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Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tractors?

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Bill in NC

11-06-2007 19:18:20




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Just curious. I know there were Farmall 100 tractors with factory single point hitch. Was the fast hitch first available with the 100 or was it an option on late model Super As?

Bill in Nc




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ih560

11-07-2007 19:23:17




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to El Toro, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  

Retento said: (quoted from post at 05:08:59 11/07/07) Bill, I got a 1954 Super FA-1, I think thats what's on the serial # plate. Fast hitch, water pump with pressurized cooling system, 12.4x24 rear tires, tall grill, C-123 with flat top pistons, no dip stick, etc. Looks like a 100 with a tall Super A grill. My dad bought it new from Wheeler Equipment Co. in Rocky mount, N.C., the fall of 1954. Less than a year later he bought new Farmall 100. The 100 had more power than the A, the 100 would pull right along with a 140!


I have one of these too, that my grandfather bought brand new in 54.

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Bill in NC

11-07-2007 18:59:09




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
Hugh, Janicholson and Wardner,

Thanks for your replies. Hugh, your comments about IH "getting draft control right" on the 06 series shows just how close IH was to being top dog in the 1960s. It kind of reminds me of when I was in school and studied 12 hours for an exam and got a C while guys that studied 14 hours got Bs and the handful that studied 15 hours got As. I put in 80% of the study time an A student invested and got a significantly lower grade. It makes you wonder if IH had buckled down more and invested just a wee bit more developmental effort during 1957 - 1960, at lot of folks now walking around our towns would be wearing IH red hats instead of JD green headgear.

I've got a John Deere history book and it plainly states JD's management was running scared during the early 1950s because the horsepower race was heating-up and they could not get enough horsepower out of their two cylinder gasoline engines. In fact, two events kept them in the race until they could perfect their 4 and 6 cylinder engines. One was the flame front limited them from going any larger in piston diameter on their gasoline motors. They needed more horsepower and could not go further powerwise with two cylinder gas engines. Their first short term answer was to build larger diesel engines because flame front was not a limiting factor. The second short term answer came from their 4 and 6 cylinder engine work being done during 1955 - 1957. As I recall, their 4/6 cylinder head design happened to provide a better combustion chamber, valve diameter, placement, etc. and the two cylinder design group said, "hey, we can use that head design to squeeze out some additional horsepower, too" and that's what they did for their improved 730 and 830 models that were built in the late 1950s.

It is interesting how small changes often lead to later big differences in the big scheme of things. If JD had stumbled during 1956 -1960, they might not have had the distributor mass, farmer loyalty and money to take the risks to bring out the 10 series. IH stumbled on the 560 axle problem. It could well have been a wholly different story if IH had brought out the 460/560 series in 1957 equipped with the draft adjusting hitch of the 06 series together with fast hitch implements at 3 point hitch pricing. But then again, IH was top dog during 1950 - 1955 and probably did not feel the urgency to step up to the plate and swing at riskier pitches involving new platforms and new powertrains. A textbook example why it is so hard for big successful companies to stay on top year after year. The extra hour studying is the difference between a B and an A. One year's extra engineering and design efforts is the difference between a powertrain capable of handling higher thrust loads and one that doesn't.

My sermonette for tonight.

Bill in NC

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Bill in NC

11-07-2007 08:28:17




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
Retento, so you've got one of those "rare" Super A1 tractors, eh? I'm on the lookout for one myself and know that Mr. Hugh Mackay is likely on the lookout for one, too!

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Hugh MacKay

11-07-2007 12:53:05




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-07-2007 08:28:17  
Bill: I noticed that to, he's one lucky guy. Much more scarce than a SMTA, almost as scarce as an HTA. I guess we will have to build ours out of a 1954 100. I see about a 1/2 dozen offsets about a mile from here, kind of half tucked behind an old barn. There is a 100 grill in the crowd, might even be a SA1 in the crowd.

I had been by there different times over the past 5 years, never thought much about these tractors. Now, I go by almost daily, I don't think these tractors move. Gotto go see that guy some day.

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Bill in NC

11-07-2007 08:13:35




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
Hugh, just curious - what differs between a 400 fast hitch and a 450 fast hitch? Attachment point to the frame or does it have a different arm or hydraulic cylinder placement design?

Bill



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Hugh MacKay

11-07-2007 12:41:14




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-07-2007 08:13:35  
Bill: You got your answer, and probaby better than I would have done. One thing they didn't mention SMTA was drilled same as 450, and SMTA had no holes drilled in transmission cover for the 400 type hitch.

