[Farmall] Farmall Digest, Vol 112, Issue 5
Lee Klancher
lklancher at mac.com
Mon Jan 6 09:50:20 PST 2014
Hey guys,
First, Happy New Year to y'all. I lurk on this list and get it digested
so I'm not the quickest to respond. There's a lot of knowledgable people
on it--it's an amazing resource.
Roberto, you are correct that the Axial Flow Combine played a big role
in keeping CIH afloat. We didn't cover combines, so that wasn't
discussed, but the financial impact was big. The impact of the Magnum
was huge as well. While I think most people recall how bad the farm
economy was in the 1980s, I was struck by how bad the farm economy and
the heavy equipment business was into the mid-1990s. Big businesses were
failing and being merged on a regular basis. I found a terrific Harvard
study of this that showed all the large companies going out of business
at that time.
I was also struck by how short-sighted the CIH management was in the
1980s. Killing the 2+2 and 50 series was an ego move that put red paint
on that high-horsepower Case line of machines that were long in the
tooth, in a market that was most interested in high-horsepower
machinery. Combine that with the worst farm economy since 1933 and you
are looking at the strong possibilty of complete failure.
Also, bear in mind that Tenneco had the CIH division up for sale
throughout much of the 1990s. Dana Mead later admitted he had the
company on sale for one dollar, and couldn't find a taker.
The only reason the company didn't fold or run into the same debt
problems that killed IH is that Tenneco was flush throughout the late
1980s and early 1990s. Their oil holdings were making bank for a while,
and then provided cash when sold off. And the head of Tenneco was a farm
boy and had a soft spot for agricultural business.
So my opinion is that without the Magnum (and the Axial Flow), CIH
wouldn't exist as it is today. A number of the IH folks from the 1980s
who stayed with CIH through the 1990s say the same thing. Of course,
they were all jacked about the 25th Anniversary so that might have
colored their glasses a bit.
Oh, and BTW, A Corporate Tragedy is an interesting resource if tough
sledding to read. As was pointed out, our book doesn't answer all the
questions of why IH failed, but we did look very hard at that and try to
give readers an idea (if you read the chapter introductions you'll get
some good information on that front).
Marsh put her book together from a mix of resources she had at hand and
did it fairly quickly. After putting together our book, we believe she
made one key miscalculation. McCardell was not the problem. He didn't do
a good job with labor, that's true, but he did a great job with product.
The IH engineering crew was creating patents at an unprecedented level
under his tenure, as he poured money into R&D and brought good talent
in. He was hand-picked by Brooks McCormick, and Brooks both had a
significant influence on him and was very sharp. McCardell's move
spending money on research was the right move--IH just got unlucky with
market timing and was overwhelmed with a debt load that started in the
1950s by Fowler McCormick's quest to expand into every market under the
sun at the expense of their core market--ag.
Anyway, way longer than I intended.
Hope everyone is well and has a great New Year.
Cheers,
Lee Klancher
On 1/6/14, 11:00 AM, farmall-request at lists.antique-tractor.com wrote:
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Jim Becker)
> 2. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Michael Schmudlach)
> 3. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Bob Currie)
> 4. Re: What tractor is this ?? (lmfree at ptd.net)
> 5. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Roberto Rivero)
> 6. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Mike)
> 7. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Roberto Rivero)
> 8. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Tommy Wilson)
> 9. Re: What tractor is this ?? (jtchall at nc.rr.com)
> 10. Re: What tractor is this ?? (jtchall at nc.rr.com)
> 11. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Charlie V)
> 12. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Roberto Rivero)
> 13. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Bob Currie)
> 14. Re: What tractor is this ?? (jtchall at nc.rr.com)
> 15. Re: What tractor is this ?? (Roberto Rivero)
> 16. Red Tractors 1958-2013 (dean at vinsonfarm.net)
> 17. Re: Red Tractors 1958-2013 (Roberto Rivero)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2014 12:17:28 -0600
> From: "Jim Becker" <mr.jebecker at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Farmall] What tractor is this ??
> To: "Farmall/IHC mailing list" <farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Message-ID: <B7E984EA54054D21B5AD6AC0EE61697F at JimDesktop>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8";
> reply-type=original
>
> Well, "monument" has several meanings, anything from a grave marker to a
> survey marker. A USA "national monument" is a big deal but other monuments
> can be much less grand, including a pedestal for about anything. We even
> have "monument" type signs in commercial areas.
>
> If you go to Google Images and search for "russia tractor monument" you find
> a lot similar to this one. Many of them seem to be things like "first
> tractor" in whichever town it is in. One appears to be the same model as
> this one and indicates first Russian made tractor. By the way, if you just
> search for "tractor monument" what you get is still heavily loaded with
> Russian pictures, but some other interesting pictures show up.
>
> Jim Becker
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roberto Rivero
> Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2014 10:37 AM
> To: Farmall/IHC mailing list
> Subject: Re: [Farmall] What tractor is this ??
>
> May be in that place, with the high level of snow they must have in
> winter,
>
> that is the only way you can see the tractor in winter season.[?][?]
>
>
>
>
> 2014/1/5 E. John Puckett <ejpuckett at centurytel.net>
>
>> Maybe we in the U.S. and other areas consider the definition of monument
>> differently. It is not unusual to see a tractor or a something similar
>> in fornt of a dealer that has been in business for many years setting on
>> a brick or stone base like that. Whne we think monument we think of
>> something important to be remembered or honored, not just a base to
>> support something.
>>
>> On 1/4/2014 10:15 PM, Roberto Rivero wrote:
>>> John really donot know why the monument, but in the link of Jim Becker
>>> there is another tractor a 1530 thoug on a monument too.
>>>
>>> Thakyou to all for the answers, this list is very special, i recived
>> lot
>>> of answers in no more than 30 minutes, here i have learnt many thins
>> about
>>> mecanic and common sense, alon the years reading your posts.
>>>
>>> I begun 2014 year in good condition yesterday i receibed the book IHC
>> Red
>>> tractors from 1985 to 2013. nice work.
>>>
>>> I wish a happy and prosperous 2014 year for all the IHC people, and
>> thanks
>>> again for the answer, (The video is very good and interesting too)
>>>
>>>
>>> 2014/1/5 <jtchall at nc.rr.com>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
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