SC and dual wheels

I missed the dual wheel post about SC's the other day, but here is mine stuck in the creek. The duals will not hurt your tractor, and in most case(Hugh) the SC has more than enough power to turn them for some jobs. I have used this set up for many years to mow low laying river and creek bottom land to keep from tracking it up so bad. It works great. That is an 8 foot 4 inch Ford mower it pulls every year. The belts on the mower will slip before tractor runs out of power.

I still maintain that if one tractor was all I could have to survive with it would be the SC. I am not saying the SA/100/130/140 are not great little tractors(They are) I just prefer the SC.

That is an old washed out road crossing the creek, and I have had a couple larger tractors hung in it as well. I fix the hole, and then creek washes it back out the next big rain. The larger tractors are hard to get out of that hole. It stays muddy all the time.

Probably one of the biggest differences in load that could be put on an engine was with IH C-113 and C-123 engines. No one can tell me an 11.2x24 tire is going to create as much demand on that little engine as an 11.3x36 tire. It is well known, SA, 100, 130 and 140 have been good for 5,000 hours before rebuild and C, SC, 200 and 230 do well to make 4,000 hours before rebuild. 9 times out of 10 the higher hp engine will have far more wrong with it at rebuild time than the lower hp engine.

Years ago in my hometown we had tractor pulls, whereby the winning criteria was the percentage of load pulled on stone boat in relation to tractor weight. In those days our countryside was loaded with C, SC and 200, probably those 3 accounted for 50% of all tractors. Under those pulling regulations Super A will usually pull close to 3 times it's own weight. A Super H is a close second, Super M will come 3rd and the Super C 4th. The Supers A, H and M will spin out and the SC will die of power. I've seen that hundreds of times. I've experienced it myself with my brothers 230, and no it's not a worn out old tractor, probably amoung the top 10 230s left across North America. I wish my 130 was as well preserved as his 230, but then what could you expect, I doubt if his 230 has seen 2,000 hours since new. I happen to know where it was all those years. My 130 is probably around 12,000 hours

My dad looked at buying a 230 with wide front end, when he bought the 130. I said why would you do that, you already have an H and 300 both nf that will out manuve that 230 any day. We need something short, small, and compact. I know IH sold a lot of C, SC, 200 and 230, personally I could never see it, other than need of a cultivator tractor that size with nf. Plain and simple the Farmalls C, SC, 200 and 230 should have had the C-135 engine.

We've been on this same argument numerous times over the past couple of years. I can tell you, your fast becomming an annoying old fart, and I expect you think the same about me. I'll bet we agree on that. You have a good day George, try hooking the 666 with duals to that mower, it would have the power to roll through that soft spot, quickly.

Dad has a 140, and it spins and bucks with the cultivator or 1 bottom plow in the ground deep here. Now I am basing my assesment of each from years of use of each. My SC will spin the tires with weights on it, and the 230 dad had was a bit stronger than my SC is. My point is that you can not run down something based on the very limited experience you have had with it. I used a SA once that wouldn't pull the hat off your head, but that didn't make all of them junk. Have a good one.

I'll openly admit I don't have a lot of personel experience with C, SC, etc. Our country was livestock and grass country. We saw farmers come through the depression with horses, bought a little Ford after the war and used it for car as well as a tractor. In the 50 a degree of prosperiety hit and most of these folks bought a car or pickup and traded the ford tractor off for a C or SC. as a one tractor farm. I could never see that. In 1951 my dad bought an H with 31 loader for $1,650. A Super A was right around $1,000., thus a SC had to be $1,200. Given the fact the 31 loader was probably $200., an H could be had for $150. more than a SC. As I said before, in the mid 50s I'll bet 50% of the tractors in our area were C, SC and 200 on one tractor farms. Those guys were awfully hard on those little tractors. I've seen more C and SC with welded up blocks and front ends than I care to remember. I remember one dairy farmer in particular running 3 C, SC , 200 or 230. He'd put his 75 year old dad on SC with pto driven baler. The old man knew two speeds 2nd gear and faster. He'd tie a baler twine on throttle linkage, supposedly to get him through the tough spots, then drove the SC until it stalled. You'd then see him pulling hay out of the baler and of he'd go again. He keep those tractors 3-4 years and trade them. The dealer told me his tradeins were little more than scrap. No one in farming wanted them. It only stands to reason that little engine aint going to stand 36" tires near as well as 24" tires.

My dad and later myself kept several size tractors around. We didn't cultivate rutabagas with a 1066 or even a 300. We didn't pull a 5 bottom plow with a 130. Didn't even bale hay with the 1066, have baled a few loads with 130. My point is, for those one tractor livestock farms of the 50s, an H was a better buy at roughly $200. more. If you were a two tractor farm, no point in 2 SC. Give me an H and a SA any day. Now George I do realize you were a tobacco farmer and that SC was quite valuable.

Allan

Allan

But have ya ever seen Hugh admit he is wrong or apologize..:>(

Had a girlfriend like that once. I sold all my manuals, reference books and encylopedias as I didn't need them anymore, because she knew it all..:>)

Keith & Shawn

It is my opinion for what little it is worth that the SC is the finest little tractor ever made. They can do anything. We used them for years to plow, disk, plant, mow, bale hay, pick corn,grind feed, and on and on. We took care of more than 500 acres with two of them for years. That included 15 acres of tobacco. 40 to 50 acres of corn, 250 to 300 acres of square baled hay, and 100 beef cows. I even hired out to mow hay and cultivate for several neighbors, and plowed many gardens when I was a teenager The only thing we didn't do is fill the silo. We hired a neighbor to do that.

Take care.

I've gone to plow days with my 130 and 2x12 plow, didn't have to take a back seat to any of those SC or 200. Some of them were pulling 2x14 but most had 2x12. I went to a dead weight tractor pull with my SA, no wheel weights or chloride, pulled 7,000#, and they disqualified me because in their opinion my front end came more than 6" off the ground. They didn't bother to tell me about that regulation before hand. None of the 6 SC, 200 and 230, made more than 7,600#. They weren't stopping the H and Cockshutt 30 with 10,000#. For my money, and my farming the C, SC etc. were a non issue. An H was very little more money than a SC, and a SA would fit in a much smaller area than a SC.

I have never pulled my C or SC at a tractor pull, but they have worked very hard over the years. I also know some local farmers who could tear up an anvil with a rubber mallet. I have never broken any castings on any of mine. Also keep anti freeze in them so I don't have to patch up my blocks.

This little part of the thread sounds to me a lot a couple of old guys around my neighborhood who will tell anybody that will listen that the other one is a no-good, big-mouth, know-nothin' fool, but they still show up at the store every mornin', sit down at the same table with their coffees, and call each other names. If one of 'em doesn't show up, the other will break down, buy a paper and but a paper check the obituaries.