$40,000. Farmall H?

At Mecums auction Saturday.Just wonderin' what made it worth that?

I'd guess 39000 in the tool box.

Must have had good tires!

One born every minute. Hey, it was Mecum's...must be a classic.

Had to be more than one bidder there is a story behind it.

Good auctioneer and somebody swatting flys?
Had an auction clerk yell my name once I yelled what then the next thing I heard sold!!! They had a cute 3 quarter jersey a little on the small side they couldn't get a bid on. Anyway named her half pint wasn't a bad cow

I know a fellow that had over $35,000 in a Farmall M pulling tractor he was a millionaire$
and could well afford it,great fellow used to love pulling against him.

I saw that too , claimed only about 200 actual hours and all original , but still just a late H ? I sure can't see any H being worth 40K , for that money I would rather have a real nice 1206 or 1456 or both. But there must have been at least 2 people there with too much money in their pockets.

Two relatives fighting over granddads tractor.

From Mecums Facebook page.

Then buyer gets to ante up the "buyer's premium" on top of the $40,000

Yes, there had to be some reason two somebodies wanted it that bad. They sold a bell from a church here a few years ago. A couple of families that had long term church ties bid it sky high. But hey, The winner got what they wanted so i guess they are happy.

I can remember years ago (1990?) when a fellow came into the Central Tractor store where I worked and proudly announced that he bought a low houred Farmall H that did light work. In his case it was true as it was verified that it came from a Rochester, NY suburb where it pulled a sickle bar mower maybe two hours each summer to mow by a creek. The previous owner was well to do and pretty much bought it as a toy to play with once a year. The fellow paid just a little over 3000 dollars if my memory serves me so I guess he got quite a deal. The model year was never verified for me but for the years the original owner had it the tractor had to be a 1949 or a 1950 model. I have heard other stories with "estate" tractors such as Farmall A's, Cub's, 8N's, and Allis B's but the H was the only one I got to hear any details about. I don't miss working retail but I do miss some of those guys who came in.

Nothing would make it worth $40000.Bidders had more dollars then sense!

(quoted from post at 18:30:20 11/09/15) I saw that too , claimed only about 200 actual hours and all original , but still just a late H ? I sure can't see any H being worth 40K , for that money I would rather have a real nice 1206 or 1456 or both. But there must have been at least 2 people there with too much money in their pockets.

Click to expand...

Only 200 hours? How would anybody know that? There is no hour meter on a Farmall H. As far as being all original, just look at the picture. Front tires are not original, muffler is not original, and the hood is a much darker red than the rest of the tractor.

I've got a 1950 H with no paint at all, but is still more original than what Mecum just sold.

This tractor has caused a lot of excitement and criticism since it sold and has been discussed on every tractor forum I visit. The seller did have the complete history on it.

"Purchased by John Schier in 1953. John was an elderly bachelor who lived with his sister on the 80 acre family farm south of Stillman Valley. John used it to cultivate his corn that year, and the following year rented his ground to the neighbor, but continued to live there until his death.
- The previous owner had John's first International H. He told John when you get ready to sell this one please give me the first chance. In 1976 John gave the previous owner the chance to buy it and he did. It had been used for light jobs around the farm until 1990 when it was purchased by the current owner."

I really like my original tractors and every time I see one I look them over very closely and study any unique features. I have seen a real surge in the value of these tractors the past few years. I saw a NICE original unstyled WC Allis bring nearly $4000 a few years ago, again the seller had the history of the tractor and could prove its condition easily. If it had been repainted 20 years ago it would be worth $800-$1000. I believe we are going to continue to see more auctions like these. Who knows, this tractor might keep that value and increase value with time. I know of two cases where owners had very complete restorations done to AC WD45s and stuck over $40000 each in them. Now if I had to choose between the two where I would be most likely to get my money back I would choose the low hour original tractor all day long.

As I said I would have to look this one over and see if it looked like a 200 hour tractor to me. As far as the hood, were the hoods painted with the tractor or separately? Or could the metal have been prepared differently on the hood. Just because the hood doesn't exactly match the rest of the tractor doesn't mean the hood isn't original to the tractor.

If anything it gives us all something to talk about!

Are you sure the muffler isn't original? I don't know my Farmalls that well. Just asking.

Here is the tractor.
Farmall H Mecum

I spent less than a fourth that amount to have a 1941 H restored from a non-running, very rough condition to "Show Room Status" and although it has been in the family (GF to Son to Grand-son) since it was new in 1941 I would have to at least thing about selling the tractor if some fool came along and offered me that kind of money

Like Ray said further down, over $39,500 in the tool box. Around here, Farmall H's are pretty generic. Dime a dozen. There is one rusting away behind every barn in the county. Pretty much all anyone around here did with them was pull wagons or maybe mow hay or pull a ground drive crap spreader -no hydraulics, no 3 pt hitch, etc. That said, they were pretty tough and would last forever, running well long past the point where they were obsolete. But a 40 grand H, some died in the wool yuppie back to the land trust-fund farmer wannabe must have been really high at that auction out there to pay that kind of change.

(quoted from post at 08:32:53 11/10/15) Are you sure the muffler isn't original? I don't know my Farmalls that well. Just asking.

Click to expand...

The original muffler would have had a much longer barrel, and a shorter, smaller diameter stack.

Yes there are tons of rusty ones or ones with crappy paint jobs but how many are nearly brand new? Nice original tractors like this are hard to find. Anyone can restore one, anyone can buy a painted one but how many can you buy in this condition? They are only original once. Like I said watch auctions in the future, you will see this again. Car prices are doing the same thing. A lot of people want that barn find survivor.

Also, here is a link to a prototype picture. Muffler looks the same to me.
HTA

(quoted from post at 19:10:38 11/09/15) Two relatives fighting over granddads tractor.

Click to expand...

That's the rumor on an Allis forum, maybe more than two.

All the H&M Farmalls I've seen with the pulley for the flat belt were laminated pulleys, wood I think. I see this one has a steel one. When did Farmall change to steel ?