Triumph66 1,256 #1 Posted September 20, 2015 Yesterday I collected my Jacobsen built Ford 100 from Chard in Somerset. The owner, Tony, gave me the background on the Ford as referred to below: "I have what I believe to be the only Ford 100 imported into the UK . It has a mower deck, beltdrive rotorvator, bulldozer blade, and most of the bits of a trailer plough.The story I had back in the late 60's was that "it was sent for evaluation as a saleable item and used by the then boss of Ford UK. He found it too small for his needs so traded it in with a local tractor dealer for something larger. They were supposed to remove all the Ford markings before re-selling it, but they left them on!" My late father bought it. It was in use as a grass cutter for many years by my late father who passed it on to me when he moved to smaller housing. I used it either for grass cutting or rotorvating, but it has been stored now many years with only one minor attempt at renovation 7 years ago. I have no further use for it and I guess I want to sell it, but I would rather it goes into the hands of someone who can properly restore it, maybe that means it needs to return to the USA?" He carried out a light rejuvenation of it in the 70s as detailed below: "If this turns out to be successful attached are some old pictures I took abaou 20years ago before my last attempt at refurbishment. The decals, from a ford 2000 were added in the 1970's following a repaint and DO NOT really suit this old lady, hey I was a lot younger then. in my refurb I made a new seat can cover. not easy and could not source the rib moulded material, but looks MUCH better than the ragged old one. The off road tyres were a 1970's purchase when I hoped to get some 12" rims adapted to suit the hubs and gain more grip for the plough. project submerged by marriage failure. The potato ridger was added to the plough frame from a merrytiller and is not original. For some reason I dont seem to have pic of the rotovator but the drive/attachment mechanism is in the third pic along with the plough attachment. The original exhaust was side delivery but this vertical one (now defunct) and a later one now added, though awful to a purist somehow make it look more macho." I contacted the vendor and agreed to meet up in late August and a deal was struck. He was keen that it went to an enthusiast. Yesterday I collected it and drove it up the ramps onto my pickup after it was jump started. It is the first time it moved under it own power for 7 years. Previously prior to that some 30 years ago, as mentioned above, it was fired up and back in the 70s it was given a fresh coat of paint to freshen it up. The decals are from a Ford 2000. Today I unloaded it and gave it a good wash whilst assessing what needs doing. I pumped up the tyres, grease the suspension and to drive and cleaned the plug. My plan is to give it a service (oil change, air filter, spark plug, drain the tramission oils,replace the fuel line etc) and buy a battery. It's missing a belt guide on one side but it's all there and original ( apart from the stack exhaust). The Ford is based on the Jacobsen Chief model from that era. I will be picking up the Ford Tiller and front bulldozer plough in a few weekends time. Ford 100 on collection Ford 100 washed and given a quick grease up with tyres pumped up. Surprisingly a solid lump of metal. 10 Ian, WestwoodGazelle, nigel and 7 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harryt 281 #2 Posted September 20, 2015 what do you plan on doing with it, nice find though 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #3 Posted September 20, 2015 According to the records (thanks Alain) I have a 1966 model. I will try to read the numbers again tomorrow. 1966 Prod. No. Description Starting Ser.# Final Ser. # 53057 8 hp - gear 1601 3040 53059 10 hp - gear 1601 5660 53091 12 hp - hydro 1601 2600 what do you plan on doing with it, nice find though I want get it up and running and enjoy tinkering and using the Ford but in the long run get it back to its former glory; time and funds permitting....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the showman 4,074 #4 Posted September 20, 2015 That's a nice find Andrew, gonna look good when's she's up and running 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joe the small engine man 89 #5 Posted September 20, 2015 That's amazing! I must say the lawn tractors are the best! 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadExam 1,783 #6 Posted September 21, 2015 Really nice find Andrew, Many of these do not have the PTO on the side of the engine any longer, really nice early Ford with a great 10hp kohler k241 engine. Does the engine serial number start with B or C? 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadExam 1,783 #7 Posted September 21, 2015 Decals for your tractor can be found here. http://www.georgebradishtractorparts.com/lawnDecals.jsp 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #8 Posted September 21, 2015 Thanks Alain, I think it's a C but really difficult to decipher it. According to the records you sent me ( I still can't copy it and paste it) my Ford was produced in 1966. The tag numbers are 53059 1601 Extract from Ford Serial Numbers 1966 Prod. No. Description Starting Ser.# Final Ser. # 53057 8 hp - gear 1601 3040 53059 10 hp - gear 1601 5660 53091 12 hp - hydro 1601 2600 Well according to the seller, Ford gave the Chairman or Managing Director of Ford UK this garden tractor to try out at his home for possible selling them over in the UK. Apparently he did not think there was a market for these possibly because at the time British buyers were buying British and that the UK did not have the number of properties with large gardens to warrant 'another' garden tractor on the market. This would tie in neatly with the low serial number. I will take a photo of it for the records. According to a couple of Ford experts in the U.S. It would appear I have the first one produced in '66 and that again would tie in with the story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadExam 1,783 #9 Posted September 21, 2015 Try looking at with a flashlight, maybe even in a dark room, and maybe wetting it Prod. No. Description Starting Ser.