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Got me thinkin-why do we like a certain color

B

Brokenwrench

Member
The deere post below got me wondering why we are loyal to cartain brands of tractors.

There are 2 nice dairy operations north of me, owned by the same family (cousins). One is completely red and one is completely green. They are both great farmers who do a good job. I was talking to one and kidding him if there was some sort of family fued in the past that caused them to have 2 different brands of tractors. What he told me was interesting. Back in the late 40"s early 50"s the 2 sons were starting out farming and their dad (the current farmers grandpa) bought them each a new john deere B. Only one showed up at the dealership, so he walked across the street and bought a new farmall H. He already was having the B brought to one farm so he had the H brought to the other.

Thats how it all started, so 60 years and 2 generations later it still holds true.

Just wondering how many of you have the same generational history with your tractors?

Also, how many have gotten their first tractor and stuck with that color through the years?
 
Dad had 3 different colors on the farm. I'm pretty much one for value, like what gets the job done.

My wife likes the color blue, so I see a lot of blue tractors have showed up in the last decade here....

I can't afford to get into the JD colors; once you are in you can trade off the high priced paint for more high priced paint, and then you are set, but it's difficult to get in that cycle.

Red has a pretty good following around here, & I think they are good machines. Just when I was looking & had a few bucks, some nice blue would be available, and nothing Red was in sight.

So, there I am. Rainbow colors, with a little more blue than other. Got an Ollie, Two IHC, and 4 Ford/NH.

Both sides of my family were very heavily into Oliver, one still has a collection of 27 or so of them. White was apretty good follow up, lots of them in the family. But, nothing much left to be loyal to there any more. Perhaps I'd be a Drab Green fan if they had manged to survive the 1980's.....

No one has Massey areound here, dealer network never got to this area.

Case was popular back in the day, but faded as they went under. Were a few around until maybe 5 years ago or so, now they are mostly running Red of course.

--->Paul
 
One grandpa and uncle has and had Deere tractors and now combines (I took the old Massey 35 SP).

The other had Allis (WC), Deere (520 & 4020) and an International M at the time of the farm sale.

Between my dad and myself we are color blind.

Allis: B (my first) & WC
International: TD-6 & W-30
John Deere: B, LUC, & 520
Massey: 35 SP combine
Ford: 8N (x2)
Fairbanks Morse Z stationary light plant
Numerous antique implements of various brands (P&0, Deere, Dearborn, IH, others)

If it is old and used in farming I am interested in having an example of it (affording them is a separate matter)
 
I think you hit the nail on the head.If your father had one kind you probably will have the same.Stands to reason because as you growup you learn that tractor, it's good and it's bad.No different than a truck(gmc,ford,dodge)My dad had all makes of tractors(fordson, MF ,Case ,david brown,ford, cockshutt)and trucks,cars.I would never take sides that one is better than the other.I have had all diferrent makes as well.

As the saying goes"like father like son"

My boys will probably not have a preference either,unless they marry a girl set in her ways.
 
I was raise on a Ford,My dad always wanted an IH,I started farming with JD.After the sale in '84 I started over with a 706(I still own it),and have stayed with IH.Its really nice to have every thing matchup.
 
My dad and uncle had both throught the years as do I now. My uncle swore that ih had better hydrolics than jd and jd stole all of ih's good ideas. My dad thought that jd stole them and improved them but when it came down to it both companies had good tractors and bad through the years.
 
Between my late father and I, we've had Fordson, Case, Oliver, Massey Harris, Allis Chalmers, and Farmall, often two or more of each. My mother had three bachelor brothers to whom it was unthinkable to own anything but John Deere. For that reason, my father refused to own anything John Deere.

I've never really been brand loyal, whatever does the job works for me.

My father was a different story. While he had various makes of tractors and machinery, he was basically a Ford freak. Be it tractor, machinery, truck, car, etc, it could be the biggest piece of junk in the county, but to him if it said "Ford" on it, there couldn't possibly be anything wrong with it.
 
lots of reasons some we'll never know,but i think some of it boils down to old men lol my grandad had red tractors, and would not have a jd on the farm with him, so i grew up on red tractors, the neighbor had john deeres, they both gave each other no end of ribbing over the 2 brands, but i never really knew what was behind it, my uncle [ grandpas son so he had red tractors as a kid too] is a die hard allis chalmers man and wouldn't have anything but when he took over the farm, [ id like to have been around when that first allis tractor came in the lane and heard what my grandpa had to say], but me, well if its old, american made, i like em all, and now i got [gulp] a red tractor and a green one on the place with me
 
