1st Diesel's, large and small introduced near you

What were the 1st real portable true Diesel engines in
popular use in your area ? Not thinking of the massive
stationary power units in sawmills, grain mills or municipal
pumping plants. Nor tracked crawler tractors either.
Around here in the 2-10HP portables . The 6HP Lister 6-1
and the 8HP Petter PH-1 or PW-1 . Wheeled tractors were the
JD R

Neighbor had a Super 88 Oliver diesel, later added a Farmall 560. Both new, 1950s.

70 thru 730 and 560 here

The prevalent farm tractor brands here were- AC, JD, IH, and Oliver. The first diesel here- Oliver 77. Which is ironic, because, by the time everyone else was selling diesels in the popular size of the time(approx. 95HP) Oliver sold a bunch of 1850 gas tractors here. I don't recall seeing any 190XT, 4020, or 806 gas tractors here.

First diesel I saw was on a 4020 John Deere in 1967.

First diesels around here (s.w.Pa) was the MD Farmall. Then came the dexta Diesel Ford and the Major. Not popular, but I guess they were made in Pa, was the Sheppard diesels.

70 diesel here, 1954 model.

My uncle had one of the first ones around. A Sheppard. Traded it for an Oliver 88 diesel sometime after they came out with the disc brake models in mid 51.

IH WD-9 was the first in my area

First diesel I was around as a kid was a 500 Case Diesel that my uncles brother had. Pullin 5/16's, nothing sweeter than the sound of that 500!

First ones around here in any quantity were D17s, in the late 50s.

TD6's and TD9's, followed by Case 500's.

First I recall was a HOUGH wheel loader bought by the County Highway Department. It was military surpulus and was painted gray so must have been Navy, They used it to pull a pull type grader. The first farm tractor was a MD that a neighbor borrowed from a dealer to pull a thresher. They complained that it did not have enough power and used an Oliver 88 (gas) and later a W9. Diesels were not well liked here at that time because they were considered to be hard to work on and were hard to start when cold.

First diesel truck was an Autocar. I asked my school bus driver why it smoked and he explained it was a diesel. First diesel car was my Mercedes Benz 190D.

I like diesel tractors but about neutral about diesel pickups and would not have another diesel car.

First diesel powered vehicle I ever rode on was a county snowplow driven by my uncle along with his trusty wingman. Big FWD single wheel on each corner dump with chains and V plow with wings both sides. Winter of 1939-40. Got a ride from our place to my grandmother"s house about 3 miles away plowing big drifts all the way. I"ll never forget it. Little blower fans mounted on the dash to help keep the windows clear. The county had FWD trucks. They got a big discount because they were made here. One Oshkosh truck but that was the wrecker that hauled in the sick and broken FWD trucks. They also had Cat D12 graders from the start because all the town and county roads were gravel and they were used for plowing snow in the winter. First diesel farm tractor I ever saw was a Farmall M, about 1948, plowing heavy land. First diesel farm tractor I ever drove was a new Super MDTA in fall of 1954 pulling a 5 bottom trailer plow in corn stubble. I loved that TA. First diesel engined tractor purchased in our neighborhood was an Oliver Super 88 in 1955. No stationary diesels around us. Sawmill was powered by a Rumley Oil Pull that sat in a shed hardly bigger than the tractor with the belt coming out of a door on the front of the shed. Stack going out through a chimney in the roof. Diesel farm tractors showed up in force in the 60s. Almost everyone had one by the late 60s. Around us, the Ford 5000 was the most popular.

4010 john deere was first

Hi B&D: First diesel in our area (sw-mn) was our own 1941 Farmall MD which was the 6th one sold to the public.. Mounted corn picker and all other implements used in corn country ware also purchased new and that MD did all heavy work on two family farms plus custom work year around for any reason needed.. to pay for the farm. Father was trained as a diesel mechanic in the late 1930's...He knew how good it would run on heavy work.. and it did.. ag

The first diesel around here (Navarre, Ohio) was a McCormick-Deering WD40. I luckily saved it from the scrap heap that the original owner had plans for. Got it put back together and running some40+ yrs ago and now the owners son has it back.

dad bought a 430 CASE diesel in 1966,,everyone else had gasser Fords , jd,allis, IHC ,and olivers, ,,, Pop let everyone try a few rounds on the CASE ,Pop would had been a Great salesman for Case ... everyone was thrilled with the fuel economy andversatile nimbleness of the 430 for any job , within 5 yrs , 10 Case Diesels were in the neighborhood ..

1956...4 cylinder 53 series Detroit Diesel, on
a portable sawmill..amazing power,(Torque ?)and
didn't use much fuel compared to a similar mill
that used tractor belt drive.

Diesel portables never really caught on here unless you take in something like the 1 hole Hatz used on Wacker's (plate compactor).
IN terms of tractors... the Fordson Super Dexta's were probably about the first in this area followed by the Massey 35. Larger stuff.... Brown's 880, 990 and 1200 were common until Ford's and later IH's filled that void.
Gasoline had an awful hold on this place for some reason...
Everything was done with gas on this farm until 1974 and wasn't really eliminated until the early 90's.

Rod