Farmall:
Eight Decades of Innovation. Randy Leffingwell,
2005. Hardbound, 352 pages.
Randy Leffingwell
does it again, this time with Farmall. Building on and
expanding his earlier works like International Harvester
Tractors (below), Leffingwell covers the Farmall series and
Harvester history in general from the very beginning through the return
of the Farmall brand in 2004. Meticulous research,
world-class photography, and easy-reading text make this the current
Farmall book to beat.
Farmall:
The Golden
Age 1924-1954.
Lee Klancher, 2002. Hardbound, 128 pages.
Terrific
full-color archival photos
highlight
this summary narrative of IH and the Farmalls up through the Super
M-TA.
Descriptions of the decisions make by various IH executives, and of
what
was going on in the outside world at various points, help tie the whole
story together. But the text was sometimes more brief and
superficial
than I'd hoped for. A good book for those interested in the
antique
and early classic Farmalls, especially if you're looking for great
pictures.
International
Harvester
Tractors,
1955-1985. Ken Updike, 2000. Hardbound,
128 pages.
Far and away the
best book I know of
on the
post-Letter Series Farmalls. In addition to containing
another
big
batch of terrific photos and Guy Fay-assisted research, the book just
feels
like it was written by a Farmall guy. Ken Updike goes into
details
and offers insights that only someone with long years of experience
could.
(The author is very involved in the Farmall community, has a long
history
with IH parts and service,
and
among
other things owns the first
production 806).
International
Harvester Farm
Equipment
Product History 1831-1985. Ralph Baumheckel and
Kent
Borghoff,
1997. Hardbound, 400 pages.
The best overall
history of IH
equipment, from
the McCormick reaper in 1831 to the International xx88-series tractors
in the 1980s, with sections on harvesting equipment and other
implements
as well as tractors. The text is good but necessarily
somewhat
brief,
since each of those categories could likely fill a book by
themselves.
International
Harvester
Tractors.
Randy Leffingwell, 1999. Hardbound, 192 pages.
My favorite IH
book until the same author's Farmall: Eight Decades of
Innovation (above) came out, this is still a good read,
covering the
company and
its tractors from the McCormick AutoMower through the CaseIH models of
the late 1990s.
Farmall
Letter Series
Tractors. Guy
Fay, 1998. Softbound, 128 pages.
Another
first-class researcher, Guy
Fay has
done a great job of collecting and sorting out all sorts of interesting
details about Cubs, the As through Ms, the 4, 6, and 9-series tractors,
and the Super versions. He's also found and reproduced IH's
blueprints
showing where to place decals on all those tractors, and a whole bunch
of terrific color and b/w archival photographs. Those are
complemented
by very good and useful new color photos with detailed captions, so the
book is great fun to look at as well as read--definitely a keeper.
A great selection
of archival
photographs and
interesting text about the development of IH tractors and crawlers,
plus
some miscellaneous engines and equipment. Wonderful photo of
a
prototype
Super MTA on the cover.
The
Big Book of Farmall Tractors.
Robert Pripps and Andrew Morland, 2003. Hardbound, 208 pages.
Just when I think
I've got all I
need, another one comes along that looks interesting. Author
Robert Pripps and photographer Andrew Morland have collaborated on
quite a few good books about old tractors, so I expect this one to be a
good general overview of the Farmalls, from the original of the 1920s
through the end of the line 50 years later. If you're deep
into
Farmall details you might find more of what you're looking for in some
of the other books on this page, but if you're looking for a great
overall coffee-table book on the classic red row-crop tractors, I bet
this would be a keeper. I'll post more details after I've
read it.
Very good
reference for anyone
interested in
IH tractor development, from the earliest gas-engined IH tractors up to
the Case/IH merger in the 80s. There's a brief description of
each
model, with some basic specs and production figures, and lots of
black-and-white
archival photos and text about the history of these old machines.
A case study of how a giant
corporation ran
itself out
of business despite having built some amazingly successful
products.
No nuts and bolts about any particular piece of equipment, but the
accounts
of the various senior executives and the decisions they made over the
years
are very interesting. It's out of print but the
folks at Binder
Books aranged for a limited reprint, available via their
website or
by phone at (503) 684-2024.
Farmall
Tractors. Lee
Klancher,
1995. Softbound, 96 pages.
Some nice photos,
brief text. A
good,
inexpensive book for the casual reader.
Farmall
Tractors. Pripps
and Morland, 1993. Softbound, 128 pages.
Good photos,
brief but decent text,
no coverage
of the standard-tread Internationals. Available separately,
or
combined
with the authors' Ford
and John
Deere books into Great
American Farm Tractors.
Illustrated
International
Harvester
Tractor Buyer's Guide. Robert Pripps,
1995. Softbound,
160 pages.
Essentially the
same text that's in
the author's Farmall
Tractors book, with some additional stuff on
standard-tread
tractors
and a five-star rating system for ranking the collectibility of various
models. Black and white photos.
Very brief text and b/w photos of
all IH
products, from
tractors to trucks to implements to refrigerators. Not much
detail
on any of them, of course, but a great retrospective catalog of
International's
businesses. Out of print now, but used copies may be
available.
