New H owner

[Tom B.]

Just picked up a 1939 H from an auction with the intention of using it with a brush hog to mow some CRP. A few locals told me it's in too nice condition to use it for that. Bought from son of original owner. 1 farm tractor. Has a hydraulic trip bucket and everything else looks original. Tires are 2 years old and 98%. Everything works fine. Paint is very clean, no rust. No leaks. Tin is straight. Starts right up with little or no choke. No smoke at all. Don't know much about them. Paid $1650. Think it was fair deal?
Thanks. Tom

 

[Red Mist]

Yeah, that was a fair deal.
mike

 

[Wayne in MN]

Get yourself an owner's manual ASAP so you can understand what is needed for your new purchase!
H's are one of my favorite tractors.
Good luck.

 

[Andy Motteberg]

Congratulations on your new H! They are my most favorite tractor ever built! You will really love that H! That sound like a pretty good price, I think. Please post some pictures of your H.

Good luck!

Andy.

 

[Mike CA]

Would love to see some pics. What's the serial number? It's your choice to work it. But if it's in real nice condition, preservation should be considered.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Use it if you bought it to use and keep it protected/shedded if it is in good shape. Good price if it is what you said with loader. hard to find anything like it for that price. It will still be worth money after you use it, unless used excessively, then wear issues come into play. My opinion. Wish I had one. Certainly more powerful than their HP figures say.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Now,, Andy your skidding a little bit off here ha ha ha ,
you liked JD's and now your talking about Farmall's???
Have you come to the conclusion that there are other makes out there and you can try them too as well as other colors, ha ha ha??
Ohh yea I mean H's are cool too as well as the standards, and the older 22-36's too with the totally cool grey body, and red wheel scheme??
Id buy a 1486 just to listen to it in the field as its pulling a drill or disc,
they sound totally cool with that raspy big turbo six in there and I like the cab too as you dont feel like your gonna fall into the engine when you climb up in the cab as you do on JD 4430's,
I mean i like the JD's ok
But i never liked that thing on the front doors where you have to watch where your going when you step up to go in the cab and you feel like your gonna fall into the engine when you hold onto the grab handle and try to walk into the cab with the door slung open???

 

[dhermesc]

"A few locals told me it's in too nice condition to use it for that."

Ask them why they didn't buy it then. If you use it on a shredder make sure you buy an over riding clutch. If that price includes the loader you got a real good deal.

 

[GordoSD]

I don't see how driving around in some grass, doing some mowing is going to cause terminal damage to the tractor. Just change out the fluids, use it and keep it cleaned up a little.

Gordo

 

[the tractor vet]

I used my S/MTA alot doing what it was ment to do from pulling a plow to grinding feed tractor pulling and did this for 4 years before it went to the Red Power Round Up in 94 and it was still good enough to make the video . My advice RUN it and give a bath and some polish once in a while.

 

[LenNH]

Use it! There are still a good number of these tractors doing useful work. I knew a large wholesale fruit/vegetable farmer who had nearly 40 IH tractors from the 40s and 50s--each one had a specific task, like cultivating, planting, mowing, hauling. They didn't cost him a lot, and they allowed his operation to be very versatile.
If given a little TLC, these tractors can be useful for years from now. There are a few drawbacks (no live hydraulics is one; no 3-point hitch is another, unless you add one; no live PTO), but all in all, an H or M is a delight to drive, especially compared to the old beasts I grew up with (steel-wheeled 10-20s, a "Regular," an F-20, a steel-wheeled F-12 and one on rubber, plus a smattering of other old crates).

 

[Andy Motteberg]

Kirk, I like JD's too but Farmalls are my favorite, I'm 15 and started out with my Farmall H and I used to not like John Deere's, but after we started parting out a few and fixing up a few, I started to like the JD's too. In Me, My Dad and my Brother's tractor collection, we have sveral Farmalls and 3 JD's so far. My Dad just bought a 46 H and he is going to call about another 46 H. I bought a 38 F-20 and will pick it up in the spring. I like the Farmalls are Deeres a lot, but still Farmalls are my favorite!

Andy.

 

[Steven f/AZ]

Sounds like a fair deal to me.

USE IT! My 42 H provided a good 40 years or so of service before being parked, and after some parts and a rebuild I expect it to go at least another 40 years before it needs any work again.

Dad's H has been in service since new, he ran it in the 70's and rebuilt it - sold to a relative who used it from then until 2006 when I bought it back. And guess what? We are using it again for haying, running the auger, grinder, etc.

Would love to see some pictures of it! Does it have the old style channel iron seat with the cutout in the platform?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Ohh Ok andy ,
No biggyt,
I like farmalls too and i so wanna get this w-6 going again andy as its been over a yr since itsbeen running so ive gotta get that pump off there get it redone if its ok, then put return lines around the hyd tank so the fluid will flow nd then it will be ok and everything will work like its supposed to,
andy if you know of anyone that has the parts for the W-6 hyd system like the lever actuator the nipples,and the pieces that go on the left side of the tank id like to find them and make it original,
Kirk,

 

[daniel henebry]

I would use it and I agree with the earlier post to buy the overide clutch for the bushhog. The H has the live PTo and if you need to stop quickly the bushhog could keep pushing you. If you take the loader off you may want to build a bumper on the front to protect the grille. It is really hard to find a grille that isn't dented up.

 

[kirby warfield]

Tom-One word of advice-If you plan to use a rotary cutter,be advised the early "H" and "M" used a "Dog" type pto drive that had a bad habit of shearing off the drive dogs on the pto if hitting something with a cutter.IH made a conversion kit,I've changed several over the years to the later production spline countershaft,and PTO drive shaft.One way to tell is to look and see if the PTO drive housing is "Flat", against the transmission case.If it extends out about 10" OAL from case,its last update.BUT,there were 3 ptos used on "Hs". A 39 with the dog type pto is hard to find today,I get many requests for them to make the 39,and early 40 "Hs'original,now the guys are going back!!

 

[Jack Rusthoven]

I agree with Kirby about the early pto drive and have the broken countershaft from my 40 H. I couldn't find parts anywhere to fix it, and converted it out to the later style. The Later one is stronger and you don't need to use the pto size adapter like you will with the earlier one.