tractor designs

1968 403

Member
I was reading the below posts about Magnum tractors and I have a question. Why was the IH rearend and transmission design chosen? Why wasn"t the Case tranny and rearend chosen for the new tractor?
 
The new IH tranny was a continuous progression Power Shift with no range gears to shift, like the Case Range Power Shift, plus it had clutchless reversing.
Loren
 
When I bought my 8920 back when, I was told by the dealer to NOT use the clutch whenever possible. Said it can sense the load itself better than any man can feather the clutch, even when shifting from forward to reverse. Still going strong after 16 years.
 
Just because IH failed and Case didn't has no bearing on weather a design from one or the other was better. IH made plenty of mistakes which lead to it's failure. Case on the other hand at the time seems to have been well run. Run good enough that a better design, even from another shop was chosen as the one to use once they owned the rights to it.

Rick
 
CAS DID FAIL. nobody seems to remember that DETAIL. tenneco merged the 2 tractor companies together. the case transmission and rearend were not nearly as reliable what was put in the magnum. or the front axle for that matter.
 
CASE DID FAIL. nobody seems to remember that detail. tenneco merged the 2 tractor companies together. the case transmission and rearend were not nearly as reliable as what was put in the magnum. or the front axle for that matter.
 
No Body here disputes the quality of the Magnum Tranny which IH developed. As far as front ends, the "boxed beam 2wd front axle is a direct decendent of the 94 series. MFDs were bough from mfgs. overseas, like ZF and Corraro. It was cheaper for Case to buy the bankrupt IH Co. than to retool for their planned upgraded all CDC powered tractors.
The Magnum was the combination of the best of both companies.
Loren
 
Case didn't fail? I think they did they just kept downsizing to where they had just a few tractors they were making not a full line company like deere and ih or even ac that was also a larger company then case, and yes teneco did merge the 2 companys.
 
I was no longer employed at a dealership when the merger occurred so I do not know what rumors or facts were circulating at that time. There was not CASE failure, only a surprised industry to hear CASE co. BOUGHT IH. The rest of the industry applauded the move because of the excess manufacturing facilities in the US a that time. If memory serves me correctly IH Ag. was bought for a fire sale price of 400 million. Getting back to the orringal question I'm sure management wanted the most bang for the buck and that happened to be the IH design tranny, I think history has shown they made the right choose on the tranny and engine. Rod.
 
If you look at what the 2 companies had on their R&D boards at the time, IH was much closer to production than CASE.

CASE was working on a CDC engined, 24 speed powershift (same as the 94 series)transmission but with an all new 2-door cab. IH had the 18 speed powershift with 1-door cab already built and was field testing it.

There is a a new book due out in July of 2013 that covers this subject well. I suggest anyone interested, buy a copy of it to know more.
 
Well it's still CASE IH, in that order. A rather tough pill for some people to swallow! You red guys'd do anything to reverse that order. Sorry.

Glenn
 
(quoted from post at 08:01:08 02/25/13) Well it's still CASE IH, in that order. A rather tough pill for some people to swallow! You red guys'd do anything to reverse that order. Sorry.

Glenn


LOL now that's funny. I own a M and a 1206. Don't own any Case stuff. The CaseIH order never bothered me.

Rick
 
Not to keep beating a dead horse here, but Tennaco bacame majority owner of Case in I believe 1967 and in 1970, took over the reins. Before that time period I think a bank or group of banks had it in receivership or something like that. IH was selling and pooling resourses for many years before Tenaco bought them. It sold the mines, steel mills, construction division, twine mfg facilities. Yes, they were going down hill. I have a block in the M I happen to own that was pretty much a fire sale deal when IH closed their foundry that was making those older engine replacement parts, in France I think. Lot of history on both side of isle.
 
Case was owned by Kerne Co. Land Company, a California base company that was invested heavily in produce farming. They kept Case a float, but were not big enough to support a Lot of R&D, Tennico swallowed them up and invested heavily in Case R&D and the birth of the 70 series tractors, and forward through time adding IH, untill Fiat took over. There was solid financial support from Tennico throughout this period.
Loren
 
Tenneco put alot of $$$ in CASE to get it up to speed in the market. However CASE also shed alot of $$$ loosing lines, when they dropped everything except tractors. Thus going from a full line manufacture to a 1 line.

When you only have 1 line to market and R&D, your costs plummet dramatically.(your income does too!)

If IH, Ford or Allis-Chalmers had done the same in the 1970's, might this have changed thier future???
 
That sounds like it will be real interesting reading and will maybe open some eyes good or bad however you look at it, by chance do you know the name of the book I have heard about it but thats it Thanks Kevin.
 
Ken,

When the book is published or is available for pre-order, please post the books name and ISBN number. It sounds like an interesting read.

Is the author a name we would recognize?
 
I forgot to mention the David Brown aquisition,in 1972, and also the later Steiger aquisition. Case had lots of solid financial backing from Tennico.
Loren
 
sorry Kevin but the new ones are either blue or red same tractor other than the color, call a dealer they will tell you the same thing this comes right from the one I deal with
 
Yes CNT I agree they are either color but the machinery is most all red and after going through the racine plant told by our guide it is about 90% red to 10% blue, coming off that line, have you had a chance to go through the remodeled plant pretty neat but a hole lot of walking but I can use that too, and I really do respect your opinion most always some of the others not so much.
 
Since Fiat owns both the axial flow and the twin rotor, when will the bean counters decide that they need to kill one of them? That's what happens when the accountants get to call the shots.

I know that the axial flow will win that battle, but the TR is a good design also. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

Yes Tenneco was allowing Case to function, but they should have build Case up by buying other Ag related companies and incorporating the lines into their own. Most successful companies buy out others and add their engineering to their portfolio, not design them all.. JD is a company that does that quite well even though many will disagree.
 

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