While the 450 and 560 may have had draft control it wasn't a particularly good device. The manual draft control Jim speaks of, a second cylinder lieing just ahead of right axle carrier, controlled by a separate control valve did much the same function as raising front of hitch on your 140. To the guy with good judgement on that front hitch control, he out performed the 350,450, 460 and 560 draft control. He couldn't measure up to what IH developed on 06 tractors. IH went from the poorest draft control, (460-560) in the industry to the best draft control in the industry on 06 tractors. In my opinion no one has topped it since. Those 06, 56, 66 and 86 series tractors, you could feel it under you in the seat every time it activated, could be 3-4 times per minute in tough plowing. It was so quick, it litterly flattened the tires out giving you the sensation of the seat dropping from under you. And I wasn't going to say much.

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Wardner

11-07-2007 08:30:27




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-07-2007 08:13:35  
Not a single part with the exception of bolts, pins, and hydraulic cylinder will interchange between 400 and 450 hitches.

However, a 450 hitch will bolt on a 400 but the reverse is not true. This is because the early rockshaft mounting holes on rear frame lid were deleted on the 450.



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Janicholson

11-07-2007 08:28:12




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-07-2007 08:13:35  
THere are substantial differences. Attachment points were about the same, but the top cover (I think) and the draft control system and many pivots and a "hitch angle cylinder" on the front right side that lays parallel to the ground, were way different. The 450 draft control was modestly effective and was a lever on the left of the platform to the rear of the TA. The 400 had no real draft control, but the tilt was very handy when using plows and disks to level the implement. It also let the hitch raise the implement much higher (in the back, trailing end)than on a 450. Look at the parts diagram to see a comparison. JimN

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Retento

11-07-2007 04:08:59




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
Bill, I got a 1954 Super FA-1, I think thats what's on the serial # plate. Fast hitch, water pump with pressurized cooling system, 12.4x24 rear tires, tall grill, C-123 with flat top pistons, no dip stick, etc. Looks like a 100 with a tall Super A grill. My dad bought it new from Wheeler Equipment Co. in Rocky mount, N.C., the fall of 1954. Less than a year later he bought new Farmall 100. The 100 had more power than the A, the 100 would pull right along with a 140!

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Bill in NC

11-07-2007 03:48:54




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
Hugh and Gene,

Thanks for your thoughts. I don't have a Super A but do have an early model 140 (1959) with fast hitch. The fast hitch came on the scene for the larger Farmalls with the Super MTA series, but when did it show up for the C series and A series? I was just wondering if the fast hitch was a corporate-wide roll out in 1953 or was it an option on the smaller tractors as early as the late 1940s?

At any rate, the fast hitch, particularly the single point for the Super A/100/130/140 series is still the ticket today, fifty-plus years later.
Bill

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Hugh MacKay

11-07-2007 07:03:59




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-07-2007 03:48:54  
Bill: When fast hitch was introduced in 53, officially the Super C was the only letter series tractor for which fast hitch was advertized. There is good evidence some Super As were equipped with 1 point fast hitch. Definitely not the H, although I expect some of these HTA hotshots would have one believe otherwise

The SMTA as Jim notes was never sold new with fast hitch, it could be retrofitted with fast hitch, however that hitch was not a Farmall 400 fast hitch. The only fast hitch to bolt directly to a SMTA was the later design for 450 or 560. it's very unlikely any SMTAs were ever fitted with fast hitch until very late 1955, more likely 1956.

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Janicholson

11-07-2007 06:21:47




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-07-2007 03:48:54  
SMTA tractors could be retrofitted with fast hitch systems from the accessory point of view, to my knowledge they were never fitted from the factory until the 400 and 300 series were on the dealers' lots. JimN



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Hugh MacKay

11-07-2007 02:18:52




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
Bill: Good question, however I don't have a definite answer. I suspect there were fast hitches on some of the last Super As particularly those last 1,957 Super As that were called Super A1. Most folks think changes on the offset tractors occured at model change, however if you dig into all the changes from 1939 to 1979, well over half the changes occured during Super A production between 1947 and 1954. Yes, I believe some Super As did come from the factory with fast hitch.

If you have a particular tractor, compare the casting code on touch control with rest of tractor. Most Super As that had fast hitch added, complete with spring assist, also got the touch control unit from the doner tractor. It was faster to change the complete touch control than change rockshafts.

Also if the hitch came from a late 100, 130 or 140, there are part number changes in some hitch parts near the end of 100 production. I have parts pages here somewhere and I do remember there was a serial number split on before and after hitch parts. I haven't seen those since my move, but if you wish to check something out, I will dig for them. Just a few boxes haven't been dealt with yet.

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gene bender

11-07-2007 02:00:39




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 Re: Were There Factory Single Point Fast Hitch Super A Tract in reply to Bill in NC, 11-06-2007 19:18:20  
ALL fast hitches were an option and yes on the SA was also an option.



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