How many furrows can a W4 pull?

Ken

Actually I think there is a difference on dates when we couldn't get rubber compared to US. Canada being part of the British Empire was in the war from day one in 1939, whereas it would be 1941 for US. There are a couple of other factors, near as I can tell, IH were shipping tractors into Canada without rubber early as 1939. From there it was up to IH Canada and the Canadian Government to iron out how many tractors got rubber. Another factor was location, and this was probably true both sides of the border. I think if you were in one of the Provinces or States that had big agriculture, important agriculture production, then you stood a chance of getting rubber. I'm from Nova Scotia, thus we weren't very important to agriculture production.

My dad bought a new W4 and No. 8 plow in 1942. At that time he was doing some custom plowing. I never got to plow with the W4. In 51 he traded it off for an H. He liked the H much better for the added traction it got with 38" tires, especially on plowing and other tillage.

On our farm, I was the first to try 3 bottoms behind the Farmall 300. Based on that, I'd have to say no to a W4 pulling 3 bottoms, 300 didn't run away with 3, and I had some of the easiest plowing known to man.

How is advice handed out? Based on what they read in a book? On what they think "looks right"? Or perhaps what they seen a neighbor use behind such a tractor?

In this neck of the woods, Farmall"s were once quite common, as a there was a local dealer and so many SA"s - 140"s were used to cultivate tobacco. But never once, have I laid eyes on a W4, dead or alive. I cannot count the Super A"s and C"s, the H"s and M"s and various hundred series....they seemed to be everywhere. On the other side of the County, there was a JD dealer.....so of course, that is what ruled in that area. I don"t think it was anything other than, what was locally available that determined the choice.

I still wonder how folks that never owned or operated a certain tractor, can hand out advice on what it is capable of.

well...that makes 2 out of 8 or 9, which is about 25% or thereabouts.

My first expereience with the W4 was pulling hay wagon with loose hay loader behind. The two guys building the loads of hay from the hayloader were complaining about my aging grandfather being just a bit too vicious on the clutch. One day in 1948 dad said to me, "Hugh you've got a job driving the W4 loading hay as long as those two guys on the load don't complain." His offer was a bit hollow, I don't think I made quite two years until I graduated to being one of the guys on the load and my brother became the tractor driver. I also operated the W4 a bit on a spring tooth cultivator. Not until he got the H in 51 did I get a chance to do any plowing, same 2x14 plow.

In our soil dad claimed the H pulled the plow and other tillage implements better than the W4. that was eastern Canada with 45" annual rainfall where the soil was relatively soft. The 38" wheel definitely has an advantage in that situation. I believe if you go to the great western plains where flotation and traction were not a problem, the W series tractors had a distinct advantage, that being the smaller diameter wheel giving the same engine more torque and greater pulling power.

Most folks will think of the W series as a great plains tractor, and the Farmall for row crops of the mid west. However as early as 1951 we were asking for wider tires on Farmalls, hoping to gain more flotation on our soft soils. It was common to see an H or M on duals. Two things changed, tile drainage and wider tires by 1957.

One thing about it, I know if it comes from you, it comes from the horses mouth....and not the other end!

I make a point to never comment on anything I am clueless about, and it annoys me when others freely expound their wisdom based on nothing but supposition. Parking your arse in the saddle of tractor will qualify a person to comment on it, otherwise, it"s mostly BS.

Well....I DID cut a finger off once upon a time and quite frankly....it didn"t hurt all that much. Sewing it back on, hurt like hell.

I cannot enumerate the Farmall H"s that were once prevalent in this area, they were as common as fleas on a hound. I never knew any of them to pull 3 plows. Mostly 2 -12"s or 2-14"s. I knew one farmer that had an 806 back in the sixties when it was new...4 16"s made the black smoke roll. I once knew a man that had an early Ford diesel..861 maybe? He thought that was a powerhouse and hooked 3 12"s to it. He just couldn"t figure out why it ate a clutch every other year. The first 3 bottom tractor I ever watched plow, was an Allis WD45. Three 14" bottoms were a handful and no speed contests could have been won. The first 5 bottom tractor I ever saw in action was an Allis D21 and for once, I got to see what a brute really was. This was all 40+ years ago. Since that time, big horsepower heavyweights have come along and relegated those old timers to the junk heap or as coveted collectors items. Funny thing...I never knew of anybody that collected mules when tractors displaced them.