1945 Farmall H

[RandyLittrell 3,877]

I picked up a nice Farmall H at my tractor clubs show a couple of weeks ago and brought it home today. 

 

I bought it at a great price and it turned out to the H my buddy owned some years back and he blew it apart and sandblasted the sheet metal and painted everything.

 

He paints for a living so I know its done right. Looks like it has sit outside a bunch since he traded it off, but it is still nicer than most of the stuff for sale around here. 

 

This one will stay for a long time unless something special comes along!!

 

First pic is it at the show beside my Cub and the second is after getting it home and cleaning it a bit. It still needs some polish and touch up, but I'm pretty dang happy! 

 

 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Beautiful H, one tractor I have always regretted selling was my 46 H, it was always one of the easiest starting machines we had around here 

[ebinmaine 67,498]

Niiiiice!!!

[Handy Don 12,227]

Still impresses me no end to see these large, heavy machines with only about ~25 hp that were so versatile and capable. I read somewhere that the Farmall H sold more than any other single model ever.

Makes one pause to realize that a lot of z-turns have the same horsepower, though I’m sure the torque curves are a LOT different!

[RandyLittrell 3,877]

14 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

I read somewhere that the Farmall H sold more than any other single model ever.

 

390,000 H's and another 30,000 Super H's!! 

 

That is a lot of tractors!!!!

[WHX?? 48,815]

29 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

see these large, heavy machines with only about ~25 hp 

Really... considering the GTs that are rated at that nowadays... 'Course the torque back then.

Letter series Farmalls can't be beat. 

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

Randy,

I owned a 1941 H for a few months until a childhood friend talked me out of it.  I wish I still had that old H.

 

I'm sure by now you have been over to the Farmall Cub site:  https://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/  They also have manuals and literature on the H in their PDF Manuals section.

[pfrederi 17,739]

Real tractors horse power was measured at the belt pulley and/or the drawbar.  It was effective horsepower not engine brake hp.  Nebraska state university designed and conducted the test...(A Nebraska state legislator had gotten scammed by a tractor he bought back in the 20s   He got a law passed that any tractor sold on Nebraska had to have been tested.  Since all the big manufacturers sold a lot of tractors in Nebraska they all submitted tractors for testing.

[Handy Don 12,227]

15 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Really... considering the GTs that are rated at that nowadays... 'Course the torque back then.

Letter series Farmalls can't be beat. 

As we here know, one can get a lot done with 8-12 hp. Often the limiting elements are traction and the strength of the chassis. 

[Sailman 1,291]

Growing up on the farm in Iowa I remember back in the 60's the biggest tractor my dad had was a Farmall Super MTA. It was unique because it had a small gas engine you would start first, then dad would pull / push a couple levers at the same time (no idea what they did) and the diesel engine would roar to life with a huge plume of black smoke. I always got a huge kick out of that procedure. He pulled a 4-16 plow (one of the largest in that day) with ease on that tractor.

[ebinmaine 67,498]

7 hours ago, Sailman said:

Growing up on the farm in Iowa I remember back in the 60's the biggest tractor my dad had was a Farmall Super MTA. It was unique because it had a small gas engine you would start first, then dad would pull / push a couple levers at the same time (no idea what they did) and the diesel engine would roar to life with a huge plume of black smoke. I always got a huge kick out of that procedure. He pulled a 4-16 plow (one of the largest in that day) with ease on that tractor.

 

Yessir. 

Donkey engine. 

I've never seen one used in real life. I've watched videos of them many times. 

[Easton Rich 266]

Is that Adrain Mo? If so I was there, I was the kid riding around on a 

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

Here is a short video of me test driving my 1941 Farmall H before I bought it.  It had a temporarily fuel tank since the original one needed cleaned.  I got the hood and the original fuel tank when I brought it home a few months after this video.  As I mentioned, I was talked out of it by a child hood friend who said he used his uncle's H when he was a kid.

 

I hadn't got used to the gears yet on this H in this video, so didn't shift it into the higher gears as I was test driving it.  But all 5 gears worked plus the reverse.  That thing could get up and move in road gear.

 

 

[RandyLittrell 3,877]

2 hours ago, Easton Rich said:

Is that Adrain Mo? If so I was there, I was the kid riding around on a 

 

 

Yup, that is Adrian and I saw you! I drove the tram quite a bit during the show. 

 

Randy

[RandyLittrell 3,877]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Yessir. 

Donkey engine. 

I've never seen one used in real life. I've watched videos of them many times. 

 

They call them pony motors back here!!

 

 

[RandyLittrell 3,877]

On 7/16/2024 at 8:43 PM, WHX?? said:

Really... considering the GTs that are rated at that nowadays... 'Course the torque back then.

Letter series Farmalls can't be beat. 

