The Farmall A is a small one-plow

row crop tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commonly, ...

produced by

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

under the

Farmall Farmall was a model name and later a brand name for tractors manufactured by International Harvester (IH), an American truck, tractor, and construction equipment company. The Farmall name was usually presented as McCormick-Deering Farmall and l ...

brand from 1939 to 1947. The tractor was popular for its set of innovative features in a small, affordable implement. It succeeded the

Farmall F-14 The Farmall F-12 is a small two-plow row crop tractor produced by International Harvester under the Farmall brand from 1932 to 1938, with approximately 123,000 produced. An improved model, the two-plow F-14, was produced beginning in 1938 and end ...

. The A was incrementally updated with new model numbers as the Super A, 100, 130 and 140, but remained essentially the same machine. Like the smaller

Farmall Cub The Farmall Cub or International Cub (or simply "Cub" as it is widely known) was the smallest tractor manufactured by International Harvester (IH) under either the McCormick-Deering, Farmall, or International names from 1947 through 1979 in Louisv ...

, the Farmall A features a distinctive offset engine, displaced to the left over wide-set front wheels, to allow vision straight ahead. An International Harvester C113 4-cylinder in-line engine was used for early models, increased to an IH C123 with the A-1. The most significant change was the introduction of hydraulics with the Super A. The series was produced until 1973.

Description and production

Styled by

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...

, it was one of International Harvester's " letter series", with 117,522 produced over the 8-year run, replacing the Farmall F-14. The A was rated for one plow.Pripps pp. 59-63 The Farmall A is equipped with the F-14's International Harvester C113

4-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engine, Wankel engines are o ...

inline overhead valve engine, with a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

. The

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

contains five total gears in a sliding gear arrangement: four forward and one reverse, transmitted to a

portal axle A portal axle (or portal gear lift) is an off-road vehicle suspension and drive technology where the axle tube or the half-shaft is offset from – usually above – the center of the wheel hub and where driving power is transferred to each wheel ...

. The A featured a wide front wheel track with an offset engine, intended to allow for a better view ahead and branded "Cultivision."Klancher, p. 109 The Model A had a 20-pound stamped-steel disk on the left rear wheel and a 170-pound cast-iron disk on the right wheel; the right front wheel had a bolted on weight. The offset engine benefited front-mounted cultivators, compared with the towed equipment used by competing Ford-Ferguson tractors. As with other Farmall letter-series tractors, the design featured an integral frame and unitary construction, allowing entire assemblies to be replaced. Rear wheels on all models used a geared

to provide sufficient ground clearance, and could be adjusted in width over a range of to .Klancher, pp. 110-113 Farmall Super A tractor PA1

A variants

Versions were produced for both gasoline and kerosene fuel. The

Farmall B The Farmall B is a small one-plow row crop tractor produced by International Harvester under the Farmall brand from 1939 to 1947. It was derived from the popular Farmall A, but was offered with a narrow set of centerline front wheels instead of ...

is essentially the same tractor, but with the engine centered for narrow front wheels, and the seat offset instead of the engine, with a wider range of rear wheel adjustment for two-row cultivation. The AV hiboy variant, with more clearance, was intended for vegetable crops, and the International A (or AI) for industrial use. The International A featured a foot throttle and a heavier front axle, and was chiefly used as a mower.Klancher, pp. 115-16 About 210,000 As and Bs were produced, selling for between $575 and $1,000.Pripps, p. 109

Super A

From 1947 to 1954, International Harvester produced the Farmall Super A, with the same engine displacement, but with a hydraulic lift system. About 94,000 Super A tractors were produced, including Super AV variants. In 1954 the Super A-1 was produced, using a higher-rpm International Harvester C123 engine, and was otherwise identical to the Super A.The Super A/A-1 was replaced by the

Farmall 100 The Farmall A is a small one-plow row crop tractor produced by International Harvester under the Farmall brand from 1939 to 1947. The tractor was popular for its set of innovative features in a small, affordable implement. It succeeded the Farmal ...

.Pripps p. 92

Farmall 100

The Farmall 100 was introduced in 1955 as an update to the A-1. It was identical to the A-1 in all respects, but with a new grille and raised chrome lettering.Pripps, p. 114 Engines could still be configured for gasoline, kerosene or

distillate Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

.Klancher pp. 180-181 Total production was 16,191, with an additional 1,057 high-clearance models. The IH 100 was produced as an industrial tractor.

Farmall 130

The Farmall 130 was produced from 1956 to 1958. It differed from the 100 in having white trim and a higher compression ratio.Pripps, p. 128 The IH 130 was produced as an industrial tractor, and a high-crop version, called the 130 HiClear, was produced. About 15,000 130s were produced, selling for about $2,000.Pripps, p. 137

Farmall 140

The Farmall 140 was similar to the 130, but with a 12-volt electrical system in lieu of six volts. It was produced from 1958 to 1973. In 1963 it was restyled in a squared-off manner to match larger Farmall tractors.Pripps, p. 131 Total production was 66,290. The IH 140 was produced as an industrial tractor, and a high-crop version, called the 140 Hi-Clear, was produced. Sale prices were between $2,400 and $4,300.Pripps, p. 137

Comparable products

Comparable products to the A included the Ford 9N,

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a United States, U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various Industry (economics), industries. Its business lines included list of agricultural machinery, agricultural equipment, heavy equipment, construction equipment, electric ...

John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...

H, and

Case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

VC.Pripps, p. 60 The

Massey Massey may refer to: Places Canada * Massey, Ontario * Massey Island, Nunavut New Zealand * Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb United States * Massey, Alabama * Massey, Iowa * Massey, Maryland People * Massey (surname) Educati ...

Pacer was similar to the 100. The Ford 640 was comparable to the 130.Pripps, p. 128 The Ford 651 and

Oliver Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver ...

Super 66 were similar to the 140 and 240.Pripps, p. 132

References

External links

NTTL Test #329 - Farmall A - Gasoline
at the

Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory (NTTL) is a program operated by the University of Nebraska in accordance with Nebraska law to test the performance of agricultural equipment that is to be sold in the United States for compliance with OECD stand ...

archive
NTTL Test $330 - Farmall A - Distillate
at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory archive
NTTL Test #537 - McCormick Farmall Model 100
at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory archive
NTTL Test #617 - McCormick Farmall 130 Gasoline
at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory archive {{commons category Farmall tractors Vehicles introduced in 1939 Raymond Loewy