MONROE - There's some good-hearted, but hot competition between IHC and John Deere tractor owners. Nothing else runs like a Deere, but apparently nothing pulls as well as an IHC.
At Farmall Days this weekend just south of Monroe, Darold Albertson said Deere owners get a bit angry when beaten in a pulling contest, but he and Roger Disch see fewer John Deeres pulling and think the sales numbers reveal which is better.
Albertson said antique John Deeres cost more just because not as many of them were made.
"In 1974, John Deere reached a million (sold). In 1978, IHC reached 5 million. Now what does that tell you?" he said. "315,000 Ms and Super Ms, and 425,000 H and Super Hs were made."
The H series was the top-selling Farmall tractor, until 1950, when M, with more horse power to pull heavier equipment, outsold the H, Albertson said.
Produced from 1939 to 1952, Farmall H tractors originally were priced about $960 in 1940. When World War II used nearly all available rubber, many farmers had to settle for steel wheels and a lower price of $765. The Super H was introduced in 1952, with disc brakes. But the H and Super H were meant to pull only a two-bottom plow.
The B series is small enough to teach children to drive tractors, as Albertson has with his own daughters and grandchildren. And the red color is an immediate indication for his 2-year old grandson to tell them apart from the green tractors.
Another tell-tale sign of a Farmall is its tricycle-like design by Bert Benjamin, introduced in 1924. A revolution in tractor design, the Farmall tractors not only plowed, but could do the precision work of cultivating. Small, closely-spaced front wheels were designed to run between crop rows, and high rear-axle cleared tall crops such as cotton and corn.
Albertson hopes to take the kids to the 20th Annual Red Power Round-Up, hosted by Wisconsin's Chapter (4) of the International Harvester Collectors, next July in Madison.
Madison is a fitting place for the event. The Wisconsin Historical Society Archives house the International/McCormick Archives. The Historical Society's largest single collection was created by and for the McCormick and International Harvester companies, and Cyrus McCormick and his family.
The McCormick brand spanned 100 years and two world wars.
Through the history of the largest and perhaps most influential farm equipment manufacturer of the 20th century, images of International Harvester document the history of the agricultural equipment industry, rural life, small towns, architecture, industrial labor, technology, transportation, and advertising. The collection includes hundreds of thousands of images dating from the 1840s through the 1980s.
Cyrus McCormick, Sr., helped stage an earlier agricultural revolution with his famous reaper. Cyrus McCormick Jr.'s McCormick Harvesting Machine Company had a substantial effect on the legacy of reliable and much loved farm equipment.
J.P. Morgan and Company purchased and merged the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and the Deering Harvester Company, along with several a smaller companies on August 12, 1902 to form the International Harvester Company.
International Harvester began building gasoline tractors in 1906, the first company in the small tractor business. In 1908 International Harvester introduced the Titan model sold by Deering dealers and produced at the company's Milwaukee plant. The Mogul line was manufactured at the Chicago plant and sold by McCormick dealers in 1910.
International Harvester fell on hard times during the poor agriculture economy in the mid-1980s and merged its agricultural division with J. I. Case, a Tenneco company in 1985. The last IH tractor bearing the International name rolled off the assembly line on May 14, 1985.
At Farmall Days this weekend just south of Monroe, Darold Albertson said Deere owners get a bit angry when beaten in a pulling contest, but he and Roger Disch see fewer John Deeres pulling and think the sales numbers reveal which is better.
Albertson said antique John Deeres cost more just because not as many of them were made.
"In 1974, John Deere reached a million (sold). In 1978, IHC reached 5 million. Now what does that tell you?" he said. "315,000 Ms and Super Ms, and 425,000 H and Super Hs were made."
The H series was the top-selling Farmall tractor, until 1950, when M, with more horse power to pull heavier equipment, outsold the H, Albertson said.
Produced from 1939 to 1952, Farmall H tractors originally were priced about $960 in 1940. When World War II used nearly all available rubber, many farmers had to settle for steel wheels and a lower price of $765. The Super H was introduced in 1952, with disc brakes. But the H and Super H were meant to pull only a two-bottom plow.
The B series is small enough to teach children to drive tractors, as Albertson has with his own daughters and grandchildren. And the red color is an immediate indication for his 2-year old grandson to tell them apart from the green tractors.
Another tell-tale sign of a Farmall is its tricycle-like design by Bert Benjamin, introduced in 1924. A revolution in tractor design, the Farmall tractors not only plowed, but could do the precision work of cultivating. Small, closely-spaced front wheels were designed to run between crop rows, and high rear-axle cleared tall crops such as cotton and corn.
Albertson hopes to take the kids to the 20th Annual Red Power Round-Up, hosted by Wisconsin's Chapter (4) of the International Harvester Collectors, next July in Madison.
Madison is a fitting place for the event. The Wisconsin Historical Society Archives house the International/McCormick Archives. The Historical Society's largest single collection was created by and for the McCormick and International Harvester companies, and Cyrus McCormick and his family.
The McCormick brand spanned 100 years and two world wars.
Through the history of the largest and perhaps most influential farm equipment manufacturer of the 20th century, images of International Harvester document the history of the agricultural equipment industry, rural life, small towns, architecture, industrial labor, technology, transportation, and advertising. The collection includes hundreds of thousands of images dating from the 1840s through the 1980s.
Cyrus McCormick, Sr., helped stage an earlier agricultural revolution with his famous reaper. Cyrus McCormick Jr.'s McCormick Harvesting Machine Company had a substantial effect on the legacy of reliable and much loved farm equipment.
J.P. Morgan and Company purchased and merged the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and the Deering Harvester Company, along with several a smaller companies on August 12, 1902 to form the International Harvester Company.
International Harvester began building gasoline tractors in 1906, the first company in the small tractor business. In 1908 International Harvester introduced the Titan model sold by Deering dealers and produced at the company's Milwaukee plant. The Mogul line was manufactured at the Chicago plant and sold by McCormick dealers in 1910.
International Harvester fell on hard times during the poor agriculture economy in the mid-1980s and merged its agricultural division with J. I. Case, a Tenneco company in 1985. The last IH tractor bearing the International name rolled off the assembly line on May 14, 1985.