[AT] TMCOTKU tractor count is down by one.

[Indiana Robinson]

I always was a little confused as to why the 9N didn't come standard
with step/running boards. My father put an after market set on his in
the mid 1940s or so. I have a book showing accessories for them and
they did have a "platform" kit available to sell. I don't know if they
ever had steps in later years as standard. I do know that I see after
market steps on most of them at shows. The TO-20's came with nice
steps as did the 8N and later. Everybody has their favorites as far as
tractors and some they don't really like. Some opinions may track back
to a bad experience or even to the fact that someone they didn't like
that owned a certain brand. I can't really say that there any brands I
don't like but there are several things about some of them I don't
like.
As far as mounting and dismounting in my mind the little John Deere L
and LA's are absolutely awful. My Allis C is poor without a step as is
my Farmall CUB. The 9N without a step is bad.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???
That Yanmar 1500 is about the worst I have owned for me including
operation. I am just too big for it and not flexible enough for it. I
could not turn around in the seat to look back without being locked in
place by the fenders against my knees. My body made all kinds of
crunching noises when I tried. I also found it nearly impossible to
reach the dual range shift lever and the brake lock was another tough
one. My size 13 work shoe just would not fit well between brake pedals
and the differential lock pedal. The thin, young new owner will not
have those problems.  :-)
I never liked the tight fit of my brake side foot on the Allis WD I
used to own. I had to pivot my foot to lift my heel first or my toe
would catch on the brake pedals. I also just didn't like that whole
sitting so far off on the right on it while the clutch was waaaay over
there on the left next to the left wheel. I sit to the right on my
Farmall CUB but the pedals are all right in front of me. I won't even
talk about the WC Allis tractors I owned once with hand brakes.
I find my 1948 John Deere A to be as comfortable to mount & dismount
as any tricycle row crop tractor I have used and I love the open
platform. Of course you are stuck with that pump handle sticking up
over on the right that always demands attention just when you need one
hand on the wheel and another on the hydraulic lever and another to
pull some rope or the other. Wait... Not enough hands. :-)
I like my Super M, Super MTA and 400 Farmall's but big battery box
between your feet is a PITA at times. My MM-R isn't bad but the
steering wheel seems to have wandered over to the left and what was
with putting both turning  brake pedals over under your left foot?
Like the Deere, just when you need to steer and grab the hydraulic
control you have to be grabbing that pump handle... Then there were
those Massey Harris tractors where the seat support pipe ran from
under your seat forward up in the way all of the way up to the
radiator or some place up front. :-)
I'm not sure why Al hates the little Ford's and Ferguson's so much but
I just love them and have spent enough hours on not only them but
about everything else out there to consider them one of the most
comfortable, useful, versatile and productive tractors in their size
class and believe that they were well ahead of about anything else
built at that time. It is kind of funny that such an awful tractor was
about the most copied thing around during the early 1950's...  ;-)
Everybody else was scrambling to slap a 3 point on something,
anything, so that they could sell against Ford and Ferguson. I agree
with Greg Haas that the three point may have not been the best
standard on bigger tractors but for farmers that had grown tired of
spending half a day changing some simple small implement like a plow
over to something else they needed it was a real blessing. In many
cases there just were not much in the way of useful implements to
mount on them. There really was a reason that they were buying those
"useless" little Ford's and Ferguson's like an elephant buying
peanuts.  :-) That is the reason that today they are still in very
high demand not just as collectibles but for daily users. Deny it all
you like but you know it is true... :-)
I wish they were not so popular so I could buy several at a lot lower
price and have one tractor per implement.


-- 
Have you hugged your horses today?

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com