If you want to dig into this deeper, you can find out the various compression ratios on tractors from the Nebraska Tractor Test results and on Tractordata. Simply do an internet search for something such as, "M Farmall." I just did that search for a 4020 John Deere. On Tractordata you will need to click onto "engine" and it should show the specifications on the various engines. A 4020 gas tractor has a compression ratio, according to this source, of 7.5 to 1. I tried Tratordata on the 806 Farmall and it only showed the compression ratio on a diesel tractor. I then did a search by typing in "Nebraska Tractor Test for 806 Farmall." It showed the compression ratio to be 7.7 to 1. I went further and looked at the 4020 LP tractor, which showed a compression ratio of 9 to 1. I know the 2 cylinder Deere tractors and probably everything built from the mid-1950's and earlier had lower compression, especially anything designed to burn kerosene or distillate. As gasoline became more popular, the compression ratios starting gradually increasing. I believe the late 1950's and well into the 1960's, is when the compression ratios probably peaked out and lower octane fuels started becoming more mainstream, while high octane fuels were increasingly scarce, as well as costly. My grandfather purchased one of the first 806 Farmalls in our area. It was gasoline powered and was rated to operate on a minimum of 93 octane gasoline. Tetraethyl lead was an octane improver, but as the lead content of fuels diminished, and ultimately no longer available, octane ratings dropped, and these higher compression and higher performance engines (just like in the muscle car era) wouldn't run on these lesser quality fuels. My father and grandfather had to buy premium gasoline in those final years the 806 was on the farm in order for that 806 to run and perform properly. Today, 87 octane is mainstream fuel, and 91 octane is the premium fuel with a cost of around 60 cents a gallon more. The Tractor Vet on the IH forum has commented about the gasoline made today versus the 1960's when tractors, such as the 806, were new and being used for all jobs, including hard pulling work. I have read some comments as to the fuels available back then, particularly the various grades of gasoline produced by Sunoco. I did some on-line investigation and one can purchase Sunoco branded fuels with octane rating exceeding 100. They are available and marketed as racing fuel, but there are multiple grades available. Sorry for going off track. I guess once I got going on this topic, I went further along with it.
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Today's Featured Article - An Old-Time Tractor Demonstration - by Kim Pratt. Sam was born in rural Kansas in 1926. His dad was a hard-working farmer and the children worked hard everyday to help ends meet. In the rural area he grew up in, the highlight of the week was Saturday when many people took a break from their work to go to town. It was on one such Saturday in the early 1940's when Sam was 16 years old that he ended up in Dennison, Kansas to watch a demonstration of a new tractor being put on by a local dealer. It was an Allis-Chalmers tractor dealership,
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