[AT] Too many tractors

Sun Mar 26 19:06:30 PDT 2017

Herb,

Interestingly, the famers kind of pushed (demanded) that the major tractor
manufacturers, in those days, quit offering proprietary hitch implements and
wanted a universal three point hitch after the Ferguson System patent
protection went away in 1952/1953, so they could use common implements on
all tractors. Turned out it was a good idea but there was much more to it
than just making the three points similar.     There was a lot of
coordination amongst manufacturers  to try to get some standardizing through
the ASAE organization which was accomplished but the whole PTO
standardization never really got fully accomplished properly.  Then there
was a lot of aftermarket manufacturers also offering three point hitches for
tractors that never had one from the factory.  It really became a complex
issue that we antique tractor guys still struggle with occasionally.
Actually I am still a bit amazed that so many different manufacturer's
equipment mostly works on  a wide range of tractors, hitches and PTO's.  But
there are nasty exceptions that can be really interesting and frustrating.

As a side note ......  that I am more familiar with, JD was forced into
offering a three point hitch hookup on tractors that had no provision for an
active top link. I'm referring to the 50, 60 & 70 series tractors.
1952-1956. In 1953, much against the opinion of some of the JD management,
JD went into panic, urgent development of a three point hitch to put on the
50, 60, 70 that JD never contemplated putting a three point hitch on.   The
JD powers to be were convinced they didn't need a three point hitch on the
50, 60 & 70 because 70% of the weight was already on the rear axle. No need
for load and depth control to improve traction they thought.  Then the
farmer demand hit them over the head demanding interchangeable implements
among the tractor manufactures.   So they were forced into the panic
development of the 800 series hitches which were first announced in 1953.
They didn't have a conventional single top link and were not really
compatible with other manufacturers implements because these hitches had two
top links(Upper Links) that required an Evener Bar between then and a
proprietary Mast bracket to be compatible with conventional three point
implements.  They were surprisingly well accepted and then in 1955 JD
introduced the 801 version of the 800 Series hitches that still used the two
upper arms but used mechanical sensing of the load to provide "Load and
Depth" control with advertised traction improvement of up to 40%.  IMHO this
particular invention was quite amazing in that they were able to accomplish
the same thing as the Ferguson Patent did with hydraulics. Most people,
especially non-JD people look at these 800 series hitch as a "Rube Goldberg
Contraption". IMHO the 801 hitch was an extremely valuable step forward
given the limits the JD designers were under.  In 1956 JD came out with the
20 series tractors that all had an option for a conventional three point
hitch. The JD 40 came out with a conventional three point hitch in 1953 but
that was due to the fact that it was light in the rear end lind the Ford and
Ferguson. The 50, 60 & 70 were mostly row crop tractors with the engine much
closer to the rear of the tractor.  The next time you go to a show and see
an 801 JD hitch on A'S B's, G's or the 50, 60 and 70 take a closer look at
it and try to overlook all the gangly levers. arms links and brackets and
learn how it accomplished load and depth control mechanically.  I have
learned to see it as very ingenious design and whoever the designer was
needs to be recognized. I don't yet know who it was. Maybe it was a group
but in any case it is a major accomplishment in the agricultural products
industry. And to top it all off all the implements that JD designed to be
used with the 800 series hitches (between 1953 and 1956) were instantly
compatible with the conventional three point hitches that came out with the
1956 20 series without modification.  JD did some really good design
planning to make that happen. 

PS:  In the unstyled JD tractors there were multiple size PTO shafts used.
It took JD a very long time to come up with one PTO size shaft on all
tractors.  Those different sized PTO shafts were a complete PITA when I was
young kid on the farm. When adapters were used it upset the length of the
PTO system drive train to the implement resulting in some nasty results.
All was not nice and tidy on the old farmstead. 

Dean VP
Apache junction, AZ

It's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. 

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Herb Metz
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 5:18 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Too many tractors

Greg,
Tell the guys at the coffee shop that you were advised to CHANGE coffee
shops.
Herb(GA)
P.S. Yes, changing 3pt implements can be time consuming, disgusting, chore,
especially if PTO powered.
Back in the 50's few dealers would have done that; today very few if any.

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Hass
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 1:35 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: [AT] Too many tractors

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have four tractors for my 110 acres.
Some guys at the coffee shop have told me I am crazy to have so many for so
little. I have them for several reasons. First off, they are all over 28
years old so its not like I have hundreds of thousands invested in them. In
fact if I sold them all I would only get around 50 thousand for them all.
Second; as others have mentioned, with my bad back and being older, I can no
longer keep changing equipment all the time. I can put things on a tractor
and leave them on for the season without changing them every day or so.
Third and maybe the most important; due to our changing times, no one will
help you out anymore.
If a tractor breaks down you are ------- out of luck. First of all, it takes
one to two weeks to get anything fixed where when I was younger, unless very
serious, you had your tractor back in a couple of days. I had my IH 856
first for many years before I got the JD 4255. However, I still pull the
same equipment so if the 4255 should break down the 856 will still handle
the equipment. Same with the IH 574 and the JD 3020; both are about the same
and can basically be interchanged. You will get no help from the dealers, at
least not around here. Years ago it was a lot different. For 3 generations
we have used red equipment until IH went out of business. In the late 50's
my dad had a IH Super C and pulled a IH 45 hay baler and also did custom
work with it. One day the end of the drawbar broke so he just shortened it a
little ( mine you I was under 10 at the time so I remember a little of it
but was told some of it) . What he didn't realize  was that he also
shortened the distance between the pto shaft. A couple of days later he went
through a deep furrow and the pto bottomed out and bent the tractor pto
shaft inside the tractor. Because this was a real odd thing to happen it was
going to take at least a week to get parts. Without my dad even asking, the
dealer pulled the complete pto unit out of a brand new tractor and installed
in my dad's tractor so he could keep baling; at the time that was the only
tractor my dad owned. Today the chances of this happening are several miles
south of zero.
             Greg Hass

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