In Reply to: Mototug in Australia posted by Geoff Whitfield on September 02, 2010 at 02:36:09:
Geoff:
If you scroll down a bit here on the History forum you will find quite a bit on Moto Tugs. You can also do an archive search under "Moto Tug". There was a complete article on the Moto Tugs that ran recently in the Ford/Fordson collector's magazine. We have the Moto Tug parts manual posted here under "manuals".
I own four of them (actually three plus one body), but none restored.
I believe that in your post the serial number must be misquoted a bit - The serial should be BNO 40 XXXX or BNO 25 XXXX The 40 series was the heavier weighted version with a more geared down transmission and dual rear wheels.
Long story short, Ford supplied them beginning in 1943 to satisfy a Navy requirement. Ultimately about 2300 of them were produced, with many being supplied to the Army Air Force and some to civilian airfields. They were shipped overseas as the Navy and Army Air Forces went overseas to fight the war. We have a member of this website that knows of one in Scotland.
They were supplied in three colors - Army flat Olive Drab, Navy flat Gray, and Ford glossy Gray. After the war most of them were sold for salvage and many were broken up for parts or converted into fork lifts, trenchers and loaders. The survivors stayed with the Navy until about 1955, when the last of them were surplused. Note that many Navy tugs were painted high visibility yellow once WW2 was over.
There were also industrial versions of the Ford tractor that were supplied for military airfield use. If you visit the Antique Tractors website, you can read the story of a 2N industrial in New Zealand that has been restored to original US Army configuration.
The picture of your tug seems to have been taken down - i can't access it.
Bob
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