MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM — One of North America’s most popular tractor brands marked 100 years of production in 2023.
The Farmall brand, a division of Case-IH, was 100 years old and will produce an electric model this year.
The 75-horsepower tractor features an electric train drive with instant torque and diesel-like performance and power.
The DC charging option can recharge the battery from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in less than one hour.
The 75C model can be controlled with hand signals by the operator.
Although gasoline powered tractors had been around for about 20 years, Farmall’s first model in 1923 became a hit.
That model, according to Robert N. Pripps, author of Farmall 100 Years, was the first all-purpose tractor. It could plough, cultivate, harvest and pull loads.
Until the first Farmall, Henry Ford’s Fordson was most popular.
Used frequently for row crops due to the front wheel spacing, the first diesel powered row crop tractor in 1941 was a Farmall.
Farmall tractors were a blue-grey colour until 1937 when the distinctive red colour was adopted for safety and visibility reasons.
One exception was the 100th thousand model rolling off the line in 1930. It was painted silver.
The company planned to keep that silver tractor as an exhibit. Decades later a collector found the machine in trees on a farm 40 miles from the factory, bought and restored it.
For three months in 1950 a number of demonstrator tractors were painted white to attract customers.
Early tractor adopters liked the versatile Farmall. By 1939 one million had been sold.
Farmall led the wave of change after the Second World War when most farmers switched from horses to tractors.
Production was increased by 70 per cent during the big years 1948-1953.
More than five million Farmall units had been sold by 1974 — the first tractor to sell that many units.
In 1985 Case-IH discontinued the Farmall brand, but revived it as a compact tractor in 2003.
Many of the old Farmall tractors are still in use. The Farmall models are a favourite of collectors wanting to restore tractors.
Case-IH offers over 30 models of Farmall from 30 horsepower to 105 horse power.
One of the buildings in the Bill Young collection at the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village Museum displays numerous Farmall tractors.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
