Tractor models designed for acres

I was wondering if anyone knows or maybe has sales info that says what the different tractor models were designed to farm, as far as acreage for tractors from the 1920 through the 1960's. Example: IH WD-40 was designed for farmers farming ---- acres.

Just be curious to see what and how much each was intended for. Can be any make or model.

Thanks

Theres a really big range to that number depending where you are. Some areas have a much longer window between weather and cropping systems,
and also the intensivity of cultivation for each crop. One tractor can plant a lot of wheat, takes more tractor hours to plant vegetables.

Here on the northern plains, you might be planting wheat, corn and soybeans as fast as you can get them in the ground in a late year. Where down
south, wheat is planted in the fall, corn early spring, and some other crops later on.

A few years ago, I was working for a farmer in central ND. Spring was late, and by the time we got into the fields it was time to go! I ran one seeding rig
on wheat then soybeans. The boss ran another on corn then pinto beans. Put in 4000 acres in less than 2 weeks. 2 tractors.

I read once where the H was for 80 acre farmers. The M was for 160 acre(and bigger) farmers.

I read some where in IHC Literature,if you had 160 acres you could buy a H, and 240 or more you could buy a M, now if there was more to the story, sure could of been, it was like IHC was going to finance the tractor, LOL

I had always thought the tractors were more
designed for the type of farming operation than
simply the number of acres. Row crop tractors for
areas that grew corn and beans that would need to
be cultivated during growing. Large standard tread
tractors were better suited to the areas growing
wheat and other grain crops. Wheat farmers had no
use for a narrow front tractors

As the other poster alluded to what kind of farming operation? How much pasture and how much hay? Fall Crops? Spring planting? An H around here planting 80 acres in the spring will be hard pressed if a late wet spring. No fall plowing back then around here to help get a jump on spring.

They were promoted as how many horses they replaced in
the early years. I've seen adds for the case Vac as a
replacement for a team of horses, the sc for two teams and
the dc for 8 or more horses. Don't remember where I saw that
add tho.

I think that tractor builders were a bit optimistic in their assessments as to how much work per hour or day that a tractor would perform. On the home farm a Farmall
M would have its hands full with a 2 X 14 plow. Go a couple roads over or 3 miles as the crow flies and that same M would just about pull 4 X 14's. As a matter of fact
a farmer over there back in the day pulled 5 X 16 with a 656 gas. Not too far away another farmer was pulling 6 X 16 with a 4020 diesel. It's all in the soil when it came
to tillage.

> IH WD-40

That would sure be a special built tractor, wonder if it is red or yellow?


The early steam engines were big power plants. They got adapted to somewhat mobile tillage use, but only in wide open big areas.

The gas tractors were much more mobile and adaptable, and were generally designed to replace a team of horses. They pulled the equipment at hand, the horse
equipment. 15-25hp worked well for that.

Farms were always family run, so maybe had 3 teams, maybe lot more on some farms run by 2-3 brothers, their sons, and the old man helping some yet.

A bigger tractor could replace 2 teams, if you bought the bigger equipment to go with it. Kinda had to, as the old man retired, and a couple of the sons got off the farm.
Needed that bigger plow and bigger tractor to keep up with the work.

Then WWII came along and all the manufacturing plants were making tanks and airplanes, had to cobble along with the junk you had and only one son left on the farm
rest were off fighting.

War was over, the soms didnt come back for long, but the manufacturing plants were tooled up to make much bigger stuff, buy one bigger tractor and equipment and
you could run the three farms the family used to run. Had to.

The strange grain shortage of the 70s put huge dollars in your pockets, spend it on bigger equipment and farm more reinvest. Bigger equipment and bigger tractors
were needed in a hurry, lot of backyard companies started making a few dozen or 100 big tractors. Versitle, Steiger, Bud, etc. JD and IHC hadnt kept up with the
expansion demand and werent retooling quickly enough.

then the big crash of the 80s when you couldnt give grain away, land went back down 1/3 of its value, farms were bankrupt and banks consolidated the foreclosed on
land into a few super farms, they needed bigger equipment but not many machines, as only a few farms survived with bank backing.

The ag dealers and companies fell on as hard times as the farmers, they couldnt ramp up development of new bigger stuff to meet demand, while sitting on expensive
smaller equipment inventory.

20 years ago the get giant and get computerized controls came along, a little utility tractor is a 280hp front wheel assist, planter tractor is a 450-600 tractor now.

Only need a few made per year, as these machines can cover 4000 acres per farmer, instead of the 40 acres of those old first 23hp tractors.

Paul

Years ago I bought a 5 bottom 16 inch F145 plow that was sold new with a 3020 powershift. I knew that plow was not broke up. On my farm here I am not sure I even want a 4 bottom on a 3020. Tom

(quoted from post at 08:21:35 03/05/21) They were promoted as how many horses they replaced in
the early years. I've seen adds for the case Vac as a
replacement for a team of horses, the sc for two teams and
the dc for 8 or more horses. Don't remember where I saw that
add tho.

