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Mark A. McCall
10-11-2003 20:40:41
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Re: Nerrow front ends in reply to Aces, 10-06-2003 08:27:32
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There are advantages and disadvantages to both narrow (see "Tricycle") & wide front ends. I have a Super A, a Super C w/ wide front (pretty rare for Northern Georgia) w/ a Woods belly-mounted finishing mower, an H Farmall (w/ two wheel narrow front), a 350 Diesel Farmall (w/ two wheel narrow front)a 424 International and, as of yesterday, a 706 Farmall Gas w/ a tricycle front end. I grew up on a cotton farm, operating various models of Farmalls and Internationals and found that while the tricycle front end is not necessarily the safest tractor for things such as "bush hogging," a tricycle front end is IDEAL for turning around at the ends of rows of cultivated crops. Around here, farmers have begun using much larger equipment, terrace less, and few (if any) terrace and cultivate crops the way I grew up planting and plowing in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Specifically, you see very few short little rows in fields any more. If I am driving my H or 350D, I can lock either side brake while turning the steering wheel hard and turn 180 degrees, literally pivoting on a back tire, and turn into another set of rows. VERY hard to do the same thing w/ a wide front end tractor, like my Super A or Super C w/ wide front or my 424 International. In a small garden, a tractor like an A or Super A will have to be "wiggled around" to turn around. Like I said, advantages /disadvantages to each type set up, but a tricycle is great for sharp turns while cultivating! Remember, the early Farmall Regulars were designed w/ row crop farmers in mind, and most had narrow front ends in the 1930's and '40's. As agriulture changed, more tractors began appearing w/ wide fronts.
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