Wide vs Narrow Front End

[JohnRowehl]

I suspect there is no documentation of this but I’m curious about what portion of Oliver tractors, thinking Fleetline or Supers, Row Crops, were built with a wide front end. Artwork on Oliver tractor merchandise (hats, fabric etc) almost always shows tractors with a narrow front end.

I’m fairly confident that a large majority were narrow, particularly in areas that had a lot of corn picking going on. And I have had conversations with people that imply that the term “Row Crop” applied to only these narrow front end models. And when I told someone I was going to bring my wide front 77 to a show they said something like, “well that will be different“.

Interesting to me who grew up in an area where the vast majority of tractors had wide front ends.

 

[rrlund]

It was unusual to see a wide front here. I remember a neighbor buying a Super 77 with a wide front. Back then, when somebody got a new tractor, everybody had to go see it. As a little guy who was used to seeing a cultivator on a tractor most of the summer, I thought "That's dumb, it'd be hard to get the cultivator on". A good share of the other color old tractors you see at shows here have aftermarket wide fronts if they have a wide front at all.

 

[scootergmc]

Out west it seemed like most tractors were wide fronts, except for very specific crops, and even those made a migration to wide fronts it seemed. The thing that always bugged me were the folks who referred to two wheel narrow front ends as tricycles, but that's my problem.

 

[jwal10]

Oldest wide front I remember here was Dad's Case 400 and it was 4 years old when he got it. A neighbor got a Coop a couple years later, it looked like a rowcrop but it had a fixed wide front. Lots of Farmall M's and H's and A and B John Deeres. Most everything here was narrow front row crop back then. There just weren't many newer models of either brand until the 3010/4010 JD and '06 Farmalls and they were all wide fronts here. Every farmer had a cultivator. Mid to late 60's, a lot more wheat was planted. Never saw a narrow front 1010/2010 or 404/504 but most of THEM were utilities here, with a loader....James

 

[crooked rows]

I suspect there is no documentation of this but I’m curious about what portion of Oliver tractors, thinking Fleetline or Supers, Row Crops, were built with a wide front end. Artwork on Oliver tractor merchandise (hats, fabric etc) almost always shows tractors with a narrow front end.

I’m fairly confident that a large majority were narrow, particularly in areas that had a lot of corn picking going on. And I have had conversations with people that imply that the term “Row Crop” applied to only these narrow front end models. And when I told someone I was going to bring my wide front 77 to a show they said something like, “well that will be different“.

Interesting to me who grew up in an area where the vast majority of tractors had wide front ends.

Not many wide fronts around here other than Ford and Ferguson. The first larger tractors that I remember see many of with wide fronts where Allis Chalmers WD45s . Then around 1960 it seems like all tractors where wide front.

 

[greg krush]

Some single fronts here in Colorado, used for cultivating irrigated crops that were ditch irrigated, especially sugar beets which were narrower rows than corn, even some JD 3010s with single fronts. Cant say as I ever saw an oliver 4 digit with a single front.

 

[NEWIoliver]

I grew up with a wide front 53 model 88. We always had widefronts, and neighborhood was about 50% wides.I personally never cared for the look of a narrow front of any make.

 

[JohnRowehl]

I grew up with a wide front 53 model 88. We always had widefronts, and neighborhood was about 50% wides.I personally never cared for the look of a narrow front of any make.

What crops were grown in your area?

 

[Welding man]

I suspect there is no documentation of this but I’m curious about what portion of Oliver tractors, thinking Fleetline or Supers, Row Crops, were built with a wide front end. Artwork on Oliver tractor merchandise (hats, fabric etc) almost always shows tractors with a narrow front end.

I’m fairly confident that a large majority were narrow, particularly in areas that had a lot of corn picking going on. And I have had conversations with people that imply that the term “Row Crop” applied to only these narrow front end models. And when I told someone I was going to bring my wide front 77 to a show they said something like, “well that will be different“.

