F-20 X H

I saw where a few stated that a H was an easier riding tractor than a 20, and just, for the most part, a better one overall.
Well, Ive farmed with around 1/2 doz F-20s in over 40yrs. I have a 48 H now.
I can say that I like getting on the 20 alot better than the H as I dont have to climb up so high. I liked engageing the 20s pulley wheel better than the H cause on the 20, I have to lean to the left, and away from the steering wheel, whereas with the H I have to hunker down and its harder to pull it out when Im wanting to pull it up. Yes, I know that Tractor Supply and others made a lever to do that with. I like the 20s low down pulley wheel as its a bit easier to put the belt on than the H unless I was as tall as I was back 40yrs ago. Also, with the 20s pulley being low down, If I needed to, where the belt stands up and down in the middle between the saw and tractor, I USTA could straddle it. Yes, as it was origional, It would get tiresome with your feet either hanging, or rested on the axles, But almost all old 20s I saw had a board platform mounted on top the PTO cover and out to the drawbar brackets and your feet could rest easily there. AND, If someone likes to plow or disc with the drawbar loose, You could turn shorter corners with the 20 as the drawbar went closer to the tire than with an H.
The next to last 20 I had I found a belly mount hyd system for it, and it worked ok. If I could find a 20 with a starter, and High road gear, and belly mount hyd system, Id get rid of the H

yep, even the farmall m"s are a pain to climb on compared to the w6. the w6 i can jump on and be gone, like dean marten when he used to jump on his horse from the rear.

good stuff. I actually like my F-20 the best of all my tractors, however, the H and the SM are good stuff too. The cub, A, B, BN are a pain to get on and off of. The SC is not much different than the H or M. I like my F-12, but for whatever reason, it is the most uncomfortable riding one I own. Getting on and off ain't too bad, but OMG, took it in a 2 mile parade, and thought I had had enough by mile 1. riding that one all day doing ANYTHING just ain't human!

PS the one thing that the F-20 has that NONE of the rest have is that deep, throaty exhaust sound. I have the 90 degree exhaust elbow on it, and it's not too bad at idle, but crack her open or let her hunker down in a lug pull, and there IS NO BETTER SOUND in the world.............

F-20 I drove as a kid had a heavy cast iron steering wheel that made it real easy to cut square corners while mowing. "Flip" the wheel at the same time you touch the right brake and then quickly touch the left brake...made a neat square corner. It also seemed to be an easier steering tractor than the M & MD....next best thing to power steering!!

I've got a 37 F-20, not a flake of paint on it, but starts and runs perfect, has a heisler over drive box, extended pto, radiator holds antifreeze, wouldn't trade it for 2 H's.

When they were introduced new in 1939, IHC presented that the H was the replacement for the F-14 and the M was the replacement for the F-20 and the F-30.

Harold H

(quoted from post at 11:57:51 05/10/11) When they were introduced new in 1939, IHC presented that the H was the replacement for the F-14 and the M was the replacement for the F-20 and the F-30.

Harold H

Click to expand...

Can you quote your source of information on that?

I do beleive that Guy Fays Originality Guide has that info in there, I think he even stated that more than once on this board. The A/B was marketed as a whole new tractor.

From my Daddy who started with a IHC dealership in 1927 and retired after 50 years with them. Plus I have seen some of his literature and IHC books that so stated.

Harold H

2nd paragraph, page 59, Guy Fay's Letter Series book, except that Guy does not mention the F30, only the F20.

This tractor replaced the team of horses when it was bought new in '38. She put the food on the table and paid for the farm before she was retired by grand-dad.
She was the second oldest tractors on one of those week long tractor rides (with 400 other tractors) and she never missed a beat.
Took her to plow days with a nicely restored little genius number 8 and the show folks told me to save some land for the other exhibitors.
I can always know that she will start on the second crank even though she has been sitting all winter.
F20 is my user name.
Need I say more?

I had an odd experience with an F-20. I worked part time on a ranch in South Dakota when I was in the Air Force (summer of '64). We had 400 acres of irrigated alfalfa, so we spent a good part of our time baling hay. The ranch had a bale trailer that hauled about 250 bales and was permanately hooked to an F-20 with a hitch that pivoted under the rear differential housing. I don't recall the exact design of the hitch, but it was to put the load directly under the axle like some kind of fifth wheel. It also had an overdrive so it wasn't too slow moving it around. We had a Farmhand accumulator on the baler and loaded and unloaded the trailer 8 bales at a time with a loader on a Farmall 350D. Handled very few bales by hand and built some huge stacks of bales. I seemed to have a knack for running the loader tractor, so I did that most of the time, but we did swap off jobs at times.