- Thread starter DeltaRed
- Start date
I remember in the mid 1980's a lot of people being very ------ off about the merger. A lot of long time IH dealers were closed around here as a result. John Deere had mis-stepped with a couple local dealers going out a few years earlier and everybody thought they would take a hit here until the fallout of the merger happened. I personally do not care but I think a lot of people never forgave Case for eliminating a number of products that had an origin in IH and a big groan was had when the Case tractors were sent to dealers in red paint.
CenTex Farmall
Well-known Member
Changing the subject, but am wondering what region you're in. Planter pics showed you on some clay soil with some decent looking hills and a mountain in the background.
My former boss went to the meeting,(I believe in Texas) when the merger was finalized, and he said there were a lot of cheers when they rolled out a case tractor painted red or said they would be red. Lot of IH dealers were worried it would be all orange ( flambeau red I guess they call it). One other thing that they said was they would never make an articulated four wheel drive. They found out soon enough that the market share was not with the crab and crawl models though.
A marketing ploy. Like I said before I am not as bothered as some with the product changes that came. I should check out the sales figures since 1985 to gauge the merger's success as I will admit I currently do not know. I would say for a number of years after the merger that it helped Deere and Ford-New Holland at least in this area. If I had to guess it probably took over ten years for Case to really build momentum after 1985 at least locally.
If you survived the merger that was reason enough to cheer. After that it was all gravy. The more level headed dealers prior to the merger were very concerned about what was happening with IH. I would imagine the merger affected different areas in different ways. The big problem here with some was the elimination of the hay and forage equipment products that originated with IH. Some loved the Hesston products prior to the merger but most did not. I think even at around 1980 Hesston was starting to lose market share at least here.
Absent Minded Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Gehl Country, Wis.
Yaers?? Have you been celebrating a bit? :vD
Mike
Mike
Larry B. 1486
Member
If I got things straight, the Magnum tractors were IH tractors and already on the drawing board a couple of years before IH merged in 1985. Did not tennoco not want IH tractors only there combines and equipment but they had to use the Magnum plans a year later because people did not want red CASE tractors?
Mostly the rear end. The engine was a combined operation of Case and Cummins. It made sense to go ahead with the Magnum powershift as Deere had their 15 speed full powershift as of 1983 with the 50 series tractors on the market. The 90 series Cases (descendants) marketed initially after the merger were getting dated in terms of features. Case also had to take some of the bitterness out of the IH loyalists mouths after a lot of IH dealers were cancelled.
caterpillar guy
Well-known Member
Yeah and that poor Case is now a badge of honor with those IH dealers that survived. When for years before that all they could do is treat them like a poor back seat item in our area.
Now they are owned by the Italians along with Ford and New Holland as is most of Chrysler.
Now they are owned by the Italians along with Ford and New Holland as is most of Chrysler.
Part of the reason, Tenneco did not keep the IH 50 series tractor in production was that they did not purchase the Farmall plant, nor did they purchase the IH Engine Division. They did purchase selected machine tools from Farmall and moved those things to Racine. the old Case Tractor painted red was a short term deal just to keep tractors on the lot until they could get the Magnum together. If you look at the prototypes of the Magnum, basically the rear section and cab were part of what IH was going to couple to the IH engine and forward air flow of the 50 series and call it the "New Farmall." The very first Magnums all had IH stamped into the rear castings and housings.
farmall706
Member
DeitaRed where at in Western Colorado? Delta?
I used to live in Grand Junction.
I used to live in Grand Junction.
farmall706
Member
DeltaRed I got fat Fingers
The merger did not change much in our area. The hay and forage eq. never could compete with new holland or deere, and there was still a lot of early 80's economic fallout going on here then and nobody was buying tractors. The magnums sold pretty good here but our dealer didn't maintain his market and when things picked up the deere shop picked up all but the diehard red guys.
The Farmall plant was not purchased because Case did not want any part of the union mess that IH had. Also, there was sufficient capacity at Racine to meet the anticipated demand going forward. To retool at Racine in a deep agricultural recession with the 5X88 series, etc. was an additional cost that did not make any sense. Purchasing IH engines from Navistar may have happened if the undertaking with Cummins was not already under way. I think even if Case wanted the engine division that it would not have been possible due to IH management wanting to have a competitive company in Navistar. People that dad knew that were on the inside of IH going back to the 1960's had stated that going to a truck-only company is what many there desired for a very long time.
The 5488, 7288, and 7488s had the "synchro-tri-six" transmission, three ranges, with six gears each, with three of the gear-to-gear shifts being powershift, similar to JD's synchro-quad. Had 18 evenly-spaced gears. It's no coincidence the Magnums have 18 gears.
Also if you look at any of those three tractors you will find the Magnum rear-end.
Also if you look at any of those three tractors you will find the Magnum rear-end.
CenTex Farmall
Well-known Member
I fly into Grand Junction sometimes and have flown into Montrose once. It amazes me how flat parts of the Grand Mesa National Forest are and how rugged and steep the surrounding area is.
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