Interesting to me who grew up in an area where the vast majority of tractors had wide front ends.

We hardly ever saw a narrow front in my area when I was growing up. We have a lot of steep, hilly farms. Everyone was afraid of narrow fronts. I now have 2 Oliver 70's, both narrow, A super 88 with both fronts, an 880 with both fronts, a Cockshutt 30 with both fronts and a Farmall Super MTA with both fronts.

 

[8NHENRY]

My dad always had narrow fronts until we got our 2-105. I had a uncle that lived south of us 30 miles and he had farmalls and almost everything had wide fronts which was unusual in our area until the bigger tractors came out.

 

[JohnRowehl]

Here’s an indicator of the scarcity of wide fronts in the area I live in now. The parade announcer at the show I was at recently, considered to be very well versed in all types and brands of machinery, acted surprised to see the rubber bumpers on the front axle of the 77.

 

[Welding man]

Here’s an indicator of the scarcity of wide fronts in the area I live in now. The parade announcer at the show I was at recently, considered to be very well versed in all types and brands of machinery, acted surprised to see the rubber bumpers on the front axle of the 77.

Is anyone making those Rubber bumpers? Mine needs a set.

 

[JohnRowehl]

Is anyone making those Rubber bumpers? Mine needs a set.

I got mine from Korves.

 

[NY 986]

I suspect there is no documentation of this but I’m curious about what portion of Oliver tractors, thinking Fleetline or Supers, Row Crops, were built with a wide front end. Artwork on Oliver tractor merchandise (hats, fabric etc) almost always shows tractors with a narrow front end.

I’m fairly confident that a large majority were narrow, particularly in areas that had a lot of corn picking going on. And I have had conversations with people that imply that the term “Row Crop” applied to only these narrow front end models. And when I told someone I was going to bring my wide front 77 to a show they said something like, “well that will be different“.

Interesting to me who grew up in an area where the vast majority of tractors had wide front ends.

1960 seemed to be the year that farmers around here bought more WFE equipped tractors than NFE. Guys who came up through the Great Depression were very tight with money.

 

[Welding man]

I got mine from Korves.

Thanks, I bought some engine parts for my 880 from them a while back. I will check.

 

[MikeO-WI]

My dad was a Ford man so we never had a narrow front on the farm until we had to rent a Ford 6000 because ours was down. It had a NF and yes, much easier to get the cultivator on, but it would bury the front wheels in the extremely sandy spots in the field. Hated using it. Neighbors had NF Olivers and IH but we never purchased one. Heritage Iron had a recent article on this.

 

[Kirk Norlin]

Up here in north central ND, almost everything fleetline & newer is wide front. And a lot of standard tractors up here as well. Streamlines & earlier were mostly narrow fronts.

 

[sonnythomas]

Growing on my Uncles's farm all there was narrow front wheels - Case, Farmall H and M. I think I was around 13 years old (around 1962) my Uncle bought a 1949 Ford 8N with wide front end. Seems all the Ford tractors had wide front ends and all other tractor were narrow front ends.
I wanted a wide front end and bought WD45. A few years back I bought a Farmall 806 that had been converted to a wide front end. Just 3 years ago I bought 1964 Oliver 1650 with wide end.
Just saw a Farmall 400 with wide front end for sale. It has been fitted with a 3 point hitch.

 

[80 acres]

My Dad bought a new 77 in 1953 with wide front, I learned to drive on that tractor. We still use it to this day although it dosen't do heavy field work anymore. It's now on the hay baler or pulling empty wagons.

 

[dew67]

Some single fronts here in Colorado, used for cultivating irrigated crops that were ditch irrigated, especially sugar beets which were narrower rows than corn, even some JD 3010s with single fronts. Cant say as I ever saw an oliver 4 digit with a single front.

Do you know of any Schwartz wide front ends for a Farmall 504 Diesel for sale? I live in Berthoud Colorado?