Re: What Failed?????

Posted by Hugh MacKay on August 03, 2004 at 17:15:54 from (64.228.11.148):

In Reply to: Re: What Failed????? posted by CNKS on August 03, 2004 at 11:39:03:

CNKS: Fast Hitch also had another side to it. In my opinion it was the forerunner of 3 point perfection. Harry Ferguson didn't have it all right either. Fast Hitch was the pioneer of lower link sencing for draft control. There is no question in my mind the very finest draft controled hitch came on 06, 26, 56, 66 and 86 series tractors. I am most familiar with the 3 point but expect fast hitch on the 06 and 56 used the same principle of draft control. Next time you are at a show or around 06,26,56,66 and 86 series tractors with 3 point hitch. You look the lower link over. That telescoping end is clearly fast hitch decendant. There was indeed some good came out of fast hitch.

Here in Canada dealers took a real hit from MF, Ford, Fiat, etc. in the 2-3 plow tractor business. Farmers wanted 3 point so IH started bringing in those 30-40 hp British diesels. That probably turned out to be a bigger disaster than fast hitch or 560 rear ends. In our cold climate we couldn't get the damn things going from Oct to May. I remember one farmer that bought two of these British diesels, saying it was good that he kept his Super C to use for a pup or tow start. The tow start was just to get them going in May, June, Sept. and Oct. July and August you could almost depend on them to start.

Even when they did start you couldn't stand the fumes from them. I think they were engineered for a different grade of fuel than we were used to in North America.

I don't think fast hitch was much of and issue to SMTA, 400, 450 and 560 tractor buyers. These guys had been trailer implement guys, and they never really budged from that until the semi-mount plow came along. As far as cultivators and disks went they never changed. I know on my own farm I had a used fast hitch corn planter that stayed around only two seasons. The fast hitches on my 300 and 560 were used almost entirely as drawbars, and they were damn poor drawbars. After I got the 656 I cut those two hitches up for scrap, and went to dealer and ordered two new Farmall H-M drawbars. The only 3 point equipment I ever had was a 200 gallon sprayer I used on 656 and a 5x16 semi-mount plow.

I had an IH dealer tell me 886 Farmall was the final straw for him. The first ones came with 360 American diesel. He had a lot of customers 50-60 cow dairy herds wanting that size tractor for forage harvester. His early sales of 886 sold a lot of tractors for him. When the customers found out how much less torque the 358 German diesel. What business he hadn't lost to MF, Ford and Fiat two decades before he now lost to Deere with the 886 engine change.

There is no CaseIH dealer in that town today, and my Farmall 560 was the only one ever around those parts, and it was an early 63 model, so no one there even knew of the 560 rear end failure. There were a few 460 gassers but those never worked well enough, long enough to damage a Volkswagon rear end.

The business blunders by IH were many, but probably the worst was arrogance, or was IH just ahead of its time. In my opinion the whole ag equipment industry operates that way today. I frequently go to dealers today for odds and ends. I can't believe my ears the way these guys talk down to farmers. I can tell you not many of them would be smart enough to sell this old bird anything.

Follow Ups:

• Re: What Failed????? CNKS 18:29:34 08/03/04 (0)

Post a Followup Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]