Photos of the SMTA-LP with different tank

This is the one that has the axle housings in question. Tag suffixes are D, G and S. S I know is TA. I'm not sure but I think D is 5000 ft. pistons and G I have no idea. It's a PTO delete.

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G was cotton picker mounting attachment.

Ernie, Sure Enough a Sweetheart! and a Diamond in the rough!
Yes, D is 5000 ft pistons
and,,E is 2500 ft pistons
also,S is TA,W/LPTO
The axle housing scream a high crop cotton application in an earlier part of her life. But with the LPTO gone now, The LPTO unit drove the picker unit! Maybe it was removed and went with the picker unit or it crapped out at some time, and a plate was put on in its place. My thoughts!
Hope this helps
Later,
John A.

Centex Farmall,
IMHO, thats a jewal. The serial spells out the picker provisions and the PTO delete confirms picker tractor because when we mounted our m's under picker with high drum attachments you had to remove pto it interferred with the picker head. The pto drive unit ran off top of transmission same place as the belt pully drive.
The only odd thing on a cotton tractor is the nerrow front most had single front.
I wonder how many SMTA's were put on pickers ,I believe not many. ITS a keeper as for tank I can see company installing the Sm tank that is what most picker tractors ran at that time.
My Smta has the same tank and I was told that it was a Missippi cotton tractor low drum in early life. Tony

The TA code is either S or R. R code is w/transmission driven PTO (non live).

It was probably built with the S code so that the tractor would be more useful in the off season when the picker was pulled off or when the tractor was retired from picking duties.

The S means that the main clutch pressure plate was splined for LPTO. It also means that the driving and driven gears behind the clutch as well as a couple shafts were installed. It does not mean that the planetary rear unit was installed at the factory. In fact, Cotton Pickers did not use the rear PTO and the planetary unit was a delete. Power for the Cotton picker is shown below. The pulley runs the fan. The opposite side is connected to a four foot drive shaft that powers the picking head.

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E code is 8000'

G is High Drum.

T is Low Drum.

Drums are sized for the height of the cotton plant. Upland cotton is shorter.

But what do I know about cotton. I'm from Massachusetts but I have seen it growing in California. I got the CP PTO in Bakersfield. Can't remember if it came off a low or high drum. Probably low drum as I think Bakersfield has some elevation. The drum was in close proximity to the rear frame and there was no room for the standard PTO or LPTO.

It never ceases to amaze me how many different versions of the M series I keep seeing for the FIRST time! It really boggles the mind.

Wardner,
Your right on with info ,Thanks,However, probably high drum in Bakersfield.
They are 70 miles south of me and there cotton grew as tall as ours.
In my area cotton was king when growing up and I remember seeing only 3 low drums.
Just thought I would throw that tid-bit in. Thanks, Tony

CenTex Farmall,
Excuse my boldness but that tractor is unique IMHO. I would grab it put the picker drops on it and the high mount front single,polish her up and present it as a SMTA cotton tractor ( gaurd that tag with your life)
I bet you would be hard pressed to find an other.
At Red power round-ups you always see M's like I discribed and they are popular,Just think a mta.
Best, Tony

CenTex Farmall,
One question, It looks like it has T.A.and not ta delete ,Yet the faded round decal on hood is round without wings?
Any thoughts on that?
Tony

Wardner,

The picker drive you picture was probably used on either a M-14 low drum or M-12 high drum, both, which had a single fan, due to the location of the fan drive pulley. The later 114, 120, 114A, 120A pickers had dual fans and the fan drive pulley was 90 degrees to the one shown. I believe you showed one of the later units on this site a couple of years ago.

Harold H

Thanks for all the help guys!

Everything I know about cotton could be written on the back of a stamp. I've never seen a complete tractor mounted cotton picker in person, just photos. The ones I see around here and Grandpa's were strippers.

That clears up the pto delete. It looks like a factory plate.

Now supposedly, and this is just a story, but according to the present owner, the man he bought it from told him that it ended up never having had a picker mounted on it. I have no idea if there are any other characteristic wear patterns or marks that a picker might leave to add any credence to the story.

As for the hood decal, it looks like it was added after a repaint and perhaps was just whatever the dealer had laying around. I have no idea.

Now here's another mystery. You mention the standard dual front. It has the Z code on the hubs and the spindle mount has 1954 on it but the rear hubs are both Y code! Everything else is Z code. No telling!

RedGems, my SM's both have the Tulsa tank. This one is obviously the same configuration but is maybe an inch more narrow. I can't make the manufacturer name on this one, at least not yet. The tubing for the steering appears to be a lot heavier.

Harold,

The picture I posted earlier was taken of the only CP drive I have ever seen. Now you have me thinking I need to go back to CA (or your neck of the woods) and buy some different drives. I have a lot of tractors I could mess up with odd-ball PTOs.

This what I like about IH products. The OEM modifications are nearly endless when exercising a little imagination. Those IH engineers must have loved their jobs.

Appreciate the comments!
The old gent said never on picker,However, with the serial tag that says high altitude for l.p. and for high drum axles and G for picker I want to believe that it left the factory under a picker. Special order on propane reason for high alt. pistons.
Tell tale signs would be holes on pedals for connector rods,seperation clamp on bottom of gear shifter,a break with extension clamp on throttle rod.Signs of frame connections on front bolster, signs of frame mounting on top of axle housing about were fenders would mount. As for narrow front must of been owners preference after dismounting picker because he would of had to replace front fork
from high to standard. Tony

It's Legos for big people!

Well, it's just one of those stories! Or could have been a misunderstanding. Perhaps p.o. number 2 meant it did not have one when he obtained it.

It does have the clamp on shifter and I'll have to look closer at the pedals next time I see it.

Cen Tex the Y code rear wheels may be original. Especially if late in 53.
I don't know anything for sure about cotton harvesters but have some questions and comments about the subject.
At SM time period was the cotton harvester factory in memphis TN. the location cotton harvester units were installed on tractors that were desinated to be factory cotton harvester ones?
If so some info makes it look like there was a surplus of SM tractors shipped there to install units on. Looks like a good bit of SM tractors were returned from memphis and converted to regular tractors.
With a excess of tractors for C.H. demand it makes me wonder if a very small number of T/A tractors got a cotton harvester.
Was thinking the SM tractors had the casting filled in at one place and the brake pedals were drilled? Drilled hole being the only difference from regular?
Interesting story if I can remember it correct.
Cotton harvester built on H chassis in 1943 and used from I think the Fresno CA. area was donated to the Smithsonian Institute after being refurbish. Owner of the first one built in 1943 returned his to IH upon retirement and it was scraped. Story is he was pretty upset and raised H. Think he was from the south.

The SN on this one is 79404 so I don't know about carryover parts.

Here's another interesting tidbit, That SN is less than 400 away from one of my SMTA-LP's with the north/south tank (of the alleged 500 shipped west for coversion), and those two tractors I have like that are themselves less than 100#'s apart!