Farmall H Kerosene Serial Number

Hello

I recently purchased a farmall H that has all of the kerosene parts, (head, aux. tank, manifold) but my serial number does not have X1 or X3 after it. Do you think someone put these parts on?
Serial code: FBH-164543

Not unusual at all. X1 is gas, so forget that and think of X3 as a code used for mainly gas tractors, lets says a 400 or 450 that were mostly produced in a gas version. Kerosene was pretty much standard, so no X code needed.

No. I don't think someone would go to the trouble to convert a gas burner, to kerosene. Not impossible, but highly unlikely.

A lot of conversions the other way. Kero or distillate, converted to gas. But hardly never the other way.

The heated intake manifold, and radiator shutters were required to burn the other two fuels. These two components often became un-usable. Not something you'll find easily that are functional in used condition (such as in a salvage yard).

The gas burners weren't equiped with the aux. tank, which was also needed. Therefor, the gas burners didn't have the hole in the hood for the aux. tank. To add the aux. tank, you'd have to likewise change out the hood, OR, cut a hole in the existing
hood.

The gas burners had noticeable extra power. The only advantage to burning the other two fuels (which was a pain in the A), was that they could be burnt cheaper. But a few years later, distillate became obsolete to find, and kero became higher to buy than gas. And a conversion to burn it, wouldn't of made no sense AT ALL.

For what it is worth, I can't find
an X1, 2, or 3 on my 1943 kero burning H serial number plate either. My plate is not in the best if shape. Not saying that it was never there. But if X2 or 3 was stamped (not painted), like the rest of the serial number, it appears to of never been on my plate.

My 49 M clearly has X1 to indicate gas.

I'm thinking you are on the wrong track, by thinking it was converted from gas. Not impossible. Just REALLY unlikely. If so, you'd of thought there would of been an X1 to indicate it was originally gas. Without that, there is basically no argument. Nothing to back you up, that it was indeed a gas to start with.

When the Farmall H initially came out in 1939 distillate was the standard fuel with kerosene for the export tractors. Gasoline was a special in that it required the cold manifold and the omission of the starting gasoline tank and the radiator shutters though the shutters could be added as an extra. Most farmers at the time would use the cheaper fuel. My 1940 W-4 (kerosene) has no codes after the serial number. The advertising of the day indicated that high compression gasoline engines were an option.

Lot of distillate fuel serial numbers had no code following the serial number. No codes were used or started before H serial number 20891.

Your H was probably made in early 1944. Beginning serial # for 1944 was 150251, beginning serial # for 1945 was 186123. I have two 1944 H's that have been in the family since new. One is a factory gas, the other a factory distillate. The distillate has a small starting tank & shutters, which were removed in the early '50's. Both hoods have a hole for the starting tank, but the gas model had no starting tank. Neither have an X designation on the serial # tag. Remember that these tractors were built during WW II and not everything that was supposed to be done to them may not have gotten done.