Why did the Fast-Hitch fail?

This message is a reply to an archived post by CentralIL on June 21, 2011 at 06:31:54.
The original subject was "Re: Why did the FastHitch fail?".

It was Henry Ford the second (Hank the Deuce) that launched the 8N cutting Harry Ferguson out of the Ford-Ferguson partnership. Hank the Deuce's grandma is the one who got him put in as head of Ford after Henry died.

Henry Ford himself is said to have favored Harry Bennett as his successor.

When the Brown Ferguson partnership collapsed, David Brown continued to use the basic three point design. Ford may have counted on a similar outcome.

Anyway, Ford ultimately won that battle. They went to live hydraulics on the NAA leaving Massey Ferguson behind.

The story I read was that JD approached IH wanting to buy the right to use the fast hitch on their tractors. IH refused to sell the rights to JD. If the two largest tractor companies both had the fast hitch, it would likely be the standard today.

I agree about the fast hitch,it is a lot more user friendly than a three point and IH fouled up by not sharing their patent. Ford may have won long term, but Ferguson won the lawsuit.

Fast hitch doesn't have draft control
The two point hitch was weak in supporting the back end of the implement, I had to re drill the arms on my 3 bottom plow because it sagged 6 inches past the max adjustment. ( after 60 years)

There are several reason the Fast Hitch died. One is that it's not capable of heavy implements used on bigger tractors. Once the 100 HP tractor was introduced the Fast Hitch would have had to have been larger, to the point of not being feasible. So at that point it was doomed. But other factors contributed too. Other than hooking up an implement a 3 point system out performed it. Also any hitch that had only one source for implements was going to be short lived too as IH, AC and others found out. A lot of farmers had implements and were just getting a new tractor, not going to a larger tractor. Back in that day there wasn't much land available so farms didn't get much bigger. They didn't need a larger tractor and a bigger plow. They just needed or wanted a new tractor. Plus add in that almost all the farmers in the mid 50's could remember the depression. That meant that they were not going to buy a new tractor and all new implements. Basically one brand only hitch systems were a poor idea no matter how easy they were to hook up to. By 1956 JD had the 3 point. So a guy with a new JD could opt for JD implements, MF and Ford too. In 56 a guy with a new IH/Farmall could opt for IH. Guy with a new AC with the Snap Coupler could opt for AC. So IH and AC both lost implement sales to guys with other brands. Real bad idea!

Rick

The fast hitch, like AC's Snap Coupler and Case's Eagle Hitch, were short term efforts to get around paying 3 point hitch royalties to Ferguson. As soon as Ferguson's patent expired in the 1960's, all three companies adopted the 3 point hitch and eventually dropped their proprietary hitches.

If IH had let John Deere use the fasthitch, it still might be popular today.....How many big tractors now use a quick hitch adapter on their 3 point hitches? And how many different classifications are there today of 3 points? The fasthitch didn't fail.....the tractors using it failed...not totally, but bad enough to make John Deere the leader using 3 point hitches and making it the universal standard.

(quoted from post at 00:17:10 10/25/16) Basically one brand only hitch systems were a poor idea no matter how easy they were to hook up to.

Rick

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At one time the Ford 3 pt was an orphan too! What I think happened was that Ford had the budget and dealership coverage to undersell and out advertise the competition. The N series was nothing special then or now compared to the tractors of the day. But they were cheap, parts were available everywhere there was Ford dealer, implements were cheap and the whole program was subsidized by Ford Motor Co. That made a huge difference in getting the Ford 3 pt out into the market and accepted as the standard.

(quoted from post at 19:08:05 10/24/16) This message is a reply to an archived post by CentralIL on June 21, 2011 at 06:31:54.
The original subject was "Re: Why did the FastHitch fail?".

It was Henry Ford the second (Hank the Deuce) that launched the 8N cutting Harry Ferguson out of the Ford-Ferguson partnership. Hank the Deuce's grandma is the one who got him put in as head of Ford after Henry died.

Henry Ford himself is said to have favored Harry Bennett as his successor.

When the Brown Ferguson partnership collapsed, David Brown continued to use the basic three point design. Ford may have counted on a similar outcome.

Anyway, Ford ultimately won that battle. They went to live hydraulics on the NAA leaving Massey Ferguson behind.

Click to expand...

Actually that was part of the settlement that Ford had to pay Ferguson. Ford had to pay 9.75 million dollars and they could no longer use a pto driven hydraulic pump. They also could not ever use the crank style cross shaft on a plow either. There was some other things that they were not allowed to use anymore after the settlement.

(quoted from post at 09:18:02 10/25/16) If IH had let John Deere use the fasthitch, it still might be popular today.....How many big tractors now use a quick hitch adapter on their 3 point hitches? And how many different classifications are there today of 3 points? The fasthitch didn't fail.....the tractors using it failed...not totally, but bad enough to make John Deere the leader using 3 point hitches and making it the universal standard.

Click to expand...

From other reading I've done the 3 point and where it mounted put added pressure on the ground allowing it to plow more acres a day than the Farmall F-30. I really wish I had saved the link. It compared the 9N with the F30.

AS far as size goes to my understanding it was pushing the limits on the 806 tractors. When the 1206 came out at 112 HP the current hitch wasn't large enough and enlarged you lost all ground clearance with it. So the Fast Hitch died.

When we move from the burbs in NJ to west MN I worked and attended church with area farmers who mostly owned Farmalls at the time. A bunch had tractors with the fast hitch on them and absolutely no fast hitch implements. Big reason they stated was they were not going to be force into buying just IH implements. As far as the 560 debacle IH in fact handled pretty well and still sold a lot of tractors after that. Yea it did put Deere in the sales lead but it didn't kill Farmall. Neither did the Fast Hitch. IH lasted 25 years past the 560 and close to 20 after the Fast Hitch.

Rick