ALL ABOUT TRACTORS

BY PAUL WALLEM 

 Possibly, very few of you can recall your days as a farm kid as far back as I can. Reminisce with me.

When I was 5 in 1939, I first sat on our neighbor’s new Farmall M. I’ll never forget that. It was like climbing on a red giant.

As I got older, I could drive the McCormick Deering 10-20 but couldn’t crank it. Someone else had to do that for me. I remember plowing with it; I was told the plowing gear was 3 miles per hour. I would jump off and walk alongside.

Then we got an Allis WC, which had hand brakes. After that, Dad bought a John Deere G. Again, someone had to start it, and I wasn’t able to spin the flywheel.

Few of you will remember checked corn and cross-cultivating. A miserable, bumpy job. It did keep me awake, however.

The Allis got traded for a Massey Harris 44. Some called it the Massey version of a Farmall M. It had new features like an electric start, a quiet, powerful 6-cylinder engine, and a comfortable seat. It leaves me with the best tractor memories.

I saw that kind of teenage enthusiasm 17 years later. I was demonstrating the new 

Farmall 806 while working for IH, and farm kids liked it a lot compared to their 560. More horsepower, more speeds, and more fun to drive.

In the many years I’ve been involved in agriculture, one thing has never changed. Driving a tractor has always been the exciting part of growing up on the farm. The bigger they are, the more fun they are to drive.

When FFA members have a “Tractor Day” at their high school, they leave their Dad’s smallest tractor in the shed. They take the largest one he will allow!

Hydrogen – a present and future tractor fuel

My June 14 column mentioned the increasing technology devoted to hydrogen tractor fuel. More manufacturers are devoting serious research dollars in this direction. Some are spending more on hydrogen research than electric.

Fendt has prototype hydrogen-fueled tractors in the field. Their green hydrogen is produced using green energy from local citizen wind farms.

JCB is operating prototype hydrogen internal combustion loader/backhoe tractors. The physical size and characteristics are the same as diesel. Hydrogen is injected as a gas, in contrast to diesel, being injected as a liquid. JCB is sharing its technology with other manufacturers to speed up the process of making hydrogen a major tractor fuel. Their engines are also as interchangeable and serviceable as diesel.

New Holland Dual Power is now on the market. It runs as a combination of hydrogen and diesel. It produces lower CO2 and NOx emissions with no loss of torque or power. The hydrogen is stored in five cylinders above the cab.

Hydrogen is a chemical element that makes up 75 percent of the universe’s mass. It is the lightest and simplest element. In its H2 form, it is almost never found in nature. It must be produced through electrolysis, a chemical process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Dual fuel is a transitional technology that dates back 10 years. It is designed to boost demand for hydrogen as an essential transportation fuel. 

Progress at other manufacturers will be covered in future columns. Aviation, particularly commercial airliners, is an industry other than agriculture investing huge dollars in hydrogen research.

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 & SUCCESSES & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books at www.PaulWallem.com. Send comments to pwallem@aol.com.