 

This was just a 150 horse tractor!!!

 

 

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

The Farmall MTA was a M with the gas engine and spark engine, the MD-TA was the diesel version.  The Farmall MD was the IH's earlier diesel version with one side of the engine gas, and the other side diesel.  This video explains the procedure for starting the engine and switching over from the gas side to the diesel side: 

 

 

[wh500special 2,183]

7 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Yessir. 

Donkey engine. 

…

The IH diesels were unique.  They didn’t have a separate pony motor for starting, instead the engine’s cylinder head had an extra valve that opened into a reduced-compression combustion chamber with a spark plug.  Diesel fuel flow was shut off and air was routed through a carburetor for starting and warmup on gasoline.  Once the engine was running and warm, the operator threw some levers to close the valves, kill the spark, and engage the diesel fuel system.  
 

An amazing system. 
 

I think the IH WD-40 (first diesel wheeled tractor) actually had the switchover automated after the engine ran for a short while.  
 

other makers -Deere and Cat - used pony engines which were clutched to the main engine to crank it…equally cool. 
 

Steve

 

Edit:   I didn’t notice Terry’s vid until after I posted. 

Edited July 18 by wh500special

[Handy Don 12,227]

18 hours ago, Sailman said:

Growing up on the farm in Iowa I remember back in the 60's the biggest tractor my dad had was a Farmall Super MTA. It was unique because it had a small gas engine you would start first, then dad would pull / push a couple levers at the same time (no idea what they did) and the diesel engine would roar to life with a huge plume of black smoke. I always got a huge kick out of that procedure. He pulled a 4-16 plow (one of the largest in that day) with ease on that tractor.

While a pre-teen, a crew prepped and paved the long dirt/gravel drive that served six homes on our private dead end. The big Caterpillar dozer started with a donkey engine. I figured out by watching intently and asking questions that the levers controlled the flow of fuel to the diesel and to engage a clutch between the two engines. That’s also when I learned that diesels had no spark plugs--they shut off by stopping the fuel or (if you like to live dangerously) cutting off the intake air!

[ebinmaine 67,498]

4 hours ago, wh500special said:

 Cat - used pony engines which were clutched to the main engine to crank it

 

These are the ones I'm familiar with. 

 

 

4 hours ago, wh500special said:

IH diesels were unique.  They didn’t have a separate pony motor for starting, instead the engine’s cylinder head had an extra valve that opened into a reduced-compression combustion chamber with a spark plug.  Diesel fuel flow was shut off and air was routed through a carburetor for starting and warmup on gasoline.  Once the engine was running and warm, the operator threw some levers to close the valves, kill the spark, and engage the diesel fuel system

 

This, I did not know. This is very cool. Research project coming up!

 

 

 

7 hours ago, T-Mo said:

video explains

 

 

Thanks for posting that!

[adsm08 2,059]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

 

This, I did not know. This is very cool. Research project coming up!

 

 

Where did you think we got diesel spark plugs from?

[pfrederi 17,739]

Early Farmalls also could be had that ran on distillate (Kerosene) The had a a small tank (about a gallon) of gasoline.  You started her on that and when she warmed up a bit shifted to the main tank of Kero.  Big thing when you shut down for the day you had to switch back to gas for awhile to refill the carb with it.  Other wise next day was not going to start well.  You also had to drain off some oil every day and refill with fresh, apparently Kero is dirty...

[wh500special 2,183]

12 hours ago, pfrederi said:

Early Farmalls also could be had that ran on distillate …

 

.  You also had to drain off some oil every day and refill with fresh, apparently Kero is dirty...

Not just Farmall, they all made tractors like that. 
 

the heavier fuels burned poorly so there was a lot of blowby of unburned fuel.  So they diluted the oil significantly. Regular draining kept the level in check.   That’s why you’ll see multiple oil drain fittings at different levels on their oil pans.  Lowest was to drain completely, next one up was where you drained the diluted oil to so you could then top off to the top one with new oil. 
 

I think in England they called this fuel Tractor Vaporizing Oil (TVO).  I am under the impression these fuels weren’t exactly kerosene but were similar. 
 

Steve

Edited July 19 by wh500special

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

Kerosene was cheaper 100 years ago, not so much today.  So kerosene and other fuels were used. Kerosene burnt at a higher temperature than gas, so engine had to be warm before the operator switch over from gas to kerosene.  That's why the engine was started on gas.  Also, since kerosene needed a higher temperature to burn, there were shutters on the radiator that the operator could close to create more heat in the engine compartment.

 

Check this video out on gasoline versus kerosene burn temperatures:

 

 

[Zeek 2,286]

I also have an H now that I have room for it! I figured it's still red  It came from the former IH Museum in Leesburg FL before the owner passed away. I'm putting new front wheel bearings on it today.