I grew up on a mostly IH farm..we did use JD plows and corn planters though. This was in the 1940's and 1950's. I was a staunch supporter of the International Harvester Co. and stood by them until they finally mis-managed the company so bad they had to sell off the Ag division. After that I got into John Deere's and learned a lot about that company that made a John Deere believer out of me. If I was a young man starting out farming these days I wouldn't "fool around" with any of the foreign owned and "shaky outfits" i.e.,Agco, CNH, and misc, shortliners in the farm machinery business....I'd try to get as much JD equipment as I could afford, hoping to eventually have all John Deere equipment on my farm. If you're gonna be the best, you have to run with the best.....
 
Color what is that I thought all old tractors where some sort of rust red and had 3 or 4 wheels and tires and worked in the fields. Ya I own probably at least one of all the common color tractors and just hauled in 4 in the last 2 days so again I have a fall project or should I say 3 fall projects since I know the one is only a parts machine which is a shame since it is a MF85 diesel
 
As a younger farmer trying to get started. I see myself and other younger farmers becoming less brand loyal and more bottom line focused. My Dad's generation may have been brand loyal no matter what the price but today we are looking for value. Which brand will give us a quality product for the best price? We don't tend to blindly settle on one color and willing pay the premium to be that specific.
 
I am a collector of IHC tractors. For the most part the tractors I have have found me. At 15 I bought my first tractor a Farmall M S/N 99090 and I was hooked. Later I found out that a Farmall F-14 was the first tractor on this farm. Then I found out my Great Great Grandpa had a threshing machine and steam engine that operated all around the area. Going thru pictures I found a JD standard of some sort that was on the farm. The only problem I have with JD is some of the collectors themselves. Personally I would only care to have a Spoker D or a Lindeman crawler. Beyond that JD means nothing to me.
 
Like everybody else said, it's either what your father had or what you are familiar with. Obviously if any of them were terrible machines, they would not still be around! The green machines seem to be universally popular but man are they proud of their parts! Even parts for my JD lawn tractor are pricey. But it's a well made machine which I won't have to replace for years to come. Resale value is also higher than most other brands.
It's like cars..........buy a Honda Accord and a Chevy Impala at the same time. The Honda may cost you a bit more but in 10 years the Honda will be worth significantly more than the Chevy.
Now in cars this happens over a shorter period of time (5-10 years) but the tractors we are talking about are anywhere from 25-100 years old. They have all proven reliable and well built by then. What comes into play now are things like upkeep, options, how common or rare it is and what you remember from when you were younger or what your Dad or Grandpa had. A lot of it comes down to memories and opinions that were impressed upon you when you were young. Is a John Deere really superior to any other make? Maybe some models were but others were not.
I hope everyone takes a bit of ribbing in good humor over their choice of tractor, truck, car or any other piece of equipment they may own 'cause it happens in every circle. When I met my now wife, she had a Ford pickup and I had a Chevy (we both still do actually) and we're always exchanging good natured jabs about our vehicles. But when we have some serious work or pulling to do, it's always my Chevy that gets the job done! :lol:
 
My farming background only goes back one generation - my dad. He grew up in town, his dad was a dentist, but dad worked as a hired man for farmers during ww 2 because of a medical deferment from the service.

His dad bought a farm as an investment and asked my dad if he wanted to give farming a try. He said yes,but he had no brand loyalty when it came to farm equipment. As a hired man he had driven every brand including horses, and the only thing he did not like was the horses.

One of the farmers he worked for became a good friend and offered to lend dad some machinery to get him going. This friend was a diehard Deere fan and he talked dad into going green.

For some unknown reason the local Deere dealer here in NW Iowa had a new 47 ANH, probably because of a tractor shortage after the war so dad bought that ANH and thus began the history of the Deere equipment on this farm I now live on. Dad had seriously contemplated buying an Allis since there was an Allis dealer in town too, but his friend convinced him otherwise. There was an IH and Oliver dealer in town too but I don't know why he didn't consider those colors. He's always been a very conservative person and my guess is the price tag on the ANH was less than anyone else's because no one in this area had a use for a high clearance tractor.

In my younger days I thought Deere was the one-and-only brand because the whole neighborhood was green, but that attitude went out the window long ago though I still have a soft spot for the color green. Jim
 
My father always went for a good value with a dealer that would treat him right. If he ever thought he was mistreated that would be it for that dealer. Dad never liked to travel to look at equipment or get parts and service so if something went sour at one dealer it meant most likely a new color would be coming in. If it was really bad then he would travel for parts and service. Dad and his father never warmed up to Ford agricultural equipment or tractors.
 
