[AT] Old tractor question

[Dennis Johnson]

Greg,

I think the narrow fronts were used more with corn and similar crops. They could cultivate with them, and mount pickers, etc. 
Early wide fronts many times were not adjustable, and worked fine for plowing wheat fields.
Later wide fronts had width adjustments, so they could be set to cultivate row crop type plants. With this adjustment, plus row crop headers on combines fr harvesting, the need for a narrow front tractor went away.

Thanks,
Dennis


Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 13, 2019, at 4:23 PM, Greg Hass <ghass at m3isp.com> wrote:
> 
> This is a question I have wondered about for years although it is not world changing. The question is: why are some areas mostly wide front and others narrow front tractors?  In our area of Michigan, as soon as wide front became available almost 100% went with wide front. Personally, I hate narrow front tractors with a passion. I would never get a narrow front tractor except maybe an old 2 cylinder JD or something like a Farmall F-12 where wide front either did not exist or is extremely rare. I know that in some areas the larger tractors had narrow front because of mounted corn pickers. From videos other areas had narrow fronts. If you Google  ( tractors from the past, plowing in 1962) you will find many tractors plowing but I didn't see a single wide front even on a couple new generation JD's. I don't know where the video was filmed but I suspect Indiana because of the fields and the way they raised the plows to go over grassed waterways; something I still see  when we travel there to see our kids. I'm not sure, but I think the 4020 Farmer used to own had a narrow front. Also why does no one make narrow front anymore? In the video, even the Ford disking has a narrow front, something I have never seen in our area and in years past there were a lot of Fords around us. Comments anyone.
>           Greg Hass
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