Narrow Front, or V Front

Idaho spud · Nov 18, 2012

Maybe I can gain some knowledge with this post.I live in south central Idaho, which is the primary agricultural area of ID. Growing up in the area in the 50s" hardly ever seen a narrow front on a tractor. The crops here are mostly Spuds, sugar beets,drybeans,malt barley,silagecorn and alphalfa. In the tractor ads of the 50-60s" era, in the southern, eastern, and midwestern states, a great percentage of the tractors had narrow fronts. You hardly ever seen them around this area in that period of time. It was either wide fronts, and an occassional single front. what was the reason in these other areas for the narrow front to be so popular.

Fullers Farmalls · Nov 18, 2012

Ease of row cropping. The narrow fronts could be kept between the rows for easier cultivating. Thats at least what I have learned from this forum.

Aaron SEIA · Nov 18, 2012

Also allows for front mounted cultivators that were easier to use as well as front mounted corn pickers. In the days of cultivation before herbicides a corn crop could be cultivated 3 or 4 times with the last coming when the corn would be too tall to fit under the axle of a wide front without green snapping.
AaronSEIA

donjr · Nov 18, 2012

Our first tractor was a JD MT, and was used fro working corn as well as other jobs. The two tiress on the front allowed for better flotation than the single front. Even today, I have two wide fronts, and two narrow fronts. The two narrow fronts are still easier by far to back wagons with, and are easier to 'stack' in the barn to save space in the winter. We have never had trouble with stability, but I doubt Ralph Nader would agree....

JMS./MN · Nov 18, 2012

Row crop cultivators were one issue, but not the main one. Wide front on a row crop did not allow such late cultivation as a narrow front did- limiting factor on a narrow front was height of the read axle....especially on those like a WC, WD AC....high rear axle, JD and McCormick, others, slightly lower, yet still higher than the wide front axle. BUT- when it came to a mounted corn picker, you NEEDED a narrow front!

Idaho spud · Nov 18, 2012

Guess you guys farmed a little different there. We raise some of the same crops here. but during the days of gravity irrigation you would see a few single fronts due to the application of the implements and the fact that a single front will follow the center row while the narrow front walks out.

ericlb · Nov 18, 2012

a others have said, wide front vs narrow front all depends on crops and mounted implements, i myself didn't know they MADE a wide front tractor until about 1970, my uncle had a 1130 massy on the place about 10 years ago,but he was down to about 130 acres and even that was getting to be too much for him in his 80's that was the first wide front tractor on that farm since there have been tractors, he and grandpa all swore on narrow fronts [ 2 wheels] and thats what i grew up driving, i forgot to tell him all mine are wide fronts, out here you almost never see a narrow front unless its the occasional restored model A Deere, farmall H or something in a shed i kind of still would like to glom onto a narrow front farmall someday for the memories i would enjoy, [ we'll leave out those ones about shredding stalks all day, under the sun, or heading over to the neighbors place to grind up some corn on a open station farmall M when there's a foot of snow down and its in the single didgits lol ]

tomNE · Nov 18, 2012

when i lived in idaho in the early 70's. most guys were on 30" rows. back here in NE we were just starting to switch down from 40" to 38". narrow front were crowded on 36in rows!

Leroy · Nov 19, 2012

That irigation would make the difference, no irigation around here and if you did not have the wide front set exactly the same as the last cultivator shovel they would want to walk out. Wide front was on the 10-20 McCormick and Fordson but not cultivating tractors. Then wide front N series Fords. No wide fronts on a row crop tractor till the 3010 series Deere and when they came out they went to the rear mounted cultivators instead of front mounted. The standard dual front with cultivators on had no problem with walking out.

Allan in NE · Nov 19, 2012

Yeah,

Kinda hard to put a bean cutter on a trike, huh? :>)

Allan

Narrow Front, or V Front

Idaho spud

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Fullers Farmalls

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Aaron SEIA

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donjr

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JMS./MN

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Idaho spud

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ericlb

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tomNE

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Leroy

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Allan in NE

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