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1949 tractors just for fun, which is your favorite

S

swindave

Member
just for fun, if it was 1949 and you were buying a new tractor,
which one would you buy and why?
farmall m, case dc, oliver 88, john deere A ,im not sure which ac, ford or mm
models were made that year?
hopefully just some good tractor talk !
 
If I wanted to farm with it, a JD A.
I grew up on a 49 A and thought that thing was super strong with it's lugging ability.
Richard in NW SC
 
Cotton was king around here in 49 and Farmall was dominant because we had an IH dealership in our tiny town. More H models than any other but bigger farms had M models with 4 row equipment. Ya had to go 10 miles to buy a JD, Oliver, AC or Ford. I would have bought an M Farmall, excellent tractor at a fair price.
 
Good question. My family was 100% JD, but a year later, my grandfather bought a new 1950 AC WD. My cousin still has it!

In the size group you reference, it may have been a challenge here to leave the dependability of the A, but I would lean toward the M.
 
If it was a gift, I would have taken the Oliver. I assume it was higher priced than the M. The M is a working tractor and the Oliver is one to love. I would not have considered the ford
 
This one is a 1948 DC with Duncan loader installed when purchased new one fine tractor for the day, I am second owner of it,, a Oliver 88 would have worked also easy enough,, AC made some great engines,, and the offing then was a good work horse but never was able myself to like getting off and on and the pedals set at different "heights" never ran a JD A but my Dad had a JD 60 and a 420,, the 60 was a decent enough work horse as well, lugged well, but not something I would have bought for other personal reasons,, but it worked well for raking but we should have kept the tri front for that job as the wide one was not a super short turner,, the little 420 was a handy little guy,, it was around for 25 years or more not super fun getting off and on but nice gearing and hyd I did not put many hours on it like the 60, a Ford of that era no way would I have bought,, the Farmall M was also a good tractor,, one of IH's top shelf I think,, owned a H with a Farmhand on it worked ok for that but was a bit short on power,, I would not buy either new, that is my late Father in the seat of the 60 So Happy Fathers Day to him and everyone here the pics wewre taken the year i painted both for him and that was the Last time I ever bought cheap paint,, the 420 was not correct
cvphoto48020.jpg


cvphoto48021.jpg
 
Oliver 88 and grandpa bought an 88 that is still here in 1951. Hard to beat live PTO and live hydraulics. We have a gas 88 but probably would have bought a diesel. If not the Oliver then the Farmall M of which we have that was bought new by grandpa. Actually, both of my grandfathers owned new M's. The history is a bit more cloudy on mom's father as he passed away over 50 years ago and nobody had the interest in what he did and when. Lots of A's and WD's back in the day around this area. MH and MM had their followers but never saw many Cases.
 
The same '49 Farmall H I just got off of a minute ago before plopping my butt in this here chair.... to enjoy the cool air. If it lasted this long, it must be a good tractor. So, yeah I woulda bought one. Lol!

Ok, back to work.

Mike
 
well I still own a 49 WD. My first tractor of my own, I got it as pay when I was 13. I hate working on AC's but that wd has a spot in my life..
Ive run olivers and they where way ahead of there time with live hydraulics and PTO..
But growing up with fords, I have to say if I was limited to 1 tractor back then, it would of probably been an 8N especially if it had the sherman in it. I remember an 8n with sherman pulling a GEHL FH82 chopper.. it looked like an ant trying to pull the whole loaf of bread but it got it done..
 
My dad bought a 1949 DC that I still have although it's not running at the present time. I also have a '49 S that I purchased about 15 years ago.
 
Thats a tough one. I grew up on a 51 A and a 630. The 630 is too new for this discussion so I will stick with the A. Our neighborhood was heavily populated with two bangers so that is all I knew growing up. Today I have worked on and driven about all of the main brand tractors from that era so my narrow mindedness has pretty much gone away when it comes to brand preference. So here it is; for heavy field work I prefer the A, the M. Third place is the DC. All three can hang in there in the tough spots and were fairly decent fuel economy wise. For around the yard, the 88 hands down. It steers easier, is more nimble, is easy to get on and off and its real snappy. I have driven a Massey 44 one time in a parade and it seemed like a decent driving tractor. So there it is!
 
I’m a little partial of course, but I can’t imagine it’s 49 and a brand new, good looking, 6 cylinder 88 showing up. Man that’d be awesome. Second is a farmall H, all around great machine and one of my favorites.
 
My dad had a 48 Case V and traded it in 50 on a Case VA. I am guessing probably the 49 Case VA was probably about the same tractor. Anyway, I sure did like the versatility that little Case tractor offered a farmer during the year in question. Comfortable flat operators platform, easy to get on and off, three point hitch, belt pulley and pto. I have owned several IH tractors of the same period, and none could compare with the little Case VA.
 
