Farmall M--- Changing a narrow front to a wide fro

The W/F is safer on my hills.

Does anyone sell a kit?

Alan

In the heyday of the letter series Farmalls, wide fronts were rather cumbersom. They were often hard to steer, slow to steer and would not turn short enough. With the advent of power steering and different steering linkages all that changed.

I had both wide and narrow front for Farmall 300 when it was the main power source on the farm. In the years that tractor was around I rather doubt if wide front was on the tractor a total of 2 years. We then got a 560D wide front, with power steering, but the same steering linkage as on the SH, 300, SM, etc. It steered easier but still no shorter than the older ones. My next tractor was a 656D with wide front. By then IH had changed only the steering linkage on that basic front end, plus beefed up the power steering to handle the extra mechanical load of steering quicker and shorter.

My dad and I really liked the 300 with narrow front for baling hay, so much more manuverable than the 300 with wide front. First time my dad ever baled hay with the 560, his comment,"just like a locomotive and steers almost as quickly." My dad took the 656 one day baling hay, his comment," just as manuverable as my old 300 with narrow front." It was unbelieveable the difference the minor changes made between 560 and 656 wide fronts, made such a difference in steering. Those tractors are both 96" wheelbase, a full 6" longer than H, M, 300, etc. The only item on widefront IH changed between 560 and 656 was the center steering control arm. The 656 had more powerful power steering to handle the reduced mechanical advantage in steering. That center steering control arm is longer on the newer tractors.

I know if you put the longer center link on tractors without power steering it will make them harder to steer. Problem I can see with in doing this with an M, SM, 400, 450 or 560, is I doubt if factory or even aftermarket power steering for those tractors will handle the extra load. You may be able to find power steering units today with the power to do this.

Hugh has a good point about lowering the center of gravity, however. I would not give up my wide front on my M for anything. Consider the difference with a load in the loader hitting a large hole squarely with a narrow front, vs. hitting a hole with only one wheel on a wide front. The narrow front will try to spin the steering wheel right out of your hands, the wide front wont.

Depending on your “originality” perspective, I would suggest a heavy duty front end with a six bolt hub rather than the original IH front end for daily usage. You can put wider rims and tires (I run 235R 16 used pickup tires on mine) on for better floatation and load carrying ability. If you want to keep the original look, go IH.

Alan Hyde

A narrow front Farmall M with rear wheel tread at 72" centers, wheel weights and chloride in tires, will be more stable than a wide front M without solid and liquid weight added.

To answer your question yes wide front axles can still be bought new from after market companies.