Ford 3600 year of manufacture/

Those are not serial numbers, they are casting numbers. Those numbers are raised up, which means they are part of the casting of the engine block or transmission housing. They can tell you about the specific model of engine and transmission that it has in it, but not much about when it was made, or even the specific model of tractor.

Look on the flat spot that is facing up on the transmission bell housing just toward the rear of the tractor from the starter, on the right side of the tractor. There should be 3 numbers stamped in to that area. They will be formed by depressions in the metal, not raised up like the casting numbers. If you're lucky, the original metal foil sticker might be on the under side of the hood. If that sticker is still there, it will have the same 3 numbers, plus a few more. Post those 3 numbers here and we can help you figure out what you've got and when it was made.

Tomota, C575849 is the serial number, which should make it a 1978 tractor. There should be 2 other numbers stamped near the serial number, one is the model number and the other is the production code, which can tell you the exactly when it was built, down to the exact date and which shift did the final assembly.

Thanks NRN, I am selling this one since I bought a B2710 and added a Landpride finish mower and Backhoe attachment. I dig digging and I mow 1800ft of driveway Right of Way. I fish out here in Western Washington and need some space for my Glasply fishing boat. Sitting in the rain around here means MOLD< MOLD>MOLD on everything. Thanks again and good luck to your family.

Hello,
I too have a Ford 3600 that I'm trying to figure out the year. My stamp Serial number is 0532737. The engine stamp is 7B08C and the Model Number is 3600 Ford 9N (from the receipt). From NRN's explanation of the stamp mine is was built in Feb. 8th by the C shift(assume Night) but what does the "7" mean? NRN how did you know Tomota's "8F09B" was a '88 and not a say '78?

NRN how did you know Tomota's "8F09B" was a '88 and not a say '78?

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In my first response I said it was a 1978. My later response where I said it was a 1988 was a typo.

The first digit of the production code is the last digit of the year it was made, so since Tomota's production code started with an 8 it had to be made in a year that ended in an 8, and the 3600 was only made from 1975 through 1981, and the only year in that range that ended in an 8 was 1978. His serial number of C575849 is a 1978 serial number as well, so the 2 numbers agree that it is a 1978 tractor.

If yours is also a 3600, then the 7 at the beginning of your production code would mean that it was made in 1977. If your serial number is C532737 instead of 0532737 then that would confirm that it is a 1977 tractor. All Ford tractor serial numbers from 1975 - 1987 started with a single letter followed by a 6 digit number. The letter was either A B or C which indicated which factory it was assembled at, followed by a 6 digit number. The A was for Antwerp in Belgium, the B was for Basildon in the UK and the C was for the plant in Michigan in the US. Part way through 1987, all tractor assembly moved to Basildon in the UK and the serial numbers changed to 2 letters (BA, then BB, BC, etc.) at the beginning followed by a 5 digit number.

You can look up Ford serial numbers to see what year they were made in a few places on the internet:

tractordata.com - click on model number and scroll down to list of years and serial numbers

yesterdaystractors.com - click on model or series number. Not as complete as tractordata

By the way, there is no such thing as a 3600 9N. A 9N was a Ford tractor made from 1939 through 1942 and had a 4 cylinder flat head engine. The 3600 was made, as I said, from 1975 through 1981, and it had a 3 cylinder overhead valve engine. Can you find the model number? First place to look is on a foil sticker on the underside of the right hood panel, above the battery. If the foil sticker is no longer there or no longer legible, then look near where you found the serial number and production code stamped into the flat spot. It might be further up on the flat spot, in the rough part of the casting instead of on the part that was ground smooth where the other two numbers were stamped. The model number should start with either CA1 or CA2 (they switched partway through 1977) followed by either a 1 for a diesel engine or a 2 for a gasoline engine, followed by one more number and ends with a letter, where the last number tells you what kind of PTO it has and the letter at the end tells you what transmission it has.

On my Ford 3600 on the foil sticker I have these numbers if anyone can help me decode them.
Tractor Number: c624746
Model: CA213C
Unit: 9J12B
All the other numbers engine, transmission etc. start with 9
Thanks for any help

CA213C is a 3600 with a diesel engine, live PTO and an 8 speed manual transmission (4 forward and one reverse gear on the main shifter, plus hi and low ranges on the shorter shifter fo ra total of 8 forward and 2 reverse gears).

The ubnit numebr is a code for when the tractor was assembled. 9J12B means that it was assembled on September 12 1979 during the day shift.

C624746 is a 1979 serial number. The C at the beginning means that it was assembled at the plant in the USA.

The engine, trans and other numbers are the date codes for when those components were assembled. The 9 at the beginning means they were all assembled in 1979 as well, probably a few weeks to a few months before the tractor was assembled.

Nouveau ******* said:

CA213C is a 3600 with a diesel engine, live PTO and an 8 speed manual transmission (4 forward and one reverse gear on the main shifter, plus hi and low ranges on the shorter shifter fo ra total of 8 forward and 2 reverse gears).

The ubnit numebr is a code for when the tractor was assembled. 9J12B means that it was assembled on September 12 1979 during the day shift.

C624746 is a 1979 serial number. The C at the beginning means that it was assembled at the plant in the USA.

The engine, trans and other numbers are the date codes for when those components were assembled. The 9 at the beginning means they were all assembled in 1979 as well, probably a few weeks to a few months before the tractor was assembled.

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Thank you so much. When I bought it used they said it was a 1977 model. I was confused by some other info on an old blog I had gotten. I knew from it it was either a 77 or 79. But with all the 9’s I was thinking it was a 79. Thanks again

6J27C is a date code. Depending on where you found it, it could be the date of assembly of the trator itself or of one of the major components like the engine, transmission , rear axle, hydaulic top cover, etc. 6J27C on a 3600 would be September 27, 1976 during the afternoon shift. The first 6 is the year. Since the 3600 was only made from 1975-1981, the only year in that range ending in a 6 is 1976.

The letter in the second spot is the month:
A=January
B=February
C=March
etc, but they skippped I, so J=September.

The next 1 or 2 digits is the day of the month, and the letter at the end is which shift:
A = midnight shift (midnight to 8:00 AM)
B = day shift (8:00 AM to 4:00 PM)
C = afternon shiht (4:00 PM to midnight)