I purchased an ole ragged 1951 farmall h last year for cheap.

All I have to say is that I am impressed. I hooked it to the Hesston 1120 moco (9' equivalent of a NH haybine). I looked up the manufacturer's spec's again on the Hesston 1120 and the book says 30 PTO hp minimum requirement of which the ole h is a bit shy (I am reasonably sure that my h has not been rebuilt with Super pistons to up the hp) . Anyway, It handled my last cutting fine. Granted the cutting was not overly tall but what was there was green, lush, and tough. (last 1.5 months have been like spring rains after the summer drought). Ran in 3rd gear and burned very little fuel with the moco.

What is even more impressive is that I used the same tractor to improvise tedd and rake with the old JD 594 hay rake covering 5.25 acres over 5 times total (hard to get things dry this time of year)and it almost seemed like there was more fuel in the tank than when I began. Ran 4th gear wide open throttle at all times when raking or improvised tedding. Pretty impressive for an old low tech gasser.

Do these ole h's just make their fuel as they run? (not a serious question - just kidding).

P.S. The ride from the monroe seat was much appreciated too. The tractor rode very smooth over a rough field.

They are fundamentally correct tractors. A must have. Jim

I had been contemplating getting rid of the h and replacing it with an M, but I have totally changed my mind on that. The fuel economy alone tells me to keep it around as it will be very useful for me. Fuel use raking and tedding seems to rival my little Kubota L285 diesel (which is a real fuel miser in its own right). The big difference though is the h rides smooth while you feel every bump on the Kubota (big tires trumps little tires).

I may still yet add a mighty Farmall M to my collection, but if I add a M then I think I will part with either the 1948 Case DC or the 1950 JD A. I am only a hobbyist and already have more tractors than I need for my limited acreage.

Would have liked to try the h on the square baler but the rear wheel spacing was much too wide for my short tongued NH 65 baler so the Kubota L285 ran the baler as always. I hope to get the wheels moved in narrower on the h for a next year trial on square baler.

My sons & I have 5 (I think) at last count. 4 are running.
I put a lot of hours on H's in my youth and still feel they are about the handiest tractor out there.
The picture is of the H I purchased when I was just out of High School. (1960)
My youngest son & I restored it and he is using it regularly on his acreage.

Wayne - Nice looking h.

I only wish my h looked remotely that good. I normally provide action photos of my junk in action, but I am admittingly embarassed by the looks of my h even after accounting for my usual junk in action standards (none of my other stuff is show quality). Regardless the ole h runs like a swiss watch.

I love my H, it was my dad's favorite also. It is great for moving things around in the yard with the narrow front. I will get the back half re-sealed and painted this winter.

I pulled a 9' NH 461 for the past three years with an H and it did
well. Now I am hoping to have the 300 in good working order by
next summer, it is mostly there but still needs a few little things
done to it. I figured it would be like an H but with a few
conveniences like the TA, IPTO and FH. That being said I did
appreciate the simplicity of the H when I had to work on it, which
happened fairly often.
Zach

We converted our Neighbor, a die hard John Deere
man to Farmalls by loaning him an H to mow hay
with. He was impressed that it used less fuel than
his John Deere B, 60 or the MF 135 he used to have,
not to mention the ride was better than sitting on
a battery box.

Jim said it about best. The H is probably the closest to near "perfect" combination of weight, size, power, and economy. If used within their HP capabilities, it is a fantastic tractor. Check the sales/production numbers, it validates these statements.

(quoted from post at 12:52:52 10/14/12) Jim said it about best. The H is probably the closest to near "perfect" combination of weight, size, power, and economy. If used within their HP capabilities, it is a fantastic tractor. Check the sales/production numbers, it validates these statements.

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I already knew about the high production numbers which is one of the reasons that I desired a h originally besides the fact that I really liked their looks. High production numbers means lots of parts availability in both the used and new arena. Plus being able to buy a h so cheap made it a no brainer.

I consider myself an unusual collector. What I mean by that is that none of my stuff will be paraded - it must be useable on a hobby hay operation.

Really the only thing that I did not like about the h at first was having to run it wide open throttle in order to get any speed out of it. Really though that is not such a big deal if you think about it. Most newer tractors run much higher rpm's. My Kubota is 2400 rpm at WOT. A Deere 2510 or 2520 is 2500 rpm at WOT (do not own but would love to have one but price precludes it for me) while the Farmall h is 1650 rpm at WOT. I guess what I am saying is running the h at WOT is not really much different than running a newer tractor at a 2/3 throttle setting (2500 x 0.66 = 1650 rpm).

Kinda sad the h gets criticized as much as it does and their values are so low.

