When the International Harvester Company (IHC) formed in 1902, some of the best and brightest engineers of the time were brought together, eventually under one roof. That group quickly took a leadership role in the rapidly forming tractor industry, an IHC tradition that continued until International tractors were no more.
The early IHC tractors were remarkable in both their quality and sheer crudity of construction. Using total-loss lubrication and hit-and-miss ignitions, the early Titans and Moguls harnessed internal combustion in the form of a heavy, difficult-to-operate, and low-horsepower machine. The fact that they worked at all is just as amazing as the thought that farmers could actually get anything done with these crude pieces of equipment.
The first machine to showcase the talents of the IHC engineers was the International 8-16, a machine that was truly ahead of its time. It was the first mass-produced tractor to be equipped with a power take-off, and only supply and manufacture difficulties kept it from being a runaway success.
The next machines of note were the McCormick-Deerings, the 10-20 and 15-30: designed by committee, ruggedly constructed, well-built, and economical to produce in quantity. They were leading sellers in their time, and carried the ball well against the Fordson until the revolutionary Farmall appeared a few years later.
The Farmall may have been IHC’s crown jewel. It changed the way farmers viewed the tractor, and became the standard tractor design for the following 30 years. The industry had known for some time that the tractor that replaced the horse and could do it all—turn a belt, pull a plow, and cultivate—would be a big winner. The Farmall was that and more. Its gangly looks and questionable pedigree made it a hard sell to management, but its performance won over farmers and—eventually—International executives.
The next great leap was the Letter Series tractors, which incorporated lots of small improvements that added up to a timelessly graceful and useful line of tractors. The ultimate compliment to these machines is the multitude of battered, mud- and manure-splattered Letter Series machines still working the farm today. Very few 50-year-old machines have worked as hard and long as Letter Series tractors.
After the Letter Series, the company continued its tradition of innovative products, although the great strokes had been painted. The tractor was thereafter refined rather than revolutionized, with advances like shifting on the fly, independent power take-off, more powerful and versatile hydraulic systems, more horsepower, and four-wheel-drive finding their way to the farm.
Flashes of brilliance kept coming, though. The Cub and Cub Cadet put IHC tractors onto the home and hobby farm. The Model 706 and 806 tractors of the 1960s were high-quality examples of how good a high-horsepower tractor could be, and the 2+2 four-wheel-drive tractors brought maneuverability and unified production to articulated machines.
Tragically, high technology wasn’t enough to combat changing times. Tractors were so good that farmers didn’t need to replace them every 2 or 5 or even 10 years. When hard times hit, the 10- or 20-year-old tractor was overhauled rather than replaced, and manufacturers were crushed by a sagging market.
The times forced every manufacturer but one into mergers. John Deere, not IHC, was the only company left standing when the smoke cleared. In October of 1984, the announcement was made that IHC’s agricultural division was to be merged with the Case tractor division to form Case-IH.
The tradition of the International Harvester Company tractors lives on, however, in the hearts and minds of thousands of former employees who made IHC their lives and with millions of farmers who benefited from the company ingenuity. Thanks to restorers and enthusiasts across the globe, today you can still see the tractors as they appeared in showrooms and fields more than 50 years ago.