# Final Ser. # 1965 53055 8 hp - gear 1601 1990 53056 10 hp - gear 1601 2050 1966 53057 8 hp - gear 1601 3040 53059 10 hp - gear 1601 5660 53091 12 hp - hydro 1601 2600 1967 53062 8 hp - gear 1601 2500 53064 10 hp - gear 1601 3960 53066 12 hp - gear 1601 2672 53083 10 hp - hydro 1601 2450 53093 12 hp - hydro 1601 2250 1968 53062 8 hp - gear 5500 5669 53064 10 hp - gear 6610 8209 53066 12 hp - gear 5290 6169 53083 10 hp - hydro 5350 5694 53093 12 hp - hydro 5250 6954 1969 53078 10 hp - gear 5196 12614 53089 12 hp - gear 5331 11529 53250 12 hp - hydro 6501 13674 53265 14 hp - hydro 5186 10589 1970 53078 10 hp - gear 15615 53089 12 hp - gear 14530 53250 12 hp - hydro 16675 53265 14 hp - hydro 13590 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #10 Posted September 21, 2015 Have anyone got a Kohler belt guard like the one pictured (black) available ? If you do please contact me via PM. Thanks. 1 S1g reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris 642 #11 Posted September 21, 2015 Thats a fast paint job Andrew!! Thats a good machine. I swear there was another one like this on ebay a while back. It made strong money 2 Ian and Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #12 Posted September 21, 2015 Thats a fast paint job Andrew!!] Well I had a few hours to kill this afternoon....... 2 Ian and HeadExam reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #13 Posted September 23, 2015 A nice find Andrew.. And its good to see something different 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadExam 1,783 #14 Posted September 24, 2015 Thats a fast paint job Andrew!!] Well I had a few hours to kill this afternoon....... It might be worth it for me to fly you over for a day or two to paint a dozen of my machines 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meadowfield 1,900 #15 Posted September 24, 2015 Nice find Andrew Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #16 Posted September 24, 2015 It might be worth it for me to fly you over for a day or two to paint a dozen of my machines Alain, Business class on British Airways and a week on either side to recover from jet lag and time zones and I might consider it.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #17 Posted September 26, 2015 This came in the past this morning from the States. Bought them on Sunday evening..... All part of collating information on this project. I will be collecting the actual tiller and front dozer plough next weekend. 1 HeadExam reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadExam 1,783 #18 Posted September 26, 2015 I have the original owners/parts manuals for the 70/80 Ford Lawn tractors. I have no idea where I got them 1 Triumph66 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #19 Posted September 27, 2015 What I would like is a sales brochure on this model ranges 80 & 100. I narrowly missed out on this one. 1 HeadExam reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #20 Posted October 4, 2015 I collected the Ford's bulldozer plough and rotovator this afternoon from the same owner as I couldn't do it in one hit. The rotovator is unbelievably heavy and solid. Can't wait to clean it up. I will upload some photos sometime. 2 HeadExam and nigel reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Triumph66 1,256 #21 Posted January 6, 2017 Now gone to a new home....... 3 harryt, nigel and HeadExam reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nigel 1,877 #22 Posted January 6, 2017 Yeh it should of been mine Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harryt 281 #23 Posted January 6, 2017 At least it is nearer you 1 nigel reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nigel 1,877 #24 Posted January 7, 2017 20 hours ago, harryt said: At least it is nearer you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harryt 281 #25 Posted January 7, 2017 So, yesterday I picked up the Ford 100 from Devon. It was a long trip and several delays meant it took even longer but it was worth it in the end. It was a pleasure to meet Andrew again for the 2nd time, even though it was brief as we needed to get going. I had bought a few items at the auction near Andrew the day before so we went to get them first, we got loaded and strapped down and then went to Andrews, only to realize we had left out battery and jump leads at the auction as we needed to jump some things. Anyway we carried on going to Andrews and we went back later to get them. As I said it was good to meet Andrew again, and to see the Ford of course. We had a quick chat about it and got it loaded along with the attatchments. Our trailer was full to the brim and couldn't of got anything more on, some stuff even went in the car! We went to the auction again to collect our stuff we forgot. We then left Devon to return home. Then this happened This was not good and set us back 30mins in the end😡. Anyway, we eventually got home at 9:50pm and obviously was dark so could not do much. This morning I got everything off and had a play around. Managed to get the Ford firing but could not keep it running, fuel was not getting past the fuel pump, so I put it away as started to rain for next weekends project. Here are a few pictures. 4 nigel, Triumph66, Stormin and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
