The Story of a Classic International Harvester and the Farmall brand are legendary names. As both tireless machines and valued collector pieces, they are among the most popular tractors in the world. In this information-packed photo-encyclopedia, learn about the history and evolution of these famous agricultural icons. With more than 1,900 photos and detailed data on every tractor, truck, hay rake and hemp machine built in the company's history, 150 Years of International Harvester is the ultimate resource for these great farm machines.
"Mr. Dahlstrom...has written a superb history of the tractor and this long-forgotten period of capitalism in U.S. agriculture. We now know the whole story of when farming, business and the free-market economy diverged, divided and conquered." —Wall Street Journal Discover the untold story of the “tractor wars,” the twenty-year period that introduced power farming—the most fundamental change in world agriculture in hundreds of years. Before John Deere, Ford, and International Harvester became icons of American business, they were competitors in a forgotten battle for the farm. From 1908-1928, against the backdrop of a world war and economic depression, these brands were engaged in a race to introduce the tractor and revolutionize farming. By the turn of the twentieth century, four million people had left rural America and moved to cities, leaving the nation’s farms shorthanded for the work of plowing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, and threshing. That’s why the introduction of the tractor is an innovation story as essential as man’s landing on the moon or the advent of the internet—after all, with the tractor, a shrinking farm population could still feed a growing world. But getting the tractor from the boardroom to the drafting table, then from factory and the farm, was a technological and competitive battle that until now, has never been fully told. A researcher, historian, and writer, Neil Dahlstrom has spent decades in the corporate archives at John Deere. In Tractor Wars, Dahlstrom offers an insider’s view of a story that entwines a myriad of brands and characters, stakes and plots: the Reverend Daniel Hartsough, a pastor turned tractor designer; Alexander Legge, the eventual president of International Harvester, a former cowboy who took on Henry Ford; William Butterworth and the oft-at-odds leadership team at John Deere that partnered with the enigmatic Ford but planned for his ultimate failure. With all the bitterness and drama of the race between Ford, Dodge, and General Motors, Tractor Wars is the untold story of industry stalwarts and disruptors, inventors, and administrators racing to invent modern agriculture—a power farming revolution that would usher in a whole new world.
The developmental history of the tractors built by the dominant agricultural manufacturer of the early 20th Century, International Harvester, is dramatically told in The Farmall Dynasty. The book traces the evolution of the Farmall tractor from the early Titans and Moguls through to modern times.The book includes well-researched accounts of the development of the original Farmall, the Letter Series, 4100, Cub, and other legendary IHC tractors, with first-hand accounts from factory engineers describing the challenges they faced. --Lee Klancher
Nebraska Tractor Tests Since 1920 C.H. Wendel This is the best reference source you will find on tractors of the world. Since 192 the University of Nebraska has tested tractors and now you can have all 1,551 tests in one book. Photos, specifications, performance data and comparisons on tractors from the U.S., Canada, Russia, Japan, Germany, England and all over the world. 3 indexes help you find the information you want. Hdbd., 8 3/4x 11 1/4,548 pgs., 1,5+ photos.
