Early International Harvester tractors

International Harvester made its first tractor in 1906 and the well-known 20hp Mogul with an open chain drive to the rear wheels was added in 1909. The first of a long line of Farmall tractors, the Farmall Regular, appeared in 1924.

It was called the Farmall because the company claimed it was suitable for all types of farm work. The Farmall A, B, H and M models, suitable for all farm work, appeared in 1939. The Farmall A and B were classed as one-plow tractors, the H was a two-plow model and the 36hp Farmall M was a three-plow tractor.

Built between 1940 and 1953, the McCormick Deering W-4, W-6 and W-9 were plow tractors. The W-4 had the same engine as Farmall H, the W-6 had the 36hp engine used for the Farmall M, and the WD-6 had a Farmall M diesel power unit. The W-4 and W-6 had five forward gears with a top speed of 14mph. The top speed on the 52hp W-9 and WD-9 was 15mph but, like the Farmall M, the fifth gear was blanked off on tractors with steel wheels. Specialist models included the industrial ID 4, 6 and 9 with heavy cast iron rear wheel centres, and the O-4 and O-6 orchard models with a downswept exhaust and tree branch guards over the rear wheels.

The first British-built Farmall M tractors were made at Doncaster in 1949. Designated the Farmall BM in 1951, the tractor had five forward gears and one reverse, power take-off and side- mounted belt pulley.

The diesel-engined 32hp Farmall BMD was added in 1952. The upgraded Farmall Super BM and BMD models appeared in 1955. The diesel engine had a glow plug or heater in each cylinder which was used to start the engine. The Super BW-6 and BWD-6 plow tractors were added in 1955 and remained in production until 1958.