Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living The H Farmall.

And the other tractors of that era. I spent a lot of hours mowing, racking hay on an H.


You good folks?

Brings back memories alright. I learned to dive on one. I remember either parking on a hill or starting by turning that flywheel used for belts,Couldn't afford a new battery.I bet the old H is still parked in the shed on the farm I use to frequent. A new M was bought but us younger boys were not permitted to drive i.t

Spent 1970 to 1980 on a Farmall M with a Farmhand F11 loader on it. With that tricycle wheelbase, it's a wonder that it didn't spend more time on it's side than it did. If I recall, dad only tipped it once. That thing was a Beast! Compared to the other tractor we had at the time which was a 30 Fergusen.

Wonderful machines! (But improved on with the 300.)

Richard - if you are ever have time, you should swing down and take 80 going home. It's a bit out of the way, but it would be worth it to stop at Kinze Manufacturing just west of Tanger Mall and go through the museum. There is an H there that John Kinzenbaw drove regularly when he was like 4 or 5. His dad had made a wooden extension on the pedals that could be flipped over so John could reach them.

There were a lot of them around here, but probably more "M's" I had a "C" that I cultivated tobacco with. It had a Super C decal on it, but the serial number showed it was just a plain old C.

Brings back memories! I logged many hours on one, mowing and raking hay on our farm when I was growing up.
We also had an M, and an MD, but my favorite was the H.

Running into a groundhog hole on the edge of hay field while mowing certainly gave the wrist a jerk with those tricycle front ends.Discing a newly plowed field wasn't a fun job either.

We had put one of those suicide knobs on the steering wheel once.That didn't last long after the first groundhog hole

Yes, a fox hole could break the front end clean off.

We never had farmall in that era..we ran 2wd 45 allis...the farmalls were good tractors tho..lots of guys had them around...some are still doing work as our WD is.

Allis Wd-45's, and a D-17. (My favorite old tractor, wish the hydraulics and pto were better)
Farmall 300 and 460.
JD B. Loved that tractor in theory. Hated backing up with that dam handclutch.


Ford 8 or 9's and Ferguson's, never ran one out of power. They always spun.
Despite these tractors popularity, I was always underwhelmed. They just didn't
seem to be able to use their power. Some of the other tractors above may have had less hp,
But they could drag a Ford around. That JD. B with 16hp would embarrass Ford's tractors

I think it must have been a B Deere, trading help with a family friend. I talked my hay stacking partner into shutting the tractor off during a long wait between loads, I only did that once. Cranking that flywheel when the tractor has a hot mag ain't no fun!

Used to shred a 1000 a year with an old Farmall 706 real similar to this one. The one I used was a cheap one that had a cracked block. JB Weld fixed the block for several years.



Pulled an old Bush Hog 15 foot solid deck shredder behind it. Because it wasn't a batwing, it was hell to get through a 12' gate.

My grandfather and father ran A/C tractors. When I started farming I started out with a 430 Case, then bought a new 5600 Ford. I've ran IH and A/C tractors as well, but have always been partial to blue. I have 2 NH tractors now.

Have a '52 H Farmall setting in the shed. It was my uncle's last tractor, he bought it at my great uncle's estate sale. Gave it a tune up 10 or 12 years ago, but it had set long enough it has rust in gas tank, and now the tires are dry-rotted pretty bad. Those old gas tractors are fine if you run them often enough to keep fresh gas in them. Might restore it someday if I ever get time to do stuff like that.

My uncle had a '52 B John Deere. he and Dad put me on the B pulling a low boy when I was 4 to steer between the rows of hay bales-but I couldn't stop it or turn. The next year uncle welded a 10" extension into the hand clutch lever- I could grab with both hands, yank it back and stand on the foot brake to stop the tractor. 5 years old, thought I was pretty hot stuff!

When we moved back to the farm in 1970, Granddad's H was still there. I remember seeing the receipt inside the cover of the owners manual. IIRC, $850 in 1943, came with steel wheels. Dad says they got rubber tires for it a year or two later. We added another H along about 1974 or so, those were the only tractors we had until Dad bought a MF1085 in 1978.

Plowing, mowing, baling, corn picking, those H's did it all. We had a hay crimper and the baler had a thrower so we pulled a wagon behind. Those were about the power limits, you learned real quick how to operate the clutch to pop the tractor out of gear without letting the PTO lose momentum. Otherwise, a wad of hay would stall it and then you were plugged (and phugged too!).

Dale