Can an 8n rear differential be turned around to make the forward gears go in reverse? I know that the older Farmall's could do that for the cotton picker attachment. I am interested in converting my 8n into a rough terrain forklift.

Thanks, guys for the info.

I know it can be done. My dad parted out an 8N many, many years ago that was reversed and turned into a hay sweep. It had a Sherman combo and not a reversing. Not sure if any other modifications were needed to the rear other than flipping the differential.

I do not know but thinking about it here...
My guess is no.
On the inside of the left trumpet there is a rubbing block to prevent excess sideways thrust of the differential when under heavy load.
Is the right trumpet cast to add that rubbing block?
We know the trumpets can't be swapped from left to right.
On the 7xx and 9xx row crop tractors the differential ran backwards from the 6xx and 8xx tractors because of the drop down boxes on the outer ends of the axles.
But I believe the architecture of the entire center housing and trumpets are designed to run backwards.

I can't answer your question about the differential, but I believe there was an auxiliary reversing transmission which mounted in front of the 4-speed transmission.
...That should give you 4 speeds in forward or reverse.

Pretty sure KCM is winner, here! " Not sure if any other modifications were needed to the rear other than flipping the differential." What is flipped is the entire axle asssembly, nothing inside is touched.