A Fomoco and a Dogbone

[stanley62]

I never buy Ford wrenches, but got this on cheap so it followed me home.  The dogbone was not as cheap, but was reasonable enough.

Ford 9N17014 with an M in a circle on the back
Sterling No. 295 dogbone.

[john k]

Nice pair.  The open end is a Ford wrench, but actually  a Fordson tractor wrench.  I am not a researcher with all the catalogs, others do that way better than I, but that wrench has two uses, one or the other is true.  On a Fordson tractor there is no fuel gauge, the wrench is dipped in the tank,  the numbers will tell you how many gallons of gas remain.   Or, when plowing its customary to reset the plow to do the dead furrow, then reset to plow.   If the ground is hard, or wet, one has to check the depth of plowing, here is where the wrench can be used as a ruler.  Depending on the cover crop, plowing was done five to six inches deep, sometimes, more, or less.  I have the same wrench, but not the box end.    Good find.

[rusty]

So if you didn't buy a plow, how would you know how much gas you had?

[Lewill2]

A stick... But not a match.......

[Wrenchmensch]

The embossed legend, Fomoco, seems to suggest Ford tractor. Why Fordson tractor and not Ford tractor? 

[stanley62]

The Logo is indeed Fomoco.  I tried to upload a closeup, but it keeps failing...
I hope they don't decide to go thru.  I tried 3 times...
Jim

[Neals]

The 9Nxxx number on that Ford wrench makes me wonder if it came with a Ford 9N tractor

[rusty]

Interesting info about the die revision number here:

http://www.ntractorclub.com/cgi/viewit.cgi?fb=nhistory&th=630

(Had a longer post on this, but the forum ate it, sigh)

[Bus]

Ford plow wrench mfg. after the Ford-Ferguson break up. Rule marks where to measure plow furrow depth not gas level,

[BRwrench]

The Ford script logo was used on these wrenches from 1939 to 1950 when the logo was changed to FoMoCo.  Ford and Ferguson dissolved their partnership mid 1947.  These wrenches came with the 9N, 2N and 8N Ford tractors. (The 9N came out in 1939, the 2N came out in 1942, and the 8N came out in 1948).

[john k]

On the Ford tractor, Fordson name thing.  Back in the early days say about WWI time, Ford decided to market a tractor, well somebody was messing with the name fordtractor or such, and to get around the copyright, or lawsuits or,,,, Henry and his son Edsel came up with the name Fordson, this was for the early iron tractor with steel wheels.   Without digging it out, my tractor wrench has Ford script on it, pretty sure.  Was a story about all this long ago in the magazine, (Special Interest Autos).   So when the 9N series started, farmers kept calling them Fordson tractors, at least my grandpa did. 

[keykeeper]

Ford plow wrench mfg. after the Ford-Ferguson break up. Rule marks where to measure plow furrow depth not gas level,

+1 on this. Why would anyone stick an old dirty wrench in the fuel tank and contaminate the gas???????? Not very smart, and as stated, not what the wrench was intended for.

[Bill Houghton]

Ford plow wrench mfg. after the Ford-Ferguson break up. Rule marks where to measure plow furrow depth not gas level,

+1 on this. Why would anyone stick an old dirty wrench in the fuel tank and contaminate the gas???????? Not very smart, and as stated, not what the wrench was intended for.

Well...we had a stick at the gas station, the official method for checking fuel levels in the buried tanks.  We did keep it pretty clean.

[keykeeper]

And that stick was the accepted method for checking tanks and calculating how much was in there to sell. I worked in a gas station when I was younger, we did the same thing. We also had a set of rules for using it, including not banging it on the end when we dropped it down (would compact the wood, changing the reading), wiping it off before use, after use, etc.

I know one thing for sure, the manager would have crapped if I "stuck" the tanks with a big old rusty steel rod that bounced around a toolbox between uses.

[Papaw]

Many gas stations still use that stick, I know the one I buy at does.