Case IH’s well-loved Farmall turns 100 this year, its reputation for toughness and versatility standing the test of time.
This year’s centenary is a chance for the brand, Farmall owners, and collectors of the iconic tractor to celebrate the long history of the machine, and honour its place in the advancement of agriculture around the world.
Major historical milestones for the Farmall include:
1923: International Harvester engineer Bert R. Benjamin designs the first Farmall prototype
1931: The F series is presented for farmers with more acreage
1939: Second-generation Farmall designed by Raymond Loewy
1941: Farmall introduces the world’s first diesel row crop tractor
1947: The 1 millionth Farmall rolls off the line
1958: The most popular tractor in the U.S., the Farmall 560 is introduced
1965: Farmall is the first 2WD row crop tractor to exceed 100 horsepower
1974: Case IH sells its 5 millionth Farmall – the first tractor to ever reach that number
2003: Case IH continues to expand the line-up of products spanning from 31 to 105 horsepower
The legacy of Farmall continues today with more than 30 models to choose from, and this iconic tractor series will continue to evolve alongside the customers who made this milestone possible.
“The Farmall is a much-loved tractor right around the world, including Australia and New Zealand, where it fulfills a range of tasks in so many different farming operations. Whether it’s a utility tractor for a broadacre operation, or the principal tractor for a small horticulture business, it’s importance and relevance across so many decades is really unmatched for any other tractor model,” said Seamus McCarthy, Case IH Australia/New Zealand Product Manager for Mid Horsepower & Compact Tractors.
Its history and significance also makes it a highly-collectible piece of farm machinery, with hundreds of Farmall collectors across Australia and New Zealand.
Tom Horwood, based in Inverell, NSW, runs Rural Wrecking Co Pty Ltd, a tractor buying, dismantling and spare parts specialty business, but in what spare time he has, he’s also a passionate Farmall collector, and has been for the past 40 years.
Tom said his passion began as a teenager when he started a mechanic apprenticeship with Inverell Harvester, the local International dealer, with his work bringing him into contact with a lot of International tractors, including the Farmall. His interest in the International brand was ignited, and in his 20s he started his tractor collection.
“I worked on a lot of Farmalls during those years and just developed a real fascination for them. They have such a rich history, so when I started to collect tractors, they were high on my list. Collecting them just gets into your blood and I won’t be stopping any time soon,” he said.
Tom now has a collection of tractors – of all brands – that numbers in the hundreds at the family farm at Inverell, from where he runs his business. He has many old Farmalls, 40 of them actually in working order, with his oldest a Farmall Regular from the late 1920s.
His collection will feature as part of a centenary event Case IH is holding in Inverell later this year to celebrate the Farmall’s special milestone.