Re: Farmall F12 shift pattern

Posted by LenNH on December 05, 2008 at 11:49:23 from (71.235.191.159):

In Reply to: Farmall F12 shift pattern posted by Lyle Breese on December 01, 2008 at 16:51:36:

I can't swear to this (I swear AT things, but not TO them), but I don't believe the F-12 had shift decals. I quite literally "grew up on" three F-12s, and it's been a long, long, long time since I had the pleasure of roaring across the field at 3 mph on them, but I do not remember any shift decal. Will and Markle's "Farmall Regular and F-Series" seems to be a well-researched reference to these tractors,and here is what they say: "Modern replacement decal sets usually include a decal showing the gear shift pattern. The authors found no IH factory documents or photographs showing use of this decal. It may only be the creation of some of the reproduction decal makers. Some restoration artists may prefer to use it, even if it's not original, in case they have trouble remembering the gear pattern."
I can't tell if they're being cute with that last remark. I'm losing my memory as to what I had for breakfast this morning, but I can sure remember the shift patterns on a lot of old tractors. I believe a shift decal was standard on the letter-series, and I have to admit they do look good.
As to the F-12 pattern, it is really just a standard 3-speed transmission pattern turned sideways. The transmission gears run across the gearbox, unlike most tractors, which explains the sidewise shift pattern. The pulley and hydraulic-lift drives are on one of those shafts.
As to being able to tell which gear you're in, here's a guide: Low--a slow walk. Second--plowing speed--a walker has to move right along. Third (standard gears, not the high-speed version) a walker has to step right out, like he's out for some exercise--at least a 5'7" guy like me does.
IH listed the ground speeds as 2.25, 3 and 3.75 mph on 54" steel wheels. Forty-inch rubber tires would probably have come out close to the same diameter as the steel--maybe a tad smaller. I know these things are frustratingly slow compared to modern tractors, but it's helpful to remember that they were designed for STEEL wheels. I can tell you from years of experience
that 4 mph on lugs is an agonizing torture on any kind of hard ground (gravel road, hard-packed farm road). Besides,steel wheels rob so much engine power that those old tractors wouldn't pull their rated load much above 3 mph. Some of the old sales brochures mention "plowing speed," and they usually meant "about 3 mph." Incidentally (you can see I jist luv to go on about this stuff), I have a 1920 article from a farm magazine, giving the results of research at a midwestern state university, showing the draft
of plows at different speeds. Using the kind of plow bottoms that were available then, it seems that the most efficient use of tractor power WAS at about 3 mph. In fact, a tractor that would pull 2 14" plows at 3 mph might pull 3 plows at 2 mph, but the results at the end of the day would be about the same (old formula: width of plow in feet times mph = acres plowed in an 8-hour day). There would be disadvantages: Using low gear, there would be no extra power available to pull through hard spots, and a 3-bottom plow would cost more than a 2-bottom.

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