[Farmall] Farmall M LP

[Arthur Umland]

Your post and concerns about LP gas jogged my memory.  I was a teenager 
working on a farm in southwest NE (near Venago in case anyone knows 
that area) where large wheat fields dominated the countryside. A MM 
tractor with LP gas was used on the farm. I was standing next to the MM 
watching as the son of the owner filled the tractor from a several 
hundred gallon LP storage tank. When filling the tank, one also had to 
open a port on the tractor tank that released some pressure and 
produced a small whisp of gas. Apparently this whisp of gas ignited 
from a static electricity discharge (no other viable option was ever 
given to me). The small gas vent produced a strong flame which then 
burned through the hose leading from the supply tank. The tractor tire 
caught on fire and eventually much of the tractor burned up. Volunteer 
fire fighters were quite concerned as the heat from the burning tractor 
caused the pressure safety relief valve on the supply tank to vent at 
times. Had the main tank ever exploded there would have been 
substantial damage and a few less people around on that day.

      Regards,
                           Art


On Feb 24, 2005, at 5:30 AM, Mike Sloane wrote:
> LP as a fuel for tractors became popular in areas where the fuel was 
> plentiful and cheap (primarily the deep south and southwest). It is no 
> longer considered a low priced alternative to either gas or diesel, 
> and is limited these days for use in fork lift trucks used inside 
> factories and warehouses. Some LP advocates have tried to convince 
> local governments to switch their cars and buses over in order to 
> reduce air pollution, but the cost and inconvenience seem to work 
> against the concept. Advantages also included elimination of problems 
> associated with dirty gas, stale fuel, sticking floats, etc. The 
> biggest disadvantage from an agricultural aspect is that LP doesn't 
> have the thermal energy of gasoline, so the effective power of the 
> engine is reduced. The other problems are pretty much obvious: 
> delivery and handling of the fuel. You need a relatively expensive 
> storage tank that has to be filled by the company truck, and if you 
> run out of fuel while away from the barn, you have to deal with 
> lugging a heavy bottle out to the tractor. On a personal note, I would 
> not be thrilled by the idea of regularly dealing with that much 
> pressurized flammable gas on a regular basis - even the smallest leak 
> could be catastrophic. There is some added complexity of the regulator 
> and related parts, but they tend to not need much attention. Parts 
> availability isn't much different than for gas tractors.
>
> Historically, the numbers of LP tractors built, compared to gas, were 
> small but not few enough to be considered especially collectible or 
> rare. I don't have the numbers at hand, but the prices I have seen for 
> LP and gas tractors seem to be comparable. Having an LP M is 
> interesting, and their appearance always attracts attention at a fair 
> or parade, but otherwise there isn't much to recommend them over gas.
>
> That is, of course, just my opinion, and probably worth exactly what 
> you paid for it. :-)
>
> Mike
>
> Tommy wrote:
>> Having no experience with an LP tractor, I need some help. I have an 
>> opportunity to buy an M that is on LP fuel. What are your thoughts on 
>> LP tractors versus gasoline? Advantages/disadvantages? How much 
>> more/less would you be willing to spend on an LP and why? I can't 
>> remember seeing any numbers on the amount of LP tractors that were 
>> built. Thanks.....TW
>> Tommy Wilson
>> Hattiesburg, MS
>> 1950 IH H
>> 1951 JD B
>> 1952 IH SC
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>
> -- 
> Mike Sloane
> Allamuchy NJ
> mikesloane at verizon.net
> Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
>
> If it is committed in the name of God or country, there is no crime so
> heinous that the public will not forgive it. -Tom Robbins, writer 
> (1936-)
>
>
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