Farmall, International Harvester, McCormick Deering

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Farmall Tractors

Farmall was a model name and later a brand name for tractors manufactured by International Harvester (IH). The Farmall name was usually presented as McCormick-Deering Farmall and later McCormick Farmall in the evolving brand architecture of IH.

Farmalls were general-purpose tractors. Their origins were as row-crop tractors, a category that they helped establish and in which they long held a large market share. During the decades of Farmall production (1920s to 1970s), most Farmalls were built for row-crop work, but many orchard, fairway, and other variants were also built. Most Farmalls were all-purpose tractors that were affordable for small to medium-sized family farms and could do enough of the tasks needed on the farm that the need for hired hands was reduced and the need for horses or mules was eliminated. Thus Farmall was a prominent brand in the 20th-century trend toward the mechanization of agriculture.

The original Farmall was the first general-purpose tractor with narrowly spaced front wheels ('tricycle' configuration) and added ground clearance, making it one of the first row-crop tractors. These design traits allowed for more nimble maneuvering and accurate cultivation than many other tractors of the day, yet the Farmall could also, like previous tractors, perform all the other duties a farmer would have previously achieved using a team of horses. (A tractor could even do some novel tasks besides.) A tractor could yield lower overall operating costs than horses as long as it was priced right and reliable (and its fuel supply as well). The Farmall, mass produced with the same low-cost-and-high-value ethos as the Ford Model T or Fordson tractor, could meet that requirement. The Farmall was thus similar to a Fordson in its capabilities and affordability, but with better cultivating ability.

Descriptions of tractors as "general-purpose" and "all-purpose" had been used loosely and interchangeably in the teens and early twenties; but a true all-purpose tractor would be one that not only brought power to ploughing, harrowing, and belt work but also obviated the horse team entirely. This latter step is what changed the financial picture to heavily favor the mechanization of agriculture. The Farmall was so successful at total horse replacement that it became a strong-selling product. With the success of the Farmall line, other manufacturers soon introduced similar general- to all-purpose tractors with varying success.

In later decades, the Farmall line continued to be a leading brand of all-purpose tractors. Its bright red color was a distinctive badge. During the 1940s and 1950s, the brand was ubiquitous in North American farming. Various trends in farming after the 1960s—such as the decline of cultivating in favor of herbicidal weed control, and the consolidation of the agricultural sector into larger but fewer farms—ended the era of Farmall manufacturing. However, many Farmalls remain in farming service, and many others are restored and collected by enthusiasts. In these respects, the Farmall era continues. As predicted in the 1980s and 1990s, the growing public understanding of environmental protection, and of sustainability in general, have brought a corollary resurgence of interest in organic farming and local food production. This cultural development has brought a limited but notable revival of cultivating and of the use of equipment such as Farmalls.

International Harvester

International Harvester Company (IHC or IH) was an United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P. Morgan merged the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms: to form International Harvester. International Harvester sold off its Agricultural division in 1985 and renamed the company Navistar International Corporation in 1986.

Farmall F-12, F-14

 

 

Farmall Regular

The Farmall Regular was the first successful attempt to build a general all purpose tricycle type tractor, designed Bert Benjamin, after several years of patient effort. The new Farmall tractor had high rear-axle clearance, gear drive, automatic braking of either wheel for ouick and short turns, small closely spaced front wheels designed to run between crop rows, vertical steering column with steering rod over the top of the tractor, three forward and one reverse speed, means of mounting cultivator and other attachments, power take-off working off the transmission and delivering power at the center rear, and belt pulley It had the same four cylinder engine as the McCormick-Deering , but the horse-power was stepped up to 20 on the drawbar and 25 on the belt. It burned kerosene with a water intake on the carburetor and became the most popular all-around tractor of the late 1920's.

Farmall F20

Beginning in 1932, International Harvester Company commenced production of the F-20 tractor. When production finally ended in 1939, a total of 148,960 F-20 tractors had been built, breaking all previous records. The F-20 replaced the original Farmall Regular, but was slightly larger. Slight modifications can be found during production, but the tractor remained basically unchanged during the entire run.

Farmall Cub

Culti-Vision tractor smaller than the Farmall A

Beginning with the letter series tractors (A, B, C, H, M), the famous industrial designer Raymond Loewy was commissioned to give the tractors a sleek, modern look.

 

Farmall A & Super-A 100, 130, 140

International Harvester Announces THE FARMALL A

With its new Farmall-A, formally announced at a factory preview in Chicago, July 12, the
International Harvester Co. is now producing the smallest tractor in its thirty-one years of tractor manufacture - an all-purpose power unit for which complete implement equipment is available to make farm mechanization possible on the smallest farms of the United States and the world. Also not to be overlooked are its possibilities on the larger farms, where it can supplement larger tractors in the lighter operations, or eliminate the last team from the power set-up.

The Farmall-A sells at a base price of $515. It is available only with rubber tire equipment and weighs approximately 1700 pounds, which is less than the weight of the flywheels on some of the company's earlier models. The new tractor is the result of several years of development

during which the company has had the benefit of its extensive experience in tractor, automotive and implement engineering. The company has built more tractors than any other organization in the world, has been an extensive producer of heavy duty motor trucks for even a longer period and has developed tractor implement equipment for practically every kind of crop and soil condition. It has drawn freely from all these reservoirs of knowledge in its development of the Farmall A.

The new tractor is impressive, has a striking attractiveness and appealing graceful lines, all of which have been possible though the company's primary consideration has been to build the tractor up from the field to the factory. During its development period the Farmall-A was required to meet the hardest possible working conditions. It was put through the toughest tests that could be found, not only on the company's own experimental farms, but in various farming regions of the United States. The tractors were tested in the hands of regular dirt farmers who weren't trying to nurse any pets up to the assembly lines.

 

Farmall B, BN

Farmall C, Super-C, 200, 230

Farmall  H, Super-H, 300, 350, 340, 504

Farmall M, Super-M, 400, 450, 460

 560, 656, 706, 806, 1206

 

 

 Case IH was formed when the Agricultural Division merged with J.I. Case.

We wish to thank wikipedia.com and antique farm equipment for the above information