[AT] IH Fast Hitch was Of the 10 worst tractors

[John Hall]

Fast hitch was a good selling point for the one row machines, it was 
used by some farmers, but a lot of homeowners and gardeners used those 
implements and being able to change it quickly and easily was a selling 
point back then. I guess I should point out that even back then there 
were LOTS of people in this area that worked public work and tended huge 
gardens and could afford a brand new tractor to do so. Most of the 
successful tobacco farmers only used the one row machines for planting 
and cultivating and towing "trailers" (the terminology for those was 
very broad). The larger machines with 2 point hitch were just not all 
that popular here. Dad didn't care for actual hitch, there was nothing 
wrong with the hydraulics. Once those tractors became a few years old, 
they were headed to being boat anchors as the rest of the industry was 
going 3pt and you could buy those implements everywhere and any color. 
We still see some some locally fabricated 1 pt equipment being produced 
or retrofitted even today. Don't get me wrong, I love IH, but that hitch 
design was one of their biggest screwups and let Deere get a toe hold in 
the Southeast. My family went green for big HP beginning with a new 
3010, this was the first Deere we ever had. It paved the way for 3 more 
new Deere's before the farming ceased in 91. Only one new IH was added 
during that time. With the tractors turning green, so did the implements 
and 4 new combines. The only thing they backed up on was Deere's 
pathetic excuse for a auto reset plow--it used hydraulics instead of 
trip springs like IH.  Guess we were just brand loyal.

John Hall


On 2/17/2019 9:48 PM, James Peck wrote:
> This claims the Farmall Super C was the first tractor to have IH Fast Hitch in 1953. IH had 15 years to get Fast Hitch working well before your father stated working on them or did he work on hydraulic tractor lifts somewhere else?
>
> https://www.farmcollector.com/implements/the-ih-fast-hitch-story
>
> John hall] <snip> Dad is 88, spent from 1968-1991 working for an IH dealer. He never cared for anything IH had with a 2 point hitch, nor did he like the brakes (or lack there of) on the 400/450.<snip>
>
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