The History of Farmall Tractors: 1940-1954

Farmall’s expansion into construction equipment developed alongside the manufacture of quality trucks and farm equipment.

By Randy Leffingwell And Robert N. Pripps
Published on December 16, 2015
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by Randy Leffingwell
1953 Super B-MD. While IHC produced just about 5,200 of these in the United States, records estimate the British M-diesel production at more than 900. Other than country of origin, however, the machines are very similar.

Discover the complete history of Farmall, from the early days of McCormick and Deering to the latest models, in Farmall (Voyageur Press, 2015) by Randy Leffingwell and Robert N. Pripps. The following excerpt discusses how IHC decided to expand their market beyond farm equipment and trucks.

You can buy this book from the GRIT store: Farmall.

1945-1954: As Focus Changes, Vision for the Future Blurs

World War II engaged McCormick’s imagination. Through the diversity of wartime products IHC manufactured, McCormick came to believe his corporation no longer needed to be strictly a farm equipment and truck maker. With nearly 100,000 workers in seventeen plants, sales increased more than $100 million each year (about $1.3 billion today) during the war. McCormick had money to expand product lines and to buy new factories to build them.

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