The old tractors sure were built well. But quite a few factors came into play regarding their long life.
I'll use my 1944 John Deere Model A for example.
1) When purchased it was a 29 pto hp tractor. Probably the main tractor on the farm and as such the primary tillage tractor. At that time farms were rapidly getting larger and each year manufacturers kept boosting the horsepower. More than likely within a few years probably no more than 10, it was replaced by a larger tractor. While it continued to be used it did not get worked as hard as it would have as the primary tillage tractor.
2) New features were being added by each manufacturer. Electric start, better seats, 3 pt hitch, live hydraulics (heck the 44 A does not have hydraulics at all...) powerand live pto. These advances and more pushed my tractor to the back of the barn. It was probably used less and less often and on lighter work when it was used.
Again, they were well built and often well maintained, but they did not hold up under 60+ years of hard work.
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Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
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