Kilroy Was There

Posted by A. Bohemian on June 29, 2007 at 09:32:02 from (207.170.88.220):

In Reply to: Re: 1942 H Farmall posted by Andy Motteberg on June 28, 2007 at 19:17:31:

Farmall tractors made during war time can be worth more to collectors than other Farmalls of the same make, provided the tractor is still very original.

What makes them unusual is the production changes Farmall was forced to implement because of shortages. These changes were implemented at varioius times, usually but not always as a direct result of running out of something, and these tractors varied widely from run to run.

My understanding is that some tractors were made pretty much the same as they were before the war, and a lot more were made with no self-starters, a magneto ignition, and steel wheels to save rubber (which was scarcer than gasoline).

In addition, there were all kinds of permutations; tractors with distributors and self-starters but no rubber wheels, tractors with magnetos and self starters, tractors with magnetos, no self starters, but rubber wheels, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

Only a true expert can tell you exactly how much each version might bring; but the overall rule is, the MORE the tractor differed from peacetime production, the MORE it is worth to a collector now.

If the tractor has no lights, no starter, steel wheels, and an "A" card, it can be worth more than a typical running H.

(Just kidding about the "A" card. Your neighbor will get it.)

The odds are, even if it WAS a wartime tractor and was shipped with steel wheels, those are long gone. (They're probably part of that guy's fence along US 84 there between Texico and Clovis.) But the tractor may not have been retrofitted with a starter and may still have the magneto ignition. This could be worth more than a standard H, although it is difficult to exaggerate the value of a good set of steel wheels.

It's quite likely, though, that this tractor has had a starter retrofitted and later was adapted to twelve volts and a distributor and so the orginal war-time electricals are off the tractor. If your neighbor still has them in a box or something he should STILL hold out for a higher price than most Hs bring.

IF, as is most likely, the tractor has been converted to twelve volts and has good rubber and runs well, and the wartime parts were scattered to the winds in, say, 1971, it would be worth little if anything more than any other H. I don't know what they are bringing in Demming (I don't even know what they are bringing in my native Hobbs), but here in the rapidly-disappearing rural pockets of East Central Texas they bring $1200 - $2000.

Replies:

• Re: Kilroy Was There Laura Leveque 18:56:34 06/29/07 (0)

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