impossible without the jig. This is something that has been needed for years. It is not an original idea for me. I used to be a mechanic and parts man in a small dealership in Talladega, AL, and used such a jig to adjust the 8N lifts. The jig that was supplied to every Ford dealership was cast aluminum and I suppose that most or all of them have been lost or broken over the years because nobody can lay hands on one. I just made up my mind to resurrect the knowledge so I compiled the booklet and fabricated the jig so it can be done in a more practical way. I also include a new cam follower pin at no charge.
Price $65.00, including shipping in the continental USA.
Cam follower roller modification: $20.
This includes the adjustment booklet, feeler gauge, and a replacement cam follower pin.
Price $40.00 including shipping in the USA
I now have a live hydraulics kit ready to install in about an hour or two. I call it "LIVE THANG" in keeping with all the other stuff I have to offer on the Internet for owners of the 9N/2N/8N Ford tractors and Ferguson tractors with the orignal Ferguson system lift. If you want a filter in the suction side of the system, which I reccommend but is not necessary, there is an additional charge. Having a filter on the suction line will give the lift system a filter which we all know the Ferguson/Ford hydraulic system has long needed. You can also add an additional two spool remote control valve (less the mounting bracket and without any additional piping/plumbing), or a single spool valve is also available if the two spool is not needed. Basic unit will give you live hydraulics for the 3 point hitch. The lift will operate when the clutch is depressed and the PTO is not turning. Or you can use it along with the PTO pump with the clutch engaged. Please state what year tractor the device will be used on and if it has the original generator or has been converted to an alternator. The older model engine block castings are different than the later model engine block castings. On the older blocks like in the 9N/2N and the 8Ns built before 1951 the oil filter mounting boss and the oil filler/breather openings are different than the 8N blocks. The earlier models have these two part closer to the front of the block by about 3 inches. this makes it necessary to have a different mounting bracket for each one. Same goes for the Ferguson tractors. On the Ferguson tractors other than the TO 20 I will need to know what model so I can make a pattern for the particular model. Have to know what belt size etc the engine carries.
Price $600 for the basic unit
Price additional $60 for filter
Price additional $200 for 2 spool remote control valve, or
$125 for a single spool valve (no mounting bracket or plumbing included for either valve)
My address is Zane Sherman, 2824 Renfroe Road, Talladega, AL, 35160. Email me at wzsherman@aol.com. I will accept personal checks and will ship after it clears the bank. Upon receipt of money orders, I will ship your item the next working day, or the same day if received early enough to make the afternoon UPS shipment. I will also pay the shipping. I also accept Paypal payments. Email me at wzsherman@aol.com and I will send you a Paypal request for payment.
Attention, Ford 9N/2N owners. I try to write my columns for the widest possible appeal, but this one's going to be an exception, and I'm addressing myself today solely to those readers who are fortunate enough to own a Ford 9N or 2N tractor. As I do. You'll know by now that if this tractor has a drawback, it lies in the hydraulic three-point-hitch. The hitch was designed in the late 1930s, and it was designed for about one thing only, and that was plowing. To that end, the hitch operates in a draft-sensing mode only. It has no position-control mode, and so it's not possible to set the height of the hitch at a given position and have it stay there. In less than 10 years, Ford realized that a position control mode would greatly expand the potential of their tractor. When they introduced the model 8N in 1948, they equipped it with a very accomplished position-control mode as well as the same draft-control system of the models 9N and 2N. Once that became available, all sorts of implements became available which took advantage of that function - back-blades, terracers, mowers, tillers, and so forth. Those who owned 9N and 2N models were left at a disadvantage when it came to using those implements. To use an implement that requires constant height, the operator is obliged to rig some sort of height-sustaining hardware - limiter chains, stay bars, or something of the sort. This can be very unsatisfactory. The only other alternative has been to find a junked 8N tractor and exchange the entire hydraulic system. All the parts interchange between the two models, but the system was so much modified to add the position control that the entire hitch system, including the pump, must be exchanged. Some enterprising inventors have modified the 9N/2N to add position-control mode. But their modifications have usually involved adding one or more remote cylinders and valves to the hitch system, and these modifications have usually disabled the standard draft-control mode. So, for fifty years, this shortcoming has been something that most owners have learned to live with. Enter Zane Sherman. Zane is a former Ford tractor mechanic, now retired, who lives in Talladega, Alabama. He's not as "retired" as all that, and is still active in repairing tractors and other machinery. When I talked to him for this story, he told me how he got to thinking about how to address this shortcoming. "I had the idea one night when (I heard that) someone was going to spend $1,000 to put an 8N lift on his 9N so that he could have position control. I just sat back in my chair and thought of how the 8N system works by the pin following a cam that in effect changes the length of the control valve linkage internally. After about 4 hours of brain storming I came up with the way to change the length of the connection between the lift arms and the control valve to do the same thing in a 9N/2N system." He built a prototype of his idea, and it worked every bit as well as he had thought it would, sitting in his chair. When other 9N/2N owners saw what he had achieved, they wanted one too, and so he made some more. One thing led to another, and now he's making and selling these things as a regular business proposition. In tribute to his Southern heritage, he christened his invention "the Zane Thang". When first I heard about his invention, I was frankly skeptical. After all, I figured, people had been thinking about this for 50 years, and hadn’t come up with a solution. But after exchanging a couple of e-mails with Zane, and hearing that he offered a no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee, I took the plunge and bought one of his "Thangs" for my 2N. Folks, my suspicions were unfounded, and I'm not ashamed to say so. Zane's invention does indeed add position control to a 9N or 2N, exactly as he says it does. It installs on the tractor in 10 minutes with hand tools only. Another 10 minutes of adjustment gives perfect operation - the hitch can be set at any position in its travel and it will stay there. It will automatically compensate for leak-down in the hitch hydraulics. There are no changes or modifications whatever to the tractor, and it can be removed in 10 minutes. If draft-control mode is desired, it can be restored in a matter of seconds using one wrench. The "Zane Thang" is made of high-quality materials throughout - all the metal parts are stainless steel, and other parts are precision-machined from engineered plastics. It's built strong to last long, and includes provision for adjustment to take up wear and variations in hitch performance. And it's sold, as I said, with a no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee. I don't make a habit of endorsing products, but this is one about which I have no reservations. It performs exactly as advertised, it's American-made and it's the product of American ingenuity. It represents exactly the sort of inventiveness and entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country such a great place. If you've been bothered by this shortcoming in your tractor, I urge you to consider this alternative. You won't regret it.