The IH may have been a better tractor but again, too little too late. Here for example you had IH and JD dealers all over the place when the 454 came out. Very few Ford dealers. MF was 60 miles away so in this area MF didn't even count. Now look at the customer base. Schools, city departments, few land owners and a lot of Farmers. And all of them resistant to change! Read the pages here on YT. How many of us older guys embrace change and how many fight it tooth and nail. Now add in the reputation of the older IH utilities compared to MF and Ford. So most often they stuck with what they knew. They never even looked.
Looking at some of the items you listed:
The brakes. Those old farmers knew how to work on dry brakes. Oil bath brakes were something they were uncomfortable with. So not a huge selling point in that day, actually more of a don't buy point.
Heck even the AC tractors like the 190 didn't have IPTO so again not a huge selling point.
1000RPM? Why? In 1974 about the only things that used 1000 were silage blowers and PTO combines. The 454 would not run either. So unneeded and extra cost. Heck here in 74 only a couple of farmers were running silage blowers that were 1000. So not a selling point.
Power steering? Most of the tight old farmers up here for a small tractor without a loader? That added to the price, not a selling point.
The tranny? Heck they were going to pull wagons with it, manure spreader. Again cost.
So yea today, looking back, the IH seems like a much better tractor. But in the eyes of the buyer in that day? And the 1000 PTO? I don't think I've seen any smaller PTO driven implements that require 1000. The silage blower my BIL uses and his current chopper are both 1000 RPM and my 6601 JD combine is too. Those all require way more tractor. Some of the more modern seeder/planters are 1000 but nothing that 454, MF135 or Ford 3000 could even think about running.
AH the tranny and shifting. Not many guys then or now using a utility do/did anything where you couldn't just select a gear and go. Ain't like yer in the field with that ole disk, digger or plow and need to shift down a gear for a tuff spot.
Now in areas were a smaller tractor was all that was needed things may have been different. But here, in the early to mid 70's, they were a chore tractor used to run bale elevators and grounds maintenance tools.
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Today's Featured Article - New Hitches For Your Old Tractor - by Chris Pratt. For this article, we are going to make the irrational and unlikely assumption that you purchased an older tractor that is in tip top shape and needs no immediate repairs other than an oil change and a good bath. To the newcomer planning to restore the machine, this means you have everything you need for the moment (something to sit in the shop and just look at for awhile while you read the books). To the newcomer that wants to get out and use the machine for field work, you may have already hit a major roadblock. That is the dreaded "proprietary hitch". With the exception of the
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