My first tractor was an oliver 70 and ive been an oliver guy since. It kills me they stopped making them...
 
first id like to say this is a very interesting post. next ill agree that it all depends on your family. my dad grew up on a farm with a david brown 990, mf 35 diesel deluxe, mf 165, and a john deere 830 3 cylinder. Now my dad still owns the 830 and owns a massey ferguson 1080. He has remained loyal to those two brands. His grandpa hated the 990 DB so much that he only kept it a week and traded it in on the 165 massey. shows how it goes through the family. My dad also likes the olivers and whites and even the molines. I like the olivers because it is what all of my cousins own and growing up they were the biggest tractors i ever got to drive.
 
john Deere guys would say for the same reason they are nnalert and Baptists. . Because all of the others are NO GOOD!!! Just Kidding but may be true for some
 
My grandfather's first tractor was a Farmall Regular. My dad and uncle farmed with him and gradually took over the farm. They stayed with IH equipment and New Holland hay equipment until the 70's when they had a bad experience with a 1066. Harvester's union struck shortly after they ordered it. When they finally got it a YEAR later they hooked it to their new 710 plow and went out to fall plow some sod. It burned a quart of oil an hour! Dealer pulled it down and the rings had been installed upside down. Then the next spring the hydraulics quit. Dealer pulled the trans and rear end down to remove all the wood chips from the ground up wood plugs the factory had left in from the casting process. That soured them on new IH equipment. In the late 70's they wanted a field tractor with a cab. They looked at a 1086. Dad always said that backwards opening door made a very poor first impression. Went down the road and bought a Deere 4440 on the spot. He and now me have been Deere every since. Just can't beat the dealer service and resale value. Dad and I wanted a MFD 150 HP tractor in 1998. We field tested Deere 7810, CIH 8920 and NH Genesis. All three were good tractors with very close prices but we settled on the Deere. Its been a good tractor with almost no problems. Now 12 years later when I compare used tractor prices the Deere is worth nearly $20000 more than the other two. So the Deere actually made us $20000 more than the others would have. No matter what math you use you just can't beat that. I notice many people berating Deere's parts prices. I agree they are outrageous on many parts but go over to Fiat-Case-IHC-FORD-NH or Agco and you will find their prices are just as much out of line. I do like the old Farmall's. They were a much better tractor than the turn of the century 2 banger technology Deere somehow convinced farmers to buy for 50 years. But in today's world Deere equipment makes my living, its just simple math.
 
I have collected antique tractors for many years and I was never brand loyal. My Father-in-Law, who I admired very much, was dyed in the wool, John Deere green. After he passed away, we had the chance to purchase a '39 B that had belonged to him. We did a full restoration on it and fell in love with that two cylinder sound when it was done. Now everthing we have is John Deere and we've even moved up to some New Generation tractors. We've also gotten into exhibition farming and have several implements, a 40 combine and a 237 picker mounted on a 3010.

I like a lot of things about the John Deeres, but the number one thing is the thrill I'm sure my Father-in-Law gets looking down and seeing them being enjoyed by his loved ones. No snobbery or name calling here. You enjoy whatever tractor makes you happy, and I'll enjoy mine.
 
I think it starts when you get familiar with a brand and all its little quirks. Once you know them its hard to want to explore another.

Now with manufacturers jumping all over on sourcing, machines within a brand don't share the same engineering and quirks so there is less reason to stay with a brand.
 
I have had lots of tractors ,but I find olivers the most interesting.I run mostly deere stuff because of the dealer,but I don't get very wound up about deere stuff unless it's a cherry 4020.
 
Yup to sum it all up.
Its a My dad can beat up your dad fer instance.
Most followed Dad and his beliefs.
Hard to believe an old F-12 was the best at one time.
Heck ya could plow a whole field and never have to stop to let the mules wind out.

I believe as long as it does the work needed and satisfies the owner, its the best brand no matter the color.
 

Well at 43 now my hole life has been around Red . So based on that i bought Red , intresting question.

Besides i really don't like John Deeres , but would like to buy a Moline.

Now you got me thinking , "why" ......
 
