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Rhyme and reason? Definitely YES!!!! A better explanation of this will be found in the book that I am working on for Motorbooks (see link), but I'll try to help you out as best I can here. On the letter series tractors, the base model (such as Z, U, G, or R) was just that, and I can't guarantee where those designations came from or why. However, every other letter that accompanies those base model designations has a meaning. I can't get too in-depth here, but I'll make some generlizations to try to clear this up for you. Some letters were added when major changes or updates were made to tractors. For instance, the GT became the GTA became the GTB. The LP version of the GTB (which was WAY different than the gasoline GTB) was designated GTC because of all the major changes that were made to it. Other letters indicate front end/chassis type. For instance, U means Universal, S means Standard, I means Industrial, N means Narrow, E means Extendable, M means Military, C means Cane (one case only), O means Orchard. Other letters mean other things. L was used on tractors which had a shuttLe shift. D was used on Diesel tractors. etc. For a really rough--and incomplete--chronology of how various model sizes evolved (also in more detail in the book I'm working on), here goes (this is all by memory, so there may be a few errors): JT to ZT to ZA to ZB to 445 to 4 Star to U302. KT to KTA & MT to MTA all to (next 2 lines):
UT to UTS Special & UB to UB Special all to: (next one line):
5 Star to M5 & M504 to M602 & M604 to M670 to M670 Super. YT to RT to 335. FT to FTA to GT to GTA to GTB & GTC to GB & GBD to G-VI to G-704 to G705 & G-706 to G-707 & G-708. G900 to G950 to G955.
G1000 & G1000 Vista to G1050
G1350 to G1355.
A4T-1400 to A4T-1600. Note: tractors such as the M5 and M504 and M602 and M604, the only difference was that the latter in both cases were FWA (front wheel assist/4-wheel drive optional) tractors. On the G-70- tractors, models ending with odd numbers were 2-wheel drive, and models ending with even numbers were FWA tractors. Hope this helps. Please keep in mind that more detailed information will be available in the book that I am working on (see link). Take care, and have a good one! Respectfully, Brian Rukes
The M-M Registry
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