ALL ABOUT TRACTORS BY PAUL WALLEN Since the first tractor appeared in the early 1900s, attaching implements has been an engineering challenge with a safety risk. During 1911, Advance-Rumely engineers spent weeks designing a hitch to pull a 50-bottom plow behind three of their giant tractors. The purpose was to draw attention to the company. One hundred five years later, in 2016, an Australian farmer went through a similar process to create a hitch capable of attaching a 214’ seeder to two four-wheel Deere tractors. (That seeder was shown in my May 19 column). In the meantime, through the years the common practice was for a driver to back up to the implement while a second person inserted the hitch pin. A major breakthrough developed in 1926 when Harry Ferguson patented his 3-point hitch design in Great Britain. However, it was 13 years later in 1939 before he finally convinced Ford to market his hitch on their newly introduced Ford 9N. In the meantime, Harry’s company was building his Ferguson Model A tractor. An arrangement with Ford saw the Ford-Ferguson on the market till later when Ferguson merged with Massey Harris (Later that become Massey-Ferguson, which still exists). Ferguson was a British mechanic/inventor with many talents. His “three-point linkage system” as he called it was only one of his creations. Earlier he was the first person in Ireland to build and fly his own airplane in 1909. (He also created the first four-wheel drive formula 1 race car). Following the 9N announcement, other tractor manufacturers began installing 3-point hitches, particularly on small tractors. The new hitch became popular quickly throughout the world. In the meantime, International Harvester engineers had continued to explore a hitch design that would allow the tractor driver to hook up to an implement without assistance. He would simply back up, align two hitch prongs on the tractor with the receptacles on the implement. The hookup was then complete. There was no need for a person helping from the ground. These engineers believed the person between the implement and the tractor was always at risk of injury. A new feature announced in 1961 on the Ford 9N was called Multi-Trol draft control. Soon after it became available throughout the industry. The design had a control lever that set a plowing depth. It allowed an automatic change to a lesser plowing depth when the load increased due to heavier soil. A second lever maintained constant depth regardless of load. The operator chose which he preferred. This feature was considered a major breakthrough in tractor design and was integral with a 3-point hitch. IH introduced the optional 2-point hitch on their 300 and 400 series models in 1954, as well as some of the smaller tractors. The 2-point hitch was continued on the 350 and 450 series tractors from 1956 to 1958. Many buyers liked the hitch, feeling it was safer. However, by 1954 when it was offered, the 3-point hitch had been on the market for 15 years, and was on many different brands. The 2-point version was marketed only by IH, and its small acceptance caused its cancellation by the early 1960s. Different categories of 3-point hitches had become necessary as larger tractors started pulling larger implements. By 1976 the larger 4-wheel drives were equipped with category III hitches. The earlier category II was not heavy enough for the larger loads. After that the even larger 4-wheel drive tractors came with category IV. New mast heights were required, up to 27 inches. In recent years 3-point hitch conversions are now marketed by numerous companies. They are available for the different categories, and designed to simplify hookup procedures. Dozens of specialized hitch attachments can be found online for various applications. Those designed for front mount on tractors are also offered on many websites. Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm, involved with 4H and FFA. 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 & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. Email your comments to pwallem@aol.com |
