In the F12 discussion mention was made as to why the US lagged behind Europe on this feature. Some manufacturers such as Oliver had this feature as an option in the early 1960's. If MFWD were so important then a company such as Oliver would have had a much larger share of the tractor market during the 1960's. What I remember locally is quite a number of frugal farmers who had made do without MFWD when Oliver made it available on the 4 digits. There were as many Ford 8000 tractors sold around us as there were 4020's because the 8000 had a very low selling price. I was not an adult back then to be in the know but I remember talk that an 8000 could be bought for nearly a 1000 dollars less than a 4020. If a guy really wanted a 90 plus hp tractor with MFWD how could he look past an 1850 Oliver? Maybe not as nice as a 4020 but still quite a tractor and IMO one of the top three US tractors of the mid-1960's. Discuss.
- Thread starter NY 986
- Start date
Most of the early mfwds weren't that maneuverable to make them good with a loader. A 100 hp tractor can be worked well with duals. When everybody moved to 175+hp tractors duals weren't enough anymore and mfwd became popular in North America. Duals were never used that much in Europe, hence mfwd catching on much faster.
I have always thought, the reason the front assist caught on faster in Europe was purely economic. They had higher subsidies than us. In the last few years of good prices, almost everyone has up-graded their farm machinery, here in Il. Another thing we have two tractors with fwa. They have spur-gears instead of U-joints. Gain
clearance and will turn as short as two wheel drive.
clearance and will turn as short as two wheel drive.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
Wasn't Minneapolis the first to offer front assist? I might be wrong on that. A neighbor of mine had an Oliver utility front assist with a loader. Maybe a 550? Sweet little machine. I was jealous of him when I saw it.
Tx Jim
Well-known Member
- Location
- Coyote Flats, Texas
I remember attending a JD branch sales meeting in Laredo,Tx in '78 where JD introduced utility models with MFWD and those in attendance got the opportunity to drive the MFWD tractors pulling plows. But dealership I worked for never sold a utility MFWD before I left it in '87.
Kent Petersen
Well-known Member
if you have been to Europe you would that there roads thur town are very narrow and you could not get a standard us made tractor with duals thru town or down there roads. That is why they us front 3 point hitch try to do as much as they can on each pass
MM may well have been the first with MFWD in the US. I was just giving my local perspective which part of that was noting Oliver who had a few strong dealers in the area. While MM had dealers here their market share lagged behind everyone else besides MF. MM's best days at least here were the 1940's and 1950's. The same with Ferguson and later MF. The MF dealers in vineyard and orchard areas did better later. The same with Ford. At one point Wayne County had three Ford dealers.
I still think a lot of farmers back decades ago were simply not willing to spend the money on MFWD.
I still think a lot of farmers back decades ago were simply not willing to spend the money on MFWD.
Ken Macfarlane
Well-known Member
Eastern north america with its heavy soil and mud there are more MFWD's and they seem to have caught on much earlier out of need. Lot of 70's tractors with loader and mfwd here. No so quick on the big row crop machines because they stayed in the shed when it was muddy.
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