Don't worry about running it at wide open. That is what it was designed to do, and what it did, day after day, for many years. The engine is designed to run with peak power and peak efficiency at wide open throttle. The tractor is still there and running 61 years later. You're not hurting a thing.

Like most people you're probably used to loping along in your car or truck. Remember you're not hauling or doing any work there.

mkirsch is spot on. These were designed to run at WOT, full governed speed. A number of things factor into it, but that is how and when they run the best.

Bring 'er up to governed speed, and enjoy!

Oh, I was not worried about hurting anything by running the h at WOT. I merely thought the fuel econonomy would suffer by having to do it on such a light duty task such as raking, but the fuel economy did not seem to suffer at all. As I already mentioned in previous post no real difference in running the h at WOT or a newer tractor at 2/3 throttle.

I know all too well that lugging an engine can be harmful (especially on diesels). When in doubt always throttle up. While I am only a hobbyist now, a few decades ago I spent many hours in the seats of: International 1066 diesel, Oliver 1800 series a gasser (my all time favorite tractor to work ground with), JD 730 diesel, JD 720 diesel, MM G705 diesel (useless piece of junk), Case 430 diesel, JD 60 gas, early styled jd b, and even a Ford 8N all doing real farming - from working ground to culitivating. Of course back then, I did not monitor fuel useage much because I was not buying the fuel (Dad, grandpa, and uncle got that task because the tractors were theirs. I was just the free labor source that literally loved every minute of it). While I will never claim to be any type of expert, I am certainly far from a greenhorn.

(quoted from post at 04:52:52 10/14/12) Jim said it about best. The H is probably the closest to near "perfect" combination of weight, size, power, and economy. If used within their HP capabilities, it is a fantastic tractor. Check the sales/production numbers, it validates these statements.

Click to expand...

Tom the big thing with the production numbers is the years produced. They ran that line for 14 years and the only real competition that IH had for the H was the M. Had they rebadged the tractor every time there was an upgrade the numers would be far different. After WWII they companies found out if they changed the badge it sold better because it gave the sense of being more modren. Look at JD. Few upgrades, mostly adding PS and a number instead of a letter for basically the same tractor. The H to the 300 and other makers did the same thing.

Granted the H and M are 2 of the most important tractors in tractor development ever built and there were many copy cats made too. I can run my haybine on something smaller than my 1206 but I can cut in 1 or 2 high and really knock down some hay in a day. Would really hate to give up the better ride and PS on the 1206 for an H or M.

In the same size class, newer tractors had more HP, could be had in diesel, with live PTO and hydraulics and 3 point wich makes them much more versital and cheaper in the long run to operate.

The real advantage the H has over my Ford 8N's is weight and row crop. The Ford drives better, has a 3 point but poor brake system. Given that if I were in the market for a tractor the same size (not in HP) I'd be looking at something like the 504 instead of an H or maybe really jump forward and get something like a Kubota with MFW. Just can't beat 3 point, live hydrualics, PS and a cab tieh AC and heat!

Rick

After the war was the first time companies were allowed to change models. Bascially prices and everything else was frozen during the war. (How Henry Ford ever got the 9n switched to the 2N in 1942 for basically the same tractor along with nice a price jump I guess I will never know. Well I do know but not wanting to go OT. Needlss to say Henry Ford was not a nice man. Large portions of Hitler's Mein Kampf are considered by many to be directly plagerized from Henry Ford published works).

Oh I agree, newer tractors are better and nicer and a must have for a serious operator. That said, I am only a hobbyist on tiny acreage that tries to make the hobby pay for itself as I go. Pretty easy for me to do on a $500 Farmall h. Not so easy for me to do on a high dollar newer tractor. Heck even my alltime favorite tractor to run in an Oliver 1800a would be much too big for my needs although I wish that I never sold it.

My late father in law had 2-H's and 3 M's. I was able to purchase one of the H tractors from his estate and I put a belly mower under it for mowing the water way and road ditch. Works great. I put a hydralic cylinder on to raise the mower. Trying to raise it manually was like commiting suicide. It's still 6 volt with the generator. I run it WOT when mowing and that's what keeps the battery charged.
Mother in law has 3 acres in front of her house and is very hilly. I use it to mow those 3 acres and yes it is very fuel effecient.

Yep mine is still 6 volt too although I may eventually switch to 12 vollt simply for better lights. Working late hours at my real job and then trying to fit 60 minutes worth of tedding into only 30 mintutes of remaining daylight maked me wish for more lighting.

An H is an H is an H. But they do beat a two cylinder. Thankfully someone thought of the 4 cylinder, then the six and on and on.