ALL ABOUT TRACTORS BY PAUL WALLEM Phoenix, 1979, was the announcement site for a new-concept tractor - the 2 Plus 2. International Harvester engineers had created the first articulated row crop tractor. By putting two tractors together, they had created a steerable front section with an unchanged back section. Two models were announced at the Phoenix meeting: 3388 (111 HP) and 3588 (126 HP.) A year later, the 3788 came out with 142 HP. Thirty-nine years later, in 2018, dealers who had been in business during the years 1979-1985 were interviewed about this tractor. From a southern dealer: “It was ahead of its time. We sold several, and they worked well.” A Midwest dealer said, “Ugly tractor!” But he sold a few. A dealer from an eastern state commented that it was “interesting but clumsy. We sold two.” A Saskatchewan dealer was impressed with the tractor. He has two in his present collection. Another Canadian dealer laughed when he recalled the Phoenix 2 Plus 2 announcement. He stared as it “kept coming – and coming – from behind the curtain.” He thought it was the ugliest tractor he’d ever seen, but his dealership sold quite a few. Back in the Midwest, a dealer had no luck selling the 2 Plus 2. “It was too revolutionary,” he said. I was an IH dealer at that time. We tried hard to sell the new model. We found that a farmer had to drive the demonstrator before he would get interested. They were uncertain about the hood moving in a different direction from the driver. They needed a couple of hours behind the wheel before they would buy the 2 Plus 2. On top of that, the entire ag market was in a tailspin. Interest rates were rising to 21 percent. Farmland values were dropping, and buyers were cautious about spending on machinery. Between 1979 and the IH sale to Tenneco in 1985, combined sales of 3388, 3588, and 3788 models totaled 10,285. The introduction of the updated 6388, 6588, and 6788 added 1,261 more. Then, the termination of the 2 Plus 2 models came with the Case/IH merger. The Super 70 models (7288 and 7488) were announced at the 1984 Farm Progress Show but were to be short-lived. Even though the series 70 was equipped with a revolutionary Synchro Tri-Six transmission with 18 speeds, the model never had a chance to succeed. Only 16 models were built, and now they are valuable collector models. A 2014 Successful Farming magazine article by Dave Moritz commented that the once-maligned and misunderstood 2 Plus 2 is now looked upon more favorably at auctions. He suggested that maybe the tractor was a victim of corporate mismanagement but was successful in its first year of production, with nearly 3,000 sold. This amounted to one-fourth of the 4WD market in 1984. As a dealer during the 2 Plus 2 years, I saw the buyer’s hesitation in this new and unconventional design early on. When a close friend bought a 3588 from me, I spent an afternoon driving his new 3588 with a field cultivator. Because of the hood movement ahead of me, I had to get used to the experience. After a couple of hours, the hood movement no longer bothered me. On a positive note, turns at the end were much smoother than a conventional tractor due to the articulation. When the final agreement with Tenneco was signed early in 1985, and Case/IH became one, Farmall Works in Rock Island, Ill., was not part of the transaction. The “Super 70 Series” was due to be built there and was discontinued by Case/IH. Some feel that the new transmission would have carried the 2 Plus 2 design to success. We will never know. Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH in domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of the BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES and INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. Email comments to Pwallem@aol.com. |
