Finding the year of manufacture for a Dexta is a complex process and sources of information differ. The serial number of the Fordson Dexta is stamped on the flange between the engine and clutch housing on the left hand side of the tractor. The castings codes (clutch casting, rear axle casting, gearbox casting, hydraulic lift casting) can also give an indication of year of manufacture. Fordsonfreeweb and Yesterdaystractors give information on this - and here’s a summary of that info. Other Dexta statistics are available here.
Casting Codes
From 1957 until 1963, the casting codes would be in the format of C17A (for example). The first letter refers to the month (i.e. C refers to March), the number refers to the date (i.e.17 would be the 17th of March in this case), the last letter refers to the year (A refering to 1957).
From 1963 onwards the code consisted of a year number, letter indicating the month and a number for the date. So 4D18 would be the 18th April 1964. It would seem that there are some anomalies though - see the table below.
| Month | Until 1963 | 1963 and after |
| Jan | A | A |
| Feb | B | B |
| March | C | C |
| April | D | D |
| May | F | E |
| June | H | F |
| July | J | G |
| Aug | K | H |
| Sept | L | K |
| Oct | M | L |
| Nov | N | M |
| Dec | P | N |
| Year | Code |
| 1957 | A |
| 1958 | B |
| 1959 | C |
| 1960 | D |
| 1961 | F |
| 1962 | H |
| 1963 (Jan-May) | J |
| 1963 (Jun-Dec) | 3 |
| 1964 | 4 |
Serial Numbers
| Year | Prefix | Number |
| 1957 | 957E | 1 to.. |
| 1958 | 957E | 144 to.. |
| 1959 | 957E | 22558 to.. |
| 1960 | 957E | 44432 to.. |
| 1961 (Jan-Oct) | 957E | 71921 to.. |
| 1961 (Nov-Dec) | 09A | 312001 to.. |
| 1962 | 09B | 702592 to.. |
| 1963 (Jan) | 09C | 732031 to.. |
| 1963 (Feb-May) | 09C | 900001 to.. |
| 1963 (Jun-Dec) | 09C | 916550 to.. |
| 1964 (Jan-Sept) | 09D | 907332 to.. |
Other sources do differ slightly from the above numbers, so please only use these as a good guide.
Could you tell me when or if the orange wheels on the fordson dexta were red.
Cheers Lee.
Hi Lee,
As far as I know the wheels were orange and not red. The orange wheels
changed at serial number 09C 913383 (June ‘63) to the grey/cream coloured
wheels.
This Fordson tractor website gives you lots of detailed information
Steve
RECENTLY OBTAINED A FORD 3000 .ON THE BONNET IT WAS MARKED SUPER DEXTA. IT ALSO HASA FIN BONNET . WERE TRYING TO FIND INFO ON THIS .THE SERIAL NUM IS B226 OR B STAR 82162 COULD YOU PLEAS HELP ME ON THIS
THANKS
To whom,
I have purchased a fordson dexta,diesel 3cyl T3. The serial # is 1492597 which is on the engin and another number on the transmittion area which is # 957E - 7005 L5F. I am wanting to rebuild this tractor but don’t know the year it is to order parts. Can anyone help me to determ the year or where else on the tractor I can find a number to help determin the year. Thanks in advance
Roger,
From the transmission casting it looks like your castings were made on 5th September 1961. So I would think that your tractor was manufactured late in 1961.
Paul