Farmall M or Super M

I bought an old farmall last year and I just got around to it. I have an M and a H already sitting in the barn. But anyway I really aint sure if the new one is a super m or just a late model m. The serial tag has been cut off so you cant just tell. But it has the curved gear shifter like a late model m or super m. Is there a deffinate way to tell the difference of a late model m to a early super m?

check for disk brakes, all supers will have them. only the verrrryy last m;s will have them. there are many other things to check but that is the easiest way to start.


andrew

check for disk brakes, all supers will have them. only the verrrryy last m;s will have them. there are many other things to check but that is the easiest way to start.


andrew

check for disk brakes, all supers will have them. only the verrrryy last m;s will have them. there are many other things to check but that is the easiest way to start.


andrew

If its a real late M the only way to tell is by the engine and transmission gear speeds. SM before the battery box was located under seat used the same gear shift as a lot of M tractors. If its a M engine the casting # on engine block will only have 4 numbers, unless it was replaced.
SM engine will have 6 number casting, also should have C-264 above oil filter housing. If your other M has the standard fourth gear a SM will be almost as fast in 3rd gear with same tire sizes. If the carburetor is original the choke lever will be on engine side of SM compared to outside on the M.

After deciding if it has disk brakes, look for casting dates and engine number to help determine year model. Some regular M's also have Lambert disk brakes.

Harold H

Everybody says "check for disk brakes," but not how to tell if you have disk brakes. Once you take them apart it's very obvious, but

Your H and M will almost certainly have band brakes. Only the last 2000 Hs and Ms made had the factory disk brakes, so they are very rare.

Band brake covers are made of stamped steel, are smooth and look like cooking pots.

Disk brake covers are heavy cast items that are held on by several bolts through the side.

So if the brake covers on this new tractor look different from your H and M, you either have a rare late M or a Super M.

Check the engine for the C-264 designation cast in. That's further evidence of a Super M.

Early Super Ms were not much different from regular Ms on the outside, except for the disk brakes. In 1953, IH moved the battery box back under the seat, and added live hydraulics (a cast iron tank with a lever and hoses under the gas tank) to many of them.

Look at casting codes too. They will be two numbers and a letter, like "11 22 X" indicating the day the casting was made. Month, day, and a letter code for year. X is 1952. Y is 1953. If you find most of the castings with X or Y codes, that means the tractor was made during Super M production, and is a Super M.

Disk brakes are NOT a good starting point to determine a Super from a regular M. My 1946 regular M has disk brakes.

(quoted from post at 22:01:24 07/08/09) Disk brakes are NOT a good starting point to determine a Super from a regular M. My 1946 regular M has disk brakes.

Click to expand...

Regular Ms with disk brakes are very rare. Not that this means much, but I've personally seen over 100 different Ms and have not seen a single one with disk brakes.

So yes, disk brakes ARE a good indicator that you have a Super M, especially if you count the bolts and come up with 6. The Lambert brakes only have 3 bolts as I recall...

...and if your 1946 M has "factory" disk brakes, it's part Super M anyway. It had to have been converted after 1952. Either someone went through a lot of work, or your tractor's back half is off a Super M.

I never knew there was an after market disk brake assembly for M's. The disk brakes covers I have are 3 bolt BUT...when I rebuilt them I just went into Case and ordered the disks. They had 2 different part numbers and of course I had the more expensive ones but they had them. So based on that I figured they where factory items.

OOPS typo...1948 M with disk brakes