Mechanic Has 50 Years Experience With Ford Tractors
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Arnold Gunnink has spent the better part of 50 years buying, selling, collecting, and restoring the always popular Ford 2N, 8N and 9N tractors. “When I started working on them in the early 1960’s, I could buy them for a couple hundred bucks at a farm auction or from a newspaper ad,” Gunnink says. “I’d repair a few things, get them running good, add a nice paint job, and make a few hundred.”
Gunnink says restoring a tractor these days and re-selling it to make money is difficult. “The decent ones are harder to find and cost more, so when you’ve done the work, bought new tires and paint, and have them in mint condition, what you’ll get doesn’t pay for your time. Those with straight 6 or V-8 conversions may bring $10,000 or more, but you’ve got a lot in them.”
In his 80’s now and retired, Gunnink worked in a Ford garage and later ran his own repair business, so he knows the ins and outs of Fords. “Most things are easy to fix, like cleaning up the motor, repairing the starter and ignition, tightening the linkages so the front wheels don’t shimmy, fixing leaks here and there, and getting the choke and throttle to operate properly,” says Gunnink. “I’d overhaul a few motors or gain some extra horsepower by adjusting the governor to increase the rpm, adjusting the main carburetor jet and advancing the spark by rotating the distributor.”
Gunnink retrofitted one of his 9Ns with an in-line 6 motor that he salvaged from a 1957 Ford sedan. “I could’ve bought a kit but since I’d worked on so many tractors before, I decided to do the work myself,” Gunnink says. “I had a machine shop build a new bell housing, changed the linkages, raised the hood 5 in., and lengthened the frame about 10 in. by myself. I used the original radiator from the tractor, but replaced the fan because it wasn’t moving enough air,” Gunnink says. “That little tractor ran real well and sounded great with its vertical pipes. With a new paint job it looked factory-built, so I actually sold it and made a few dollars on the deal.”
He planned to restore an 8N with a V-8 car motor, but that changed when he saw one fitted with a 1950 Ford V-8 for sale. “The price was right,” he says, “so now that one’s part of my collection. It has 6 chrome exhaust pipes and was done with an Awesome Henry conversion kit. I’ve added new lights and tweaked a few things, but otherwise it was parade-ready and that’s what I use it for.”
Gunnink says if someone really wants to go all out on a conversion they could add polished heads, show-quality automotive paint, spoked custom front wheels, and automobile-type hubcaps. “There’s really no limit to what you can spend and how you can customize as long as money isn’t a concern,” Gunnink says. “But most people just want a tractor that starts and runs well, can pull a trailer here or there, and doesn’t leak fluids on the floor.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Arnold Gunnink, P.O. Box 335, Leota, Minn. 56153 (ph 507 443-5801).
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Mechanic Has 50 Years Experience With Ford Tractors AG WORLD Arnold Gunnink has spent the better part of 50 years buying selling collecting and restoring the always popular Ford 2N 8N and 9N tractors “When I started working on them in the early 1960’s I could buy them for a couple hundred bucks at a farm auction or from a newspaper ad ” Gunnink says “I’d repair a few things get them running good add a nice paint job and make a few hundred ” Gunnink says restoring a tractor these days and re-selling it to make money is difficult “The decent ones are harder to find and cost more so when you’ve done the work bought new tires and paint and have them in mint condition what you’ll get doesn’t pay for your time Those with straight 6 or V-8 conversions may bring $10 000 or more but you’ve got a lot in them ” In his 80’s now and retired Gunnink worked in a Ford garage and later ran his own repair business so he knows the ins and outs of Fords “Most things are easy to fix like cleaning up the motor repairing the starter and ignition tightening the linkages so the front wheels don’t shimmy fixing leaks here and there and getting the choke and throttle to operate properly ” says Gunnink “I’d overhaul a few motors or gain some extra horsepower by adjusting the governor to increase the rpm adjusting the main carburetor jet and advancing the spark by rotating the distributor ” Gunnink retrofitted one of his 9Ns with an in-line 6 motor that he salvaged from a 1957 Ford sedan “I could’ve bought a kit but since I’d worked on so many tractors before I decided to do the work myself ” Gunnink says “I had a machine shop build a new bell housing changed the linkages raised the hood 5 in and lengthened the frame about 10 in by myself I used the original radiator from the tractor but replaced the fan because it wasn’t moving enough air ” Gunnink says “That little tractor ran real well and sounded great with its vertical pipes With a new paint job it looked factory-built so I actually sold it and made a few dollars on the deal ” He planned to restore an 8N with a V-8 car motor but that changed when he saw one fitted with a 1950 Ford V-8 for sale “The price was right ” he says “so now that one’s part of my collection It has 6 chrome exhaust pipes and was done with an Awesome Henry conversion kit I’ve added new lights and tweaked a few things but otherwise it was parade-ready and that’s what I use it for ” Gunnink says if someone really wants to go all out on a conversion they could add polished heads show-quality automotive paint spoked custom front wheels and automobile-type hubcaps “There’s really no limit to what you can spend and how you can customize as long as money isn’t a concern ” Gunnink says “But most people just want a tractor that starts and runs well can pull a trailer here or there and doesn’t leak fluids on the floor ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Arnold Gunnink P O Box 335 Leota Minn 56153 ph 507 443-5801
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