ALL ABOUT TRACTORS

By PAUL WALLEM

  Those of us that grew up on farms during the 1950s and 1960s had never heard of tractor cabs. Heathousers were just getting popular.

We didn’t know that cabs had been tried much earlier. In 1911 Hart-Parr placed a cab on their 60-100 model with the front and back wide open but with sides that had windows.

A Rumely Gas Pull was launched in 1912 with a three-sided cab (no back) without any window glass. Numerous other builders did the same. Case took it a bit further in 1912 with a windowless cab plus a roof over the entire length of the tractor.

Next came the Model D tractor from Monarch, with an enclosed cab and windows all around. Then the decade of the 1920s arrived, with much smaller tractors, designed to do more jobs such as row-crops. The earlier monsters disappeared.

What also went away was tractor sunroofs. Corn pickers were designed for mounting on tractors, and roofs would get in the way.

Many years passed before enclosed cabs appeared. Minneapolis Moline was the first, when in 1938, they announced the UDLX tractor with a cab equipped with radio, heater, defroster and windshield wipers. The idea was to use it in the field all day, then take it to town in the evening. Only 125 were built. It was too expensive and revolutionary and was discontinued in 1941.

Oliver was the next to attempt the cab market. When they introduced the 900 Industrial model in 1946, the Allen Cab Co. designed an enclosed cab for Oliver. Of the 280 tractors built, only two buyers ordered the cab. The model 900 was discontinued after a year.

Douglas and Maurice Steiger built their first tractor in a dairy barn. In 1963 they introduced the Steiger 4WD, complete with enclosed cab. (They no longer wanted to sit out in raw North Dakota weather while in the field. They figured others would feel the same way).

Suddenly tractor cabs were getting attention. In the winter of 1965, Minnesota farmer Merton Anderson designed and built a cab for himself in his own shop. Others saw it and he built and sold 50 units in a fabrication shop. After displaying at the 1966 Minnesota State Fair, the orders rolled in. Year-Around Cab Co. was formed, and he built 700 cabs in a rented 9,000 square-foot shop.

During the next full year 2,000 cabs were delivered. They were painted to match the color of the tractor the dealer planned to mount it on. A strong selling point was the Tilt-Away feature allowing easier service accessibility. (See the entire Year-Around story in September-October 2022 issue of Heritage Iron Magazine).

Year-Around was one of many tractor cab manufacturers during those years. Throughout the country, thousands were being built to go on new and used tractors. (Author’s note – Our dealerships mounted dozens of cabs for customer tractors during the 1970s).

Meanwhile the major tractor manufacturers were starting to take notice of the demand for cabs. Versatile, a newcomer in the 4WD market, made cabs available on their new 1969 D100 models. They sold 125 the first year, some with cabs.

International Harvester announced their 4100 4WD in 1966, with an IH cab as an option. Their series 66 tractors came out in 1971 with cabs optional. The majority of dealer orders were with cab.

Chuck Pelly, from Henry Dryfuss Associates, was assigned the task of designing a cab for John Deere. Previously he had completed projects for Porsche, Samsonite and other high-end clients. He brought an outsider’s view to cab design, and developed a state of the art cab for Deere tractors. His Sound-Gard cab was standard for Deere from 1973 till 1994. It was sleek, modern looking and quieter. It raised the bar for competitors cabs.

During those years many other manufacturers offered cabs. Throughout the years endless improvements have been made. Noise protection has always been a customer requirement. Accessibility and good vision remain high on the list, along with temperature control under all conditions. Today’s tractor buyer expects his cab to be equally comfortable to his car, and more so because of the many hours spent with the tractor. Large or small horsepower tractor owners require all the same features.

The advent of GPS along with remote tractor cab controls forced new cab designs. Adding computer panels for easy driver access required relocation of other controls inside the cab. Good outside vision had to be maintained, and access could not be diminished. The operator seat gets continuous upgrading, the same as in cars and pickups.

As autonomous use grows, cabs will undoubtedly continue to change. In fruit yard and vineyard applications, driverless tractors are becoming common. Just like the decades from 1920 and 1960, a lot of small tractors for these uses are being purchased without cabs – AGAIN!

Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH in domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. Email your comments about this column to pwallem@aol.com.