Farmall and the F-series Farmall

farmall regular

the fordson first mass-produced, light, affordable tractor, , first tap market of small medium family farms on large scale. design excellent in many respects, including design manufacturability , low cost allowed. 1 task design had not been tailored cultivating rows of young row-crop plants kill weeds. ih recognized motorized cultivating unmet need in marketplace. under intense competitive pressure build fordson beater soon, lest fordson go on dominate entire marketplace of agricultural equipment, imperfections or no.

ih s first effort solve problem motor cultivator, class of machine various companies building , selling in late 1910s , 1920s. name implies, these self-propelled cultivators in simplest sense—little more horse implement motor added. ih motor cultivator , all-purpose tractor, moline plow company s universal, both sold several hundred units in late 1910s. ih s machine not particularly successful; moline universal more successful, parent company nevertheless faced dire financial straits. both models discontinued. many farmers content (and afford) keep 1 or 2 horses or mules around miscellaneous light work (such cultivating).

a 1930s mccormick-deering farmall (f-14) @ northeast texas rural heritage center , museum in august 2015

around 1920, ih s motor cultivator died, team of ih engineers experimenting all-purpose tractor, replacing horse in every job including cultivating. 1923, settled on configuration, , informal name project, farmall , selected product s official name. ih management concerned new high-riding, tricycle design—a rather spindly-looking thing eyes of 1920s—might turn off customers, farmall released in texas, in order minimize potential embarrassment if design proved unsuccessful. however, new tractor did many jobs , hence sold well, , 1926, ih ready large-scale production @ new farmall works plant in rock island, illinois. although farmall never reached per-year production numbers of fordson during 1920s, tractor prevented fordson owning market on small, lightweight, mass-produced, affordable tractors small or medium family farm. narrow-front tricycle design, high ground clearance clear crop plants while cultivating (helped portal axle [drop gearset]), power take-off (a feature on ih leader), , standard mounting points cultivators , other implements on tractor s frame (a farmall first) gave competitive advantages on fordson, row crops, , became favorite row-crop tractor of america, outselling other competitors (such john deere s).

in 1931 came first variation of original farmall. f-30 bigger, heavier, , more powerful. original farmall became known retronym regular. (it may never have been official name branding, common among farmers.) in 1932, ih updated farmall regular more powerful engine, , renamed f-20. @ time, ih added model, f-12, smaller, lighter version of original. had no portal axle @ rear, deriving ride height instead larger-diameter wheels. thus, beginning in 1932, farmall brand had grown single model model line, became known f-series. in 1938, f-12 replaced f-14, identical f-12 except updated steering column , higher-revving engine (whose higher rev limit, 1650 rpm instead of 1400, made more powerful @ peak output).

color schemes

all farmall tractors painted deep blue-grey until mid-1936 (around july through september). color has been mistaken battleship grey, bluer. wheels red. in mid-1936, decision made change entire tractor (frame, sheet metal, engine, , wheels) new color, farmall red . around time many tractor manufacturers began using bright, distinctive colors branding (e.g., allis-chalmers orange). farmer out across fields , see neighbor s tractor great distance , know make was; provided sort of advertising in intensely competitive tractor market.