Click to expand...

That is exactly right. The tractor dealers talked horses because that is what the farmers knew.My grandad got his first tractor in 1945 and the dealer took his team of horses as part of the deal. Worked that way for both parties.The horses were gone down the road so you had to use the tractor.

There are farmers that are quite tight-lipped about the number of acres they farm.

For that reason, I doubt any tractors were advertised on how much they could cover. Farmers knew the answer without asking, they watched their neighbors and learned.

(quoted from post at 07:55:15 03/05/21) I read once where the H was for 80 acre farmers. The M was for 160 acre(and bigger) farmers.

Click to expand...

The H was targeted for farms of 40 acres, and the M for 80 acres.

the WD40 was the first diesel tractor to come out in north america, in 1935. it was designed for the large farms and was close to fifty
h.p. on the belt. it had a 461 cid. engine. the early ones were grey then in 1937 changed to red. it is a stronger tractor than the wd9
also.

Don't know what they were designed for, but in the 1950s dad farmed 165 acres with a C case and a B Farmall. I, on the other hand, have 5 acres I "farm" with a John Deere 4020, 620, and G.

The neighbors years ago pulled 3 X 16's with their 3020 power shift. It did not play with it either.

Like what was said the acre figure is regional. Back in those days we grew more hay and oats and less row crops so the planting window was spread out more. Here in northwest Iowa a tractor like an H Farmall, B Deere, SC Case was seen on an 80 and tended to be the only tractor. The M Farmall, A Deere, DC Case were seen on 160-240 acres and were helped out with a smaller tractor that pulled the end gate seeder, the planter, mowed and raked hay. The bigger tractor wasn't freed up to do lighter summer jobs until row crop cultivating season was over in mid-summer. Farmers who farmed a half section had a Minnie U, G Deere, Oliver 88 size tractor with a smaller tractor pulling the planter while the big dog pulled the disk and spring tooth harrow. There were a couple of 640 acre farms in my neighborhood which was really big for my area. These farms might have had a W9 International, 830 Deere, LA Case but more likely had hired men and multiple big row crop tractors.

You bought what you could afford and what was available

In Southeast MN we were dairy, hog, etc. so we had row crop tractors and dad had 1/4 of the 240 in pastures, everything else was
split into a 5 year rotation with two hay one corn and then a oats/cover crop. He was buying the largest row crops at the time and
was satisficed with a 560 for most of his work but had a 400-460-240-230. Keep in mind gas was cheap then, way less that a dollar.
I think the slowest operations was grain harvest and corn picking.76 pull type and a 2ME on the 400.Dad did not buy a Diesel until
73 and at that point was raising more row crops of the split until about 80 when I came back to farm.
The FIL and his two brothers used W9 and L Case as large tractors but they were corn beans on flat ground (not as much livestock)
near Stewartville MN. I believe they each had 240 a piece.
Difference in how each farmed then.

Ah. Ive seen 3-4 collector wheat land type tractors, but up here tractors were all row crop, never saw those models or familiar with them. Regional thing.

Paul

Paul, there were a couple around here. Neighbor across the road had a 55 Massy Harris and neighbor couple miles away had 500 Case. Oh and a mile down the road one had a 900 Case.

One thing to remember is farmers had big families back in the day. When Pa bought this 260 acre farm in 1960 he had 6 kids at home and total tractor hp. of 100. He was still farming when he died at age 72.
He was running 120 acres with no kids at home and total tractor hp. of 225. So you can see the kids is what made the difference. Plus his age would be a factor.
I am running 400 acres with no kids at home and 275 tractor hp. I'm 66 yrs. old.
One of you mathematicians should be able to come up with a formula--no. of kids at home + age of farmer + tractor hp. = no. of acres farmed...or something like that.

Thought more about it and remembered 2-830 JD's. One was my uncle.

In the ad for the W9 or WD9 they were saying to cover 15-20 acres a day. Now if you don't cover about that or more per hour you're not doing anything. We figure about that with the disc on the Stieger.

In my childhood ( the 60s and 70s ) . Dad farmed 580 acres. Half was devoted to 200 beef cattle and grass. He had a Massey 1130 diesel and a 4020 diesel . Plus a few smaller tractors for auger work and haying

Somewhere around here I have an ancient book about farming and farm machinery. I remember reading in that book that they recommended a tractor that would pull a one bottom plow for 40 acres of farmland. This book was written for the man who was still farming with a team and was in the field before sunup and thought nothing of finishing the evening chores with a kerosene lantern in hand.

University of Illinois ag dept used to have book devoted to tractor and machine sizing per farming acres.
It was based on getting crops planted in 6 weeks and harvested in 6 weeks. When first farming I found it
very close to my needs.