20 YEARS & COUNTING

It is difficult to believe that the N-News has been in existence for 20 years. It has never missed a deadline, four times a year. Nothing has ever been repeated, though we often re-visit ideas, with updates.

My uncle, Gerard, started the publication out of his need and curiosity. He had an 8N but when he visited the dealer, no one really could answer his questions and often, parts were not in stock. Technical advice was unheard of.

The Ford tractor dealership that he had dealt with for years was showing less and less interest in (what was then) a 25-year-old tractor. The throw-away mentality of the 1980s was underway. Why bother trying to keep that old thing running when you can get a nice new blue tractor? Back then his 8N was only worth maybe $800-$1200! I am sure the dealership tried to get him to trade it for something newer.

Aside from rebuild costs of the 8N, which he couldn’t afford, he liked the Art Deco look, and he just could not discard something that was still working well. He plunged into a full restoration.

About then, Gerard got his first computer. It was an IBM PC with two 5 1/4 inch floppy disc drives an EGA monitor and 64k of RAM! I clearly remember being in awe of this “powerful” machine. But by today’s standards for computers it would be useless, like an old tractor without a three-point lift hitch, maybe?

That old computer was just a novelty. He really had nothing to do on it. Then he had the idea to combine two interests: his tractor and his computer. He began organizing information about the 8N on the computer. He asked the local dealership if he could put up a sign asking if anyone was interested in sharing information about the old Ns. Then he also ran an ad in an agricultural publication. Before long, there were a few hundred N-owners responding. When he organized the responses into a little booklet, the first issue of the N-News was born.

Back then tractor parts were a little harder to come by. All the basic stuff was there from the dealer, but very little of the sheet metal. Gerard began a Boneyard List and it was updated often. People started buying and selling parts through the newsletter. A few asked to run display ads. Ed Miller Tire was one of the first, along with Ankeny Tractor.

There was a great sense of camaraderie as this small group seemed to be sitting around an old stove talking about something with a keen interest but not a lot of official information. Soon, even that came.

Well, today that small group is much larger. Back then we were scattered here and there around the country, and now we are in every state plus Canada, Australia and many European countries.

The magazine has changed over time. Bigger, much more color, many more vintage pictures and nostalgia, but the basics are all still there: The N-Conversation, Tech-Tips, and the Ho-Mades.

And YOU, the readers are the ones to thank. Every one of you who has shared your memories, your discoveries, your failures and accidents, has made this magazine what it is.

20 years is a long time to keep such a focused publication going. But then again, I know many, many N tractors are still out there working away. We all have our work cut out for us.

I’m ready for 20 more years, how about you?


Keep’emrunnin.

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