Super A

[jcwasher1515]

Hi all! We are restoring an International Harvester Super A. Model FAA-1. Serial 348228. With USA tag C19725. It has yellow paint under the red which caused us to wonder if this was a state highway tractor. If so we want to paint yellow and need the paint color code or is it federal yellow? During my research I see how y'all know the history of your tractors for example exactly where your tractor was in service. I am new to this but we have purchased a super a, as well as two 140s and a C. Any info and guidance would be great!!! Thank you!

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

It appears the SA has the square front axle which would lead to industrial version. Does it also have the foot throttle? This is another industrial add on. So it could have been a hwy dept tractor.
Not sure on yellow #s back then. Have fun
Dennis

 

[jcwasher1515]

Yes it does have a foot throttle. Is there a way to find it's history?

 

[Jim Becker]

Yes, that looks like the industrial version. It appears that evidence of the big "INTERNATIONAL" decal is still on the side of the hood. You say it has "USA tag C19725". Does the tag actually say "USA" or something of the sort, or is that just your description? Exact appearance of such a tag tells a lot. The Super A was pretty commonly used as a highway mower. Buit it was used for a lot of other commercial purposes as well. What do the arms on the left end of the Touch-Control rockshaft look like? Federal yellow was an available color. However, back when is tractor was built, it was pretty common use red or orange. Some state highway departments ordered them in the state colors too. Some time in about the 1960's, most highway departments decided everything needed to be yellow. So you can find a lot of old highway equipment, including Super As, that have layers of red or orange under the old coat of yellow.

 

[jcwasher1515]

Here are some pics

 

[grandpa Love]

Unfortunately there is no "carfax" for tractors. We have owned dozens and dozens of Farmall tractors. We know the whole history of only 2 ....both were bought from the original owners family.

 

[Jim Becker]

Interesting asset tag. Such tags may be added by and sort of organization that has a control system for physical assets. The USA part of it strongly suggests it belonged to a federal agency. I have no idea what C&CCC is. The yellow paint seems to be sandwiched between two layers of red. The yellow paint is on top of the serial plate, so obviously was not applied at the factory. The red under the yellow is probably the original factory paint.

 

[tomtinker]

Would the ccc have been civilian conservation corps, or was that program still in existence at the time of manufacture ?

 

[Jim Becker]

Would the ccc have been civilian conservation corps, or was that program still in existence at the time of manufacture ?

Nope, long gone. That CCC was shut down about '42 or '43. This tractor was built in '53. The only other federal CCC I could think of is the Commodity Credit Corporation. It existed in 1953. But I don't know of any program they have/had that would call for owning/use of machinery.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

That has to be a capital letter I and not a numeral 1. The serial number for it being a Super A-1 is too low. 356001 is the first Super A-1. The Industrial features and yellow paint pretty much confirm that.