When we were kids, we loved going to visit neighbors and checking out their tractors. Big variety. Our dad had bought a new 1947 Massey 44-6, Wheatland style, so we were loyal supporters. Before that, he was still using a Case Cross-mount, but that's not in my memory at all. Uncle Ben had just returned from Air Force and started farming with a little Farmall A. Uncle John had a JD BR. Uncle Harold had a JD A. Billy's dad had a Fordson Major, Lloyd and Leslie's dad had a Case SC. Donny's dad had an Oliver 88 plow tractor with cut-off spoked wheels. Neighbor to South had JD D and JD R. Neighbor Benny to West had MM Model U. But what excited us was his partner brother, Bill, not only had a Ford 8N, but also a CJ2 Jeep! An old friend had a W4 IHC. The big-time farmer, amongst others, had an Allis Chalmers HD5. That was very special to us kids. Don't remember any others. However, most farmers still used horses for most light work. I always missed them, and at one time got into Arabs. My brother rode a pinto to country school. Dropped them after going away to the city.
 
The Miller Bros put on our plowing bee every year, on their land, they got a 420 and a 430, both look very nice,they pull trailers give rides to the kids etc, but there is some small difference !!
 
If I was truck farming then as I did in the mid 50's I would have bought my 1949 Earthmaster. Nice small one row outfit with live hydraulics.
 
I can't think of a bad tractor that was commonly available in 1949. They were all good tractors. With our heavy land, steep barn hills, heavy loads, etc, we would not have considered a Ford 8N. However, my uncle, on his level, sandy loam seemed to get along fine with the Fords of that day. They were great little tractors with emphasis on "little". We called them "garden tractors" before there was such a thing. Next door neighbor bought a 1949 John Deere A, gas burner. Needed more power. We bought a 1949 WD Allis Chalmers. Already had a 1936 WC which was a good tractor and my dad had become good friends with the dealer. We had a lot of John Deeres in the neighborhood mainly because of financing (the banks were run by scoundrels, still are) but also because they were quality products. Farmalls were around but not many because the nearest dealer was less than honorable. Same with Minneapolis Moline. Massey Harris was a favorite because the dealer was popular and would cut you a deal that was nothing less than spectacular. He was also a Chrysler dealer with all the lines (Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler) but could get you a brand new Cadillac cheaper than any Cadillac dealer. Oliver was too far away but there were a few around. Of all the tractors I can think of, I think we would have been best served, at that time, with an Oliver. Powerful, smooth running, comfortable, dependable, affordable
what else is there? Hard to put the cultivator on and off though. Something Allis Chalmers perfected early on and John Deere, with their quick tach, followed.
 
BRUCE: I had a Case V, and my friend had a VA. The V standards were ground-hugging little tractors. Although they look like they are the same (or almost the same) tractor, they were quite different. As a matter of fact, very few parts from either tractor fit the other. One part that does fit is the shaft between the clutch and the transmission, I know that because I scrounged a VA one from my friend and it fit my V perfectly. I think there were about ten times as many VA's made as V's.
 
If you wanted pull power for heavy work I would have bought a D-4 cat diesel. Best 40 horse ever. Grandpa had one I spent most of my younger years with plowing and tillage fitting ground with. For putter work like planting and fixing fence the Ih H easy to get on and off from with no fenders. Would push a 4row cultivator pull drill and 4 row planter back in the day.
The D-4 would pull 4-16's with not trouble and later 6-16's at the same speed or a gear slower. Could plow as many acres per day as with my 806 pulling the same plow. We still have the D-4 and the H.
 
Interesting post. "Favorite" obviously sometimes results in biases (often family biases) but that's OK, favorite is favorite. Other similar questions might be things like: 1)dependability 2)operator comfort 3) parts availability 4) owner repairability 5) power 6) advanced features, 7) fuel economy, and so on.
 
One thing I question is the Oliver 88 with cut off spoke wheels. As far as I know all makes of tractors by that time were only avaible on rubber. I question if it was an Oliver 80 and not an 88 to have had those cutoff spoke wheels as the 88 replaced the 80. And if they were avaible as steel why would anybody pay extra to get a non standard wheel just to have it cut off to have rubber put on. Now the 80 did come with steel and would have been around long enough for him to decide rubber was the way to go over the steel that would have been standard on a lot of 80 tractors.
 
Remember the Ford was about the size or closer to the Farmall C and the Oliver 60 or 66 so that would explain why you would not have considered a Ford. I wonder if Ford would have made the 900 series then if you might have considered one as that was close in size to the farmall M or Oliver
 
I know IHC made cotton harvestors about that time, not sure about JD as I line in northern part of Ohio. So that could have been a dission factor. Here JD was the most popular acording to number od dealers with IHC following. AC was third in dealers but was the low priced tractor that is why so many were sold with all other makes laging behind in dealers. But AC tid not sell because of quality as IHC and JD did. Case was long gone when I first learned where there had been Case dealers now closed.
 
I think he was looking for an answer, not an analysis of the question. Anyway, I'd take the 88 hands down. Anyone who didn't want a six cylinder back then or now may very possibly be considered a fool, unless they were/are just a smaller farmer.
 
A guy never knows Buckeye, maybe he will see my reply and comment on it. If he doesn't I'll assume I didn't ruffle his feathers like I did yours but that's fine, it's always nice to know someone is on posting patrol.
 
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