High-speed tractors

I've been going through some old tractor "literature" that I've had around for years. Some of it must have come from my father. In an IHC magazine called "Tractor Farming," August-September 1938, is an editorial that quotes from an English magazine (the Implement and Machinery Review, London). The English article goes on and on against what was obviously a trend that started in the mid 30s. Here are some of the comments (I've taken out parts of some sentences that I don't think add anything): "Some designers.....are going in for refinements, steamlining and other superfluous things which.....are totally unsuited for robust agricultural duty. Fast 'revving' engines, high-speed work, unusually light petrol (gasoline) consumption and low weight may be all very desirable in their different ways, and may also have their economic application in certain spheres. But agricultural work....is a heavy-duty job, and it is held to be quite a mistake to try to employ for it engines which have been specially 'pepped up' to use the more refined grades of petrol in the belief that such types will be more than an efficient substitute for the recognized heavy-duty machines." I presume the reference to refined grades of gasoline refers to the trend toward high-compression engines. Gasoline has always been expensive in Europe (right now, it is about 1.35 Euros per liter in France--you can calculate that out if you like--it will probably come out somewhere between $7.00 and $8.00 a gallon; don't forget that you have to add 35-40% to the Euro figure to make a conversion into dollars). I imagine that kerosene was still in use in England in 1938, although here I think its use was declining. I tried it only once in our 10-20 and found it a major nuisance. The editor of the IHC magazine goes on to agree with the English point-of-view. I find this quite interesting in view of the trends that came in after rubber tires became common on tractors in the mid-1930s. IHC tractors 1n 1938 were still mostly of the old slow-turning/large-engined variety (except for the F-12 and F-14, which ran "fast" by IHC standards). But....in 1939, IHC came out with just what the English editor is speaking against: streamlining, fast-turning engines and road speeds approaching 20 mph (at high idle) in the H and M. Oliver and John Deere had gone in for some moderate streamlining in the 30s. I wish I could say that they already had six-speed transmissions by 1938, but I have no way right now to show if that is true (can anybody out there comment on this?). I remember vividly that an old-time IHC tractor salesman told my father--about 1940, I would guess-(talking about the H, which ran at 1650 full-load speed, and without a muffler really did sound like a bucket of bolts) "These things run too damn fast....they're gonna beat themselves to death." Well, they didn't....some of these beautiful old girls are still doing useful work. In fact, I knew a farmer who ran a large wholesale vegetable and orchard operation and he had over 40 "old" tractors--mostly IH, and mostly of the A, 130, H, Super H, M and Super M variety. He told me he could have a large number of these old tractors for the price of one new one (we didn't get into models or prices--we were talking in very general terms). What he did was use them as specialty tools--cultivators were always left on some tractors, planters or sprayers on others, and so on. He had a mechanic come in the winter and bring every tractor up to snuff, including the paint work, which was always beautiful. When the poor fellow died prematurely, collectors came from far and wide to pay high prices for these beautiful machines. I "grew up" on the old slow-turning tractors (10-20, F-20, "Regular," Oliver Hart-Parr Row Crop) and eventually got to spend a lot of time on a couple of H's and a Super M. I suppose somebody who had spent a lot of time on a very-modern tractor, with all the comforts of a car, might think an H or an M was primitive, but to me, they represented a real forward step in many ways--most especially in comfort compared to the older tractors, which always made room for the driver somewhere, but not necessarily in a comfortable position (anybody who has ever spent many hours on an F-20 will know what I mean). I'd be interested in comments from others out there who know more about IHC history than I do.

It only goes to prove two things:

1. You can't predict the future.
2. People are naturally resistant to change, and have been throughout the ages.


Most of that article is tempered by the author's closed-mindedness. "This is the way it's always been done, therefore it's the best way and the only way."

Funny I had many of those arguments with my Dad over the years over silly things like which side of the barn to sweep first.

It's also funny that the very tractors he was railing against turned out to be the most legendary, reliable tractors ever built...

Good article. I can remember my dad saying in the mid 1960's when IH came out with the 1206 Turbo that it would never last because the Turbo put too much pressure on the engine. It was a souped up engine. I work for a farmer now and all of our newer stuff has Turbos and they seem to hold up fine. Even our old 190XT we do not have trouble with the motor or the turbo. Now yes I do get upset when the 3pt will not lift because of a bad electrical BOX that sells for $$$$$$$$$$. This is on our newer stuff which has lots of electrical functions.

John Deere streamlined some of their tractors in 1939 (A, B and H) and the 6 speed transmission was available in either '41 or '42. I know Dad had a '40 A that was a 4 speed with a Behlen 5th and 6th (talk about FAST!!) and he had a '42 B that was a 6 speed. JD even had some '38s that had not sold and put '39 sheet metal on them. The D didn't not get new sheet metal until later, not sure when, and not sure about the G or the BR and AR.