Case didn't go under, they bought out IH and appeased the IH side by painting their equipment red. Todays red tractors are made allover the world and the only old line tractors are the Magnums and MX's I don't even know where they are made now a days. I'm waiting for the Black and Blue ones with Red stripes on them.LOL
 
After reading and studying a bit I think I could like the Olivers but I never even heard of Oliver growing up on a farm and never saw one until I was full grown. There were NO dealers or tractors in my area of the Mississippi Delta in the 60s & 70s. They seem like tough dependable tractors. We had all the other brands, I am partial to foot clutches over hand clutches. Paul
 
I've stayed with the IH tractors as it was some of the first I ever drove (W9, A, H, BN)and partly because my Dad thought IH had the best tractors although he used what ever he could afford.
 
My first tractor I ever drove was a 4020. We had deere because that was the nearest dealer and just always had deere. Not to sure how or why orange came to the farm tho not that they are not good tractors too, just not sure on the history. Im still a deere guy with a real soft spot for farmalls and anything IH before an 86 series.but I got some green, red and blue. The green and two of the four red ones are mine the blue comes from the guy i farm with is a big time ford guy and thats how they came about.
 
Granddad has always run blue tractors, and at 88 he ain't gonna learn how to drive anything else. Of the three local dealers he like the ford one the best. I have blue tractors but also have equipment of other colors. The red and greed dealers here have sold out to regional big name chain dealers, guy who still sells blue iron has his own name out front. I feel like I am in some one's way or mess'n up some one's coffie break when I go to the red or greed places. I am glad that most of the parts I need for anything I have that is red or green can be bought out of the Shoup catalog.

One time when I asked granddad why he only had blue tractors he less than half joke'nly said that he had never seen a sale bill for a bankruptcy auction that had a full line of blue tractors.

Dave
 
Grandpa always ran Allis Chalmers-when the horses were tired! Dad worked at Wells Implement (Allis dealer) as a mechanic in 1960-61 era. Greg
 
Way I hear it( I didnt come allong till '54) Dad share-cropped with horses till 45 when he bought a farm and decided he needed a tractor. They were hard to find with the war on. So when a fellow farmer at church got a new one he sold dad his CC Case. In '51 When a newer model was in order he went to the Case dealer in town and inquired about one the dealer said he should buy the cultivator too. Dad said he would buy that later he just wanted the tractor now. The dealer insisted he take both. Dad said he'd think about it, walked over to the AC dealer and bought a WD. Later he went back and got a cultivator, plow, and other things for it.

He later had IH F20 M 400 and 2 656s.

I grew up driving the wd so thats what im partial to but like all of em.

The neighbor had 2 small M.M.s that I thought were really sharp looking but I dont know what they were.
 
Grandpa was a Case Blockman years and years ago, I got a picture of him sitting on the first 300 delivered to the local dealer, Always had Case, from a VA to a 14& 1570, Brother jumped the fence and went green, cant really blame him the nearest caseih dealer is 35 mile away and the JD dealer is 8. I'll drive them silly green ones, but won't ever own one. Blood is kinda orangeish!!
 
I think I have owned everything but a Ford (I don't know why not). I guess I always looked at price and condition rather than color. Over the years and all the tractors and colors I have never blown an engine, lost a clutch or a trans and rear-end. With that said they all made good and all made bad. Some tractors were more comfortable, easier on fuel and did a job better than any others. I do lean towards Oliver's these days, good tractors with 2 and 3 speed Hydro-power that is very handy to have. I would say as a small farmer (under 200 acres) that cost, reliability, parts and service is what I look for in a tractor. I guess being color blind has its advantages. Bandit
 
Well, my grandparents on both sides of my family were into Orange. One had several Allis Chalmer WCs and WDs, and the other one had a WD, a WD-45, and a D-17. Of course, the implements could be anyone from Allis Chalmers, IH, Kewanee, John Deere, you name it. Whomever was selling the right tool at the right price (new or used).

Though I had a great uncle who had a fleet of John Deere tractors and then at some point acquired a WD-45 tractor w/ loader for utility purposes. Anymore, we don't farm, but we still have a few of our old WDs left...

All of the newer tractors in the family are John Deere or New Holland compact utility tractors. It does amaze me how much that green paint makes stuff shoot up in price, it's like 30% right off the top! Whoo. Even some of the neighbors that farm... They've got everything from John Deere to Challenger to Steiger, and some older IH and Ford equipment.
 
