TRACTOR PARTS Allis Chalmers Case & David Brown Farmall & International Ferguson Ford & New Holland John Deere Massey Ferguson Massey Harris Minneapolis Moline Oliver & Cockshutt Kubota / Yanmar

TRACTOR MANUALS

Allis Chalmers	Case	Farmall IH	Ford 8N,9N,2N	Ford
Ferguson	John Deere	Massey Ferguson	Minn. Moline	Oliver

Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum

UTILITY TRACTORS

Welcome Guest, Log in or Register

Author

MJ in the UK

09-30-2005 03:07:39

Report to Moderator

The other day on tractor photos there was a picture of a Ferguson Type A tractor produced in the UK from 1936 to 1939 with depth control hydraulics and 3 point hitch. The worlds first utility tractor?. Harry Ferguson fell out with David Brown who made the tractors for him in 1939 and went to america and went into partnership with Henry Ford to make the 9N tractor.As you know this tractor was a sucsess even if the drivers of these tractors sat on a biscuit tin lid with their feet on two six inch nails. My question is why did it take till 1955 for IH to intrudice a utility trcotor the IH300U. MJin the UK

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

MJ in the UK

10-01-2005 09:27:13

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to MJ in the UK, 09-30-2005 03:07:39

Hi Hugh i agree with what you are saying about utility versus rowcrop tractors. Alot of the large farms in the UK who ran Farmall M and H tractos in the 1940s still bought IH BM tractors in the 1950s. I am rebuildind a Farmall B tractor wich was one of 2 tractors supplied to a large vegetable growing farm here in the UK in 1940.If you require any further infomation on UK IH tractors give me a call. MJ

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

Hugh MacKay

09-30-2005 16:17:49

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to MJ in the UK, 09-30-2005 03:07:39

MJ: As I said on your other thread. I don't think the American row crop builders thought of Henry as much competition even though his 8N holds the all time sales record for a single model. It was still a small percentage of the NA market.

What drove the American companies to build utilities or Ferguson type tractors was the invasion of NA by makers like Ferguson himself, David Brown, Fiat, etc. The big market here had been row crop tractors, but row crops were more expensive to build. They were not needed for all work.

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

MJ in the UK

09-30-2005 10:48:11

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to MJ in the UK, 09-30-2005 03:07:39

Thanks for your input on this one. In the UK the only row crop tractors available after 1949 when US imports stopped were the Doncaster UK built Farmall BMs and the Essindine UK built Allis Chalmers B tractors. The UK market was flooded with Ferguson and Fordson Major utillity tractors. IH saw the need for a small utility tractor so in 1955 they introduced the Bradford UK built B250. I own a B250 serial no 549 the 49th made and I am competing in two ploughing matches this weekend with it and a IH B12 two furrow (bottom) plough. MJ in the UK.

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

dhermesc

09-30-2005 05:32:02

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to MJ in the UK, 09-30-2005 03:07:39

One other issue is the PRICE. For all the 9N, 2N and 8Ns rolling around to this day, researchers doubt that these tractors ever made a profit for Ford Motor Company. Given the economies of scale of building a single tractor model year in and year out Ford cornered the market on that one particular size. You will notice that no other manufacturer made a serious attempt to compete with Ford until the Ferguson rolled out the TO20 in 1948, and you don't see to many of them, it wasn't until the early 50s that even the low priced 8N couldn't compete with the newer designs of its competitors.

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

chadd

09-30-2005 05:25:28

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to MJ in the UK, 09-30-2005 03:07:39

I could be wrong here, but wouldn't the W-4,W-6,W-9 and I-4, I-6, and I-9 series tractors be considered utilities if optioned correctly? Really the I-350 was the great grandson of the W-4. I guess they couldn't have three-point hitch, but they did have many of the same qualities. I have always wondered, what exactly defines a Utility tractor as opposed to your average Standard Tread tractor or your Wheatland tractor?

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

Nat

09-30-2005 10:36:43

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to chadd, 09-30-2005 05:25:28

A utility tractor is small, maneuverable, versatile, and handy. I don't think you'd call a W9 any of those.

One of the real criteria for a utility tractor is that the seat is located down low, on top of, or just ahead of, the rear axle. This gives good visibility both forward and back, and gets you down low enough to drive under branches or into low barns.

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

PAULIH300

09-30-2005 11:53:14

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to Nat, 09-30-2005 10:36:43

Also,the profile of the tractor should be low.The hoodline of a Ute sure is lower than that of a rowcrop....also,combined with underslung exhaust makes the whole tractor very low profile for getting around on chores and aiding in storage in restricted spaces.This was the theory of the Shop Mule tractors,and Cub low boys,and also the Utes.Sure makes getting on/off far easier,and less stressful (less chance of falling off and injuring one's self).
I think IH looked at the Ute as filling a niche that wasnt widely being covered,and as a 2nd tractor for farms (expanding IH's appearance on the farm)...any addition sales from garages,municipalities,state highways,or private landowners would be all the better.Most average people that dont have a farm,wont buy a rowcrop,but a Utility might be a better choice than a Payloader (for instance)...surely less expensive,and sizable.300 Utility sales beat 300 rowcrop sales,so IH was right tapping into that previously "ignored" field.

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

Nat

09-30-2005 04:55:07

Report to Moderator

Re: UTILITY TRACTORS in reply to MJ in the UK, 09-30-2005 03:07:39

One of the big reasons was because IH had the ROW CROP tractor market pretty well cornered up through the early '50s. After all, IH was the company that invented the row crop design that we all know and love today.

I also wouldn't doubt but the decision makers didn't like utility tractors, or thought that utility tractors would never make it, even in the face of the overwhelming success of the 9N. It was a different business climate back then, and we all know that IH was guilty of making many a bad business decision over the years. 1955 was too little too late IMHO.

[Log in to Reply] [No Email]

[Options] [Printer Friendly] [Posting Help] [Return to Forum] [Log in to Reply]

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]

Home | Forums

Copyright © 1997-2023 Yesterday's Tractor Co.
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy

TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters

Website Accessibility Policy