On The Chase Again!!! :)

Dad ran into a friend of his in town this morning, guy farms like 15,000 acres of wheat over in WA. Wanted to know if I would be interested in running some "real tractors" for him this summer....

(ohhhhhhh ya... )

Anyway, he said that he has a Grey Farmall F-12 with a straight steering shaft. Thats all I know. Weren't the first ones grey, then later red? How many were made like this?

Next he says that his neighbor (probably about 10 miles away!) has a Farmall "TA". Said he KNOWS it has a TA, and that it is an M. Says on the hood it only says M-TA, not SM-TA or Super (over) M-TA. We all know that M's didn't have TA's, so I am guessing that there is a communication error somewhere?

I am excited for sure... Would be neat to get that F-12, or the M, or even the job!!!!

Sounds like a great summer job. I can't imagine running a tractor in an air conditioned cab with a radio on. of course the last big truck I drove was a 1957 B61 Mack with a two-stick 9 speed trans. No radio in that either. Yes the early F12s were gray, very early ones had a Waukesha flat head engine. I cultivated corn one summer with one--it was about the slowest way to get rid of weeds that I could imagine, but I never drove a horse either.

Hey Bryce - I was up in your area the other day. Spent the night in Lewiston, Id. Came in from North of Couer d'Alene and then south of Lewiston and back into Montana.

I'm telling you I can't imagine farming those hills around Lewiston and Palouse, Wa. Looked like mountains to me. Wish I would have had some time, I would have hollered at you. It was short notice. Bob

At the farm fair last year they were plowing with a team of fuzzy horses. Big ones! They were letting big guys like me,,give it a try. LET ME TELL YOU!!!!! You very quickly learn how fast and also out of control you can get with a team! I made a couple of passes and plowed pretty even but you are out of breath FAST! You are almost doing a slow run behind those fuzzy butts. Put your cub tractor in second gear and trot along behind it for a mile or two. HE he he. Jeffcat

Brice,
Time to get out from the umberlla of your mother and father and enjoy/; The freedom.
Go for the job and enjoy the wealth of learning you will get in the real world.
Loren, the Acg.

Sounds like a good job. Though not for me, I like the open station tractors with no useless sensory/tattle tale electronics. You can't hear what the machines are doing in a cab, and its good thinking time with out all the other gizmos to distract your mind. I'd run ones with cabs but all the doors/windows would be tied/braced open, or the glass would be removed all together and the other odds and ends shut down. That's so I can listen for problems and get fresh air. NO AC for this guy either(heat would be nice sometimes though).

All IH tractors before '36 were grey if I recall right from what I read someplace.

I had a job like that back in the 1990s when I lived in Wisconsin most fun job I ever had. Boss had about 15000 acres too. Started out in the spring hauling liquid manure and after we had emptied the pits at a couple of his 13 farms, another guy and I would start plowing. I had a JD 4960 with 7 bottom variable width plow. Boss used to buy grease on pallets he wanted every thing checked and greased every day. Plowed from sunup till sundown everyday except sunday All the field workers got sunday and most saturdays off. Someone else would follow with the 4wd articulated and a field finisher and a couple other guys followed with the corn planter or drills. Then we watched the hay grow.When it was ready someone mowed, someone else raked and I chopped it and someone else hauled loads to the barns. All tower silos. Then a short break and it was time to chop corn and combine it. Boss didn't own any combines at that time and he hired a custom operator. I worked for another custom operator and combined other farmers corn. Always wished I had gone on one of those combine runs from Texas to Canada when I was younger. Spent 10 years in Wi. the best years of my life.

Yes. I'm resoring Pop's old Oliver No. 11 riding 1-bottom plow, and I can only imagine how pleased he was to be able to RIDE ALONG!!

(quoted from post at 13:34:49 05/16/15) Dad ran into a friend of his in town this morning, guy farms like 15,000 acres of wheat over in WA. Wanted to know if I would be interested in running some "real tractors" for him this summer....

(ohhhhhhh ya... )

Anyway, he said that he has a Grey Farmall F-12 with a straight steering shaft. Thats all I know. Weren't the first ones grey, then later red? How many were made like this?

Next he says that his neighbor (probably about 10 miles away!) has a Farmall "TA". Said he KNOWS it has a TA, and that it is an M. Says on the hood it only says M-TA, not SM-TA or Super (over) M-TA. We all know that M's didn't have TA's, so I am guessing that there is a communication error somewhere?

I am excited for sure... Would be neat to get that F-12, or the M, or even the job!!!!

Click to expand...

Some one will correct me if I am wrong, but the TA was an option, and not everyone wanted it, but they did want to buy a new M, so I THINK the MTA (not Super) was basically a 1954 Super M without the TA.

When the change in model was made from the Super M to the Super M-TA, all M series tractors were Super M-TA whether or not they came with a TA. If they came with a TA they had the TA wings emblem on them. If they did not come with a TA they did not have that emblem.