Definitely generational- what you're used to. My grandfather (I'm told) had a Waterloo Boy. He and a local dealer rode the train to Syracuse and each drove a D home. (One for my grandfather and one for the dealer to sell.) Dad said they got the horses back out during fuel rationing(WW II). There were several JD dealers reasonably close enough to do business with. Then my grandfather bought a WD from a neighbor(who was a salesman for a dealer) The WD is still on the farm! (What's left of the farm)
So we had green and orange. Then orange died, and green demands top dollar. I just sold my Gleaner F2(no dealers here anymore) and bought a CaseIH 1660. I am of course buying used, my forefathers bought new. I had an old beast Steiger for 10 years, then replaced it with a Magnum 7240. Have a JD 4020D,PS,2520D. AC WD45 w/side mounted sickle bar mower, B w/Woods belly mower, and C which is the grain auger power unit.
 
Hay Paul, If they screw up or add a little white in, they will be pink, but a lot of Red guys repainted their tractors with "cheap" paint and they turned PINK. Well retro is in! maybe PURPLE or PINK might work. Life is great if you have sloping sholders that don't hold chips.
 
My Granddad bought a 1929 Reg Farmall new, we had a IHC dealer in out town until the middle 70"s. Had there been a John Deere dealer instead we probably would have had John Deere.
 
If Herefords Were Black

byBaxter Black, DVM


If Herefords were black and Angus were red
would breeders of Herefords breed Angus instead?
I mean, would the people who bread Herefords first
be now breeding Angus if things were reversed.

Or would they be loyal to red, white and true
To color of cowlick be always true blue?
If such were the case would they dis all the blacks,
Tell jokes about prolapse, compare them to Yaks

More suited for saddle or wearin' a yoke
Than stubbornly breeding until they go broke.
And those of the Aberdeen Angus cartel,
would they tout maternal endowments, as well,

Promoting their native resistance to thorns,
while cursing as mutants those not sprouting horns.
Just draggin' their sheath through the cheatgrass and burrs
like leaky ol' bass boats nobody insures.

Debate would rage on like it does anyway
if South had worn blue or the North had worn gray,
Or if Henry Ford had been Hank Chevrolet
You'd still be a Ford man... or would you, today?

So if Herefords were black and Angus were red
would breeders of Herefords breed Angus instead?
The question begs deep philosophical thought
but don't get disgruntled or get overwrought

The breeders of purebreds run true to the grain
And efforts to change them would just be in vain
And not 'cause they think other cattle are bad
"I'm stickin' with the one, 'cause that's what Dad had."




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
My first tractor was a John Deere "G" I bought it when I was a freshman in high school. $300. The next year I bought a Ford 6000 Commander, $2500. I was raising corn and hay. I cultivated with the G as it was a narrow front. The 6000 was my work tractor.
What soured me on Ford was when I had trouble getting parts for a tractor that was not even ten years old at the time. I could get anything I needed for that 1947 G.
I have owned many different brands since then and many where good tractors. It seems that the parts availability always came back to being a problem. So I am mostly John Deere on my "making a living" tractors now.
 
One grandfather started with Deere and stayed with them, The other started with Farmall and later added a couple of Fergusons and an Allis. Dad always thought the Allis and Fergies were built too light and stayed loyal to IH until he bought a JD 4020. Stayed with green after that. When I started on my own I was pretty open minded, and bought a Ford 5000. I've had the opportunity to drive quite a few makes and models over the years helping neighbors and friends, but have settled on Deere and Ford for myself. Like someone else mentioned I know all the little quirks on my favorite brands.
In the past few months, 2 neighboring hobby farmers have bought brand new discbines. Both have IH tractors, One bought a JD moco, said it was several thousand dollars less than a red one. The other bought a red disbine, never priced out the JD because he "knew" JD would be a lot more expensive, I guess it pays to be open minded!
 
started with a ferguson TO-20 and worked our way up to a MF 2805 had a good dealer but never used him other then for parts we did our own service work. tried some IH but they were just plane clumsy and not very handy
 
Our antique power club comes from an area that didn't have a case dealer close by, and it shows. There are many Deeres and IHs but only two or three Cases
 
My Dad was in the excavating business back in the 50's. He had a Michigan loader, Terratrac (not sure if it was a dozer or loader), a Ford TLB, and a Ford utility tractor. He had gotten out of that business before I was around. He spoke highly of the Michigan and the Fords but didn't have anything good to say about the Terratrac. Many years later when we were building houses he thought seriously about getting a crawler loader and a TLB. He flat refused to consider a Case crawler because of his experience with the Terratrac. He was impressed with Deere and Ford TLB's.
 
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