Wide vs Narrow Front End

[Non-farmer]

No idea what was common and what was rare, but my 1951 WD has a wide front. Since I don't raise any crops, I definitely prefer the wide front end to the thought of a narrow one.

Edit: I've been told the WD is a row crop tractor by a real farmer (which I am not), not because of the front end, but because the rear axles are raised up above the center of the rear wheels by several inches.

 

[cleddy]

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.

In the 1967 we got a new Minneapolis-Moline U-302 that came with a wide front and also a narrow front that fit in the same place. Pretty good option. We used them both and I still have the narrow front. I prefer the wide front but like the looks of the narrow front. It also fits my M-602 MM which looks nice. Those tractors also came a belt pulley option but we never bought as Pulley work was pretty much done. Good Memories!!

 

[Saskoliver]

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.

Speaking of Standards, how is Your Super 77 coming along Kirk? You get it Fired Up?
I just finished Assembling the Rebuilt Front Axle for Mine. Will be Nice to have it back on its "Feet' again!

 

[farmallsandcoops]

What Farmall and others called "standards" were all wide fronts if I remember right - like 10-20, 15,30, 22-36, W series, etc. Grew up with narrow fronts until the IH 656 arrived in early 70s. I have both now. The narrow fronts are more maneuverable. On my Co-op E2, you could not turn very tight. Swapped it out for a narrow front and (thanks Phil Heisey!!) And I can turn that thing in a "U" with the inside rear wheel ending up right "beside" where it was before the turn... if that makes any sense. Have used them with a loader too. Common sense is all it takes to use one safely. Think "Cool Hand Luke," - a man's gots to know his (tractor's) limitations!

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

My FIL farmed with three COOPs and a JD A, all narrow so that's what I got used to. All the fields were fenced and he didn't like to plow the headlands so they worked well for the sharp turns at the ends. Never had a wide till he got a Ford 2000 from a horse farm that owed him for hay (go figure) but he never used it for more than moving loads around.

 

[Non-farmer]

Think "Cool Hand Luke," - a man's gots to know his (tractor's) limitations!

You've got your characters confused. That wasn't Paul Newman as Luke - It was Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan in I believe the first sequel to Dirty Harry.

Edit: Yep, it was Magnum Force.

 

[farmallsandcoops]

You've got your characters confused. That wasn't Paul Newman as Luke - It was Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan in I believe the first sequel to Dirty Harry.

Edit: Yep, it was Magnum Force.

Not enough coffee.

 

[Non-farmer]

Not enough coffee.

Lol, I hear you. I quit coffee in 1990, for two reasons. One, my father's side of the family generously gave me their high blood pressure, and my job didn't brew Sanka. Second, to drink it, I had to literally add 6 or 7 sugars, plus a heap of cream. It occurred to me that that was an indication that I really didn't like the stuff. Been caffeine-free for 35 years. Quitting Coke (they won't bottle half-liter caffeine free here unless it's diet - yuk) was harder than quitting coffee.

 

[Kirk Norlin]

Speaking of Standards, how is Your Super 77 coming along Kirk? You get it Fired Up?
I just finished Assembling the Rebuilt Front Axle for Mine. Will be Nice to have it back on its "Feet' again!

Yes, got it running last summer. Runs really nice but I'm going to have to tear the engine down. At any RPM over idle, there is what sounds like gear train noise. Pulled the governor off & got the endoscope out. All the gears are worn bad in there. We suspect that the oil nozzle might be plugged. Should know more once it warms up a bit. Glad to hear your project is coming along!

 

[Saskoliver]

Yes, got it running last summer. Runs really nice but I'm going to have to tear the engine down. At any RPM over idle, there is what sounds like gear train noise. Pulled the governor off & got the endoscope out. All the gears are worn bad in there. We suspect that the oil nozzle might be plugged. Should know more once it warms up a bit. Glad to hear your project is coming along!

Well, on the Bright Side You can just Walk over to any one of Your Parts Tractors and Scoop the Parts You Require!
Glad to Hear You got Yours Running.

 

[sonnythomas]

You've got your characters confused. That wasn't Paul Newman as Luke - It was Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan in I believe the first sequel to Dirty Harry.

Edit: Yep, it was Magnum Force.

Loved those Dirty Harry movies. I was competing with pistols at the time. Dirty Harry with no ear protection and shooting one handed fooled a lot of people. I bought, I don't know, a dozen or more .44 mags and most with near full box of shells and bought them dirt cheap. $100 sometimes and never more than $200.
Wore out a .44 S&W Classic with 5" barrel. S&W rebuilt it - no charge. A lot of magnums were only good for around 9,000 rounds. Rugers lasted forever - might have to replace a barrel, but the rest stayed good.
Shot a lot .44 Ruger Super Blackhawks and RedHawks.
Pride and Joy is my .44 Mag Colt Anaconda.

 

[Non-farmer]

Loved those Dirty Harry movies. I was competing with pistols at the time. Dirty Harry with no ear protection and shooting one handed fooled a lot of people. I bought, I don't know, a dozen or more .44 mags and most with near full box of shells and bought them dirt cheap. $100 sometimes and never more than $200.
Wore out a .44 S&W Classic with 5" barrel. S&W rebuilt it - no charge. A lot of magnums were only good for around 9,000 rounds. Rugers lasted forever - might have to replace a barrel, but the rest stayed good.
Shot a lot .44 Ruger Super Blackhawks and RedHawks.
Pride and Joy is my .44 Mag Colt Anaconda.

A friend bought a Ruger 44 mag - I'm thinking it's a Super Blackhawk. I fired it once, and decided that was enough.

PS: I did NOT shoot it one-handed A little birdie landed on my shoulder and advised me not to do that

As for ear protection, you're preaching to the choir on that one. I'm a huge fan of Titus Onyx. I own 3 of them - one for the machine shed, which are always worn when I operate one of my tractors or my ZTR. Then I have a set downstairs at my workbench, and a third pair upstairs for doing something loud just outside the house (machine shed is 50 yards away). I can't stop getting old, but I take a very active hand in not getting old and deaf

 

[JohnRowehl]

Talked to someone recently that remembers a mechanic that grumbled when he was working on a wide front axle tractor. He didn’t like to have to walk all the way around the axle to get over to the other side.

 

[Alvin 41]

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.

I've got two Oliver 770's for sale. They are narrow front and were mostly used on cattle feed mixers. Norrow front was essential for maneuverability.

 

[rrlund]

I've got two Oliver 770's for sale. They are narrow front and were mostly used on cattle feed mixers. Norrow front was essential for maneuverability.

I'm with you on that. I've been using my narrow front 77 on the feed cart for 25 years now. It'll turn up to the bunks way easier than the wide front 1550.

 

[sonnythomas]

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

Storm is over and nothing to do at 4:00 am. I had 806 with a Schwartz wide front. So maybe not necessarily just for a 504. Bedwell Farm Equipment in Bushnell, Illinos had parts for mine.