[AT] Orchard tractors

[charlie hill]

There was one AV in the town I grew up in.   That thing looked like it would 
topple over any minute.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mike Sloane
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2012 10:05 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Orchard tractors

My neighbor had a JD MT with extra long axles like that, but there were
no markings on the tractor as a "tobacco" model. I always assumed that
the long axles were for tandem rear tires (why a light machine like and
MT would benefit from having an extra set of rears would be a benefit
never occurred to me at the time). The only problem for him was that he
was forever banging those long axles into things as he went by.

Around here (NJ), there are no Wheatland or orchard tractors, but I have
seen a lot of rare tall ("hi-crop") tractors, including Farmall Cubs and
AV's that were used for cultivation vegetable crops here on the black
dirt and "truck" farms in southern NJ. None of these show up in any of
the books I have, including Ken Updike's several volumes about IH
tractors (maybe because he is located in the Midwest).

Mike

On 11/7/2012 9:08 AM, charlie hill wrote:
> I've seen Orchard and Wheatland tractors.  I've seen a lot of
> them..... ALL at tractor shows. I've never seen one in the field or
> orchard.  The thing is.. the tractor companies built tractors to
> meet the demands of specific regions and markets.  Down here in
> eastern NC and S/E Virginia Allis Chalmers sold a bunch of tractors
> in the 70's that were marketed as "Tobacco Specials" They were
> tractors in the 80 to 100 hp range that had extra long axles so they
> could cultivate multiple rows of tobacco which is traditionally
> planted on 48" rows.   I've had AC EXPERTS (and I mean that) from the
> Mid West tell me those tractors don't exist.  I can take you to
> several of them today. Some of them finally agreed their might be
> such a thing but said it was just a decal stuck on by a dealer
> somewhere. However, I have confirmed with a long time AC dealer here
> that sold dozens of them that they came from the factory with longer
> than stock axle shafts and with the decals affixed when they left the
> factory. My point is not to argue about AC tobacco special tractors
> but just to point out how regional the tractor business was in the
> old days and what lengths the manufacturers went to to meet the
> specific needs of their customers.
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