The Farmall C is a small two-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 common ...

produced by International Harvester under the Farmall brand from 1948 to 1951. The C was developed from 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 t ...

as a slightly larger, more versatile implement, raising and moving the B's offset operator seat to the centerline and increasing the wheel size to allow a straight, widely-adjustable rear axle. The C kept the International Harvester C123 engine that had been used in the Super B model. The tractor was heavier and more robust, and featured hydraulic capability from the beginning. The C was incrementally updated with new model numbers as the Super C, 200, 230 and 240, but remained essentially the same machine. The closely-related successors to the C were produced until 1962.

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 103,800 produced over the 4-year run. The C was rated for two plows.Pripps, pp. 84-85 The C was designated the Farmall E while it was in development. Work started in September 1939. Introduction was delayed by World War II until 1948, when it was designated the Farmall C. The C is equipped with an International Harvester inline overhead-valve

4-cylinder engine 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 engines are often categorize ...

with displacement. The sliding-gear

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

has five total gears: four forward and one reverse.The Farmall C replaced the

, doing away with the offset operator's position and the B's geared

portal axle Portal axles (or portal gear lifts) are an off-road vehicle suspension and drive technology where the axle tube or the half-shaft is off-set from – usually above – the center of the wheel hub and where driving power is transferred to each whe ...

in favor of a straight, splined rear axle with a much greater range of adjustment. Larger wheels provided the necessary underside clearance. The C kept the B's tricycle configuration, with closely-spaced front wheels under the engine housing.Klancher 119-121 From 1951 to 1954, International Harvester produced the Farmall Super C, with the a IH C123 engine. About 112,000 Super C tractors were produced. Super Cs were available with either narrow or wide front wheels. They were replaced by the

Farmall 200 The Farmall C is a small two-plow row crop tractor produced by International Harvester under the Farmall brand from 1948 to 1951. The C was developed from the Farmall B as a slightly larger, more versatile implement, raising and moving the B's of ...

.Pripps, p. 94

Farmall 200

The Farmall 200 was a rebadged Super C with minor improvements, replacing the Super C in 1954, with production into 1956. It was marketed as an ideal tractor for farms with to .Klancher, p. 183 The 200 introduced an option called "Hydra-Creeper", where the transmission could be powered by a hydrostatic drive, allowing for a "creep mode" at about from transplanting operations.Pripps, pp. 112-113

Farmall 230

The Farmall 230 was produced from 1956 to 1958. Compared to the 200, the 230 had styling changes and an increase in compression ratio.Pripps, p. 129 About 12,000 230s were produced, selling for about $2,200.Pripps, p. 137

Farmall 240

The Farmall 240 replaced the 230 in 1958. It was restyled to match the new squared-off look of larger tractors in the Farmall line, and the operator position was adjusted. The 240 was produced until 1962.Pripps, pp. 131-132 The IH 240 was produced as the utility version. About 4,200 240s were produced, at a selling price of about $2,300 to $3,000.Pripps, p. 137

Comparable product

The

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

420 was a comparable offering to the C and the 230.Pripps, pp. 113, 129 The farmall model c sold about 12,000 and sold for 2,300 to 3,000

References

External links

NTTL Test #458 - Farmall Super C
at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory archive
NTTL Test #536 - McCormick Farmall Model 200
at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory archive {{International Harvester Farmall tractors Vehicles introduced in 1948 Raymond Loewy