Rock Island, Illinois Farmall Plant Past
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- čas přidán 22. 03. 2008
- RFD TV Show Direct TV, Ch 379, about the Rock Island Farmall plant which is being torn down. Max Armstrong interviewed people like Spike O'Dell (radio personality) and former workers and buyers of Farmall tractors. They had a parade of the restored old tractors run through the assembly line area (50 acres where they made up to 350 tractors a day) for one last time.
Great Program!
Kind of sad, but brings back a lot of good memories about a time of American workers sense of pride, prosperity, and "better times for middle class".
Articles and comments of possible interest:
www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/... Story Pictures
www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/... Comments
www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/... Follow up story
www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.c... - Yesterday's Tractors Forum
Who agrees that they should’ve turned this into a museum?
I think so.
I worked at Farmall from 1972 till the end. Worked with Spike.
IH built quality tractors back then. A true testament in time for lots of those tractors still existing
Growing up we had IH tractors and trucks on our farm. My father had IH construction equipment and trucks as well.
I had a Scout in high school.
Then years later in my business I bought and old IH R-190 truck that I wish I still had today.
The first time I drove at 6 years was in a hay field picking up hay
My father put the truck ( a R-200) in first gear and I had to stand up to steer it to drive around the field while the helpers threw bales on the trailer..
The good old days.
I’ll never forget where i was and what I was doing when I found out IHC had died. I was 7 years old when my dad came home and told my brothers and me that IHC was out of business and there would be no more new IHC tractors on our farm. I started crying
A lot of adults cried that day too. Factory workers there, retirees, dealers and loyal Farmall tractor owners. I talked to a dealer and sat at a large gathering of dealers when the announcement was made that they were taken over by Case. Some of the dealers lost their franchise as the Case dealer was appointed. However there was more I H dealers that became the dealer and the Case dealer was eliminated. Many farmers couldn’t understand this. Case took over I H but at the dealer level the IH dealer took over the Case dealer. The existing IH dealer was financially better off.
I have that IH quilt with the early Farmall tractors.. Still use it to keep warm on the winter...
Programs like this is one of the reasons I love RFD-TV even though I've lived in San Francisco for more than 30 years. At long last, I can move back to the family farm in NC and work on restoration of my dad's IH Farmall Super A and M tractors. As a kid, I thought "real" tractors came only in the color RED.
Being a member of Rock Island, and also having a grandfather that worked in that very plant, the very worker who shut the lights off for the last time in the historic plant, it very greatly saddens me that my city couldn't preserve its history better. Funny how just one city over in Moline, there's a huge John-Deere pavillion.
My grandpa's 560 Diesel was built in that plant and shipped to our hometown by rail. It would've been really cool to drive it down the assembly line it was built on. The tractor is still on the farm to this day and we still use it.
Farmall is my all time favorite tractor!
Very sad story, these were and are some of the best Tractors ever made, I wish I had more of them! 1066, 766 for now. 👍
Cyrus McCormick was a wise man. Sorry his company was forced to merge. A Farmall tractor was tough to beat. Farmall M was a masterpiece of farm implement.
Man, a shame that i only can give one 'thumbs up' for this clip. That was really really interesting.
slambert00 i
Thanks Max Armstrong for preserving the history of IH.. I've been an IH FANATIC and collector of IH Farm Toys , Literature and Memorabilia for many years....
It will forever be my most favorite brand even if it doesn't exist anymore, when everything was made to last a maximum.
My old man supported you guys by buying IH tractors even though he worked at Deere in Waterloo. My future of not working on Ag tractors matched the folks in Moline.
International Manufacturing turned Big Wheels in it day ,the people in this Plant would go to work confidently happy worker , Farmers using these tractors were just as excited ,confidently about their business in the fields ,early morning till dark most of times content, thanks IH .
Testing those new tractors would have been a great job. Hard to believe how many they built in a months time.
I've my grandfather's all original "regular". And restored a "b"n with my son. Both are running great, and wonderful conversation pieces with the retired farmers around here.
The good old days... IMO this family atmosphere is sadly missing in society today... 😥..
My dad was the one of the plant managers. He used to work in the Milwaukee plant and was transferred to Rock Island.
i just bought a farmall cub, im going to use it in my yard mowing and snow plowing maybe even a garden. i love this little tractor and i appreciate the history
Grew up In the 70s. with the 560s. A real work horse on the farms. The sound of the six cylinder was music to the ears. Have a 460 a 656 n a M. Trying to find a nice 1963 560 diesel. To buy. Long sleek red beauty. To here the six sing again. Them 560 s n 460s. Where. A sign of the times. A real gem
Vern Simon I assume just like a Harley Davidson Motorcycle IH tractor had its own distinct sound.
Tragedy to lose this iconic giant of manufacturing .
Although I am 1st generation non-farmer, I will always have an appreciation for IH. My Dad stopped farming / trucking and started electrical contracting. When I was 3 years old he started taking me with him daily and teaching me the trade. I loved it. At 1st, I mostly started learning about *people*, and that I couldn't wait to learn to drive. About age 7 maybe, he bought a Wards riding lawnmower for our 1+ acre homestead. He used it once and returned it. About that time he was ordering a new '63 International pickup cab/chassis to put a utility body on - with his own design & built headache rack, high power wench and adjustable removable boom for pulling wells. He also bought (when it 1st came out) one of the 1st International Cub Cadets, 7hp. That is what I learned to drive on. He started me in 1st gear, soon moved me to 2nd, and shortly graduated me to 3rd gear. He didn't stop there - soon he put a boat trailer on the hitch and later a utility pole trailer, with pole, later increasing the length of the poles. He also ordered a '66 International chassis/cab, both we picked up at the factory in Springfield Ohio. We traded cadets as they offered the 10hp, then the 12hp hydrostatic, and a couple used ones later. When I started contracting my 1st truck was a 72 International pickup, and I later had a '75 4wd stake bed. Alas, that was the last year for the pickups. As a teen I worked several summers for a couple of farmers. I don't remember the models, but one farmer asked if I'd ever driven a farm tractor. I was honest and told him "No, Sir." He just said "Well, that changes today." After a minute or two of static training, I was pulling hay wagons to-and-fro. I spent a lot of time looking at other brands, but nothing could compete in my heart nor in my head with IH. I'm sorry for rambling when this is such a wonderful piece about the Rock Island factory. I would just like to thank ALL the wonderful, hard working people of IH, many themselves now gone, for making some of the best equipment in the world and the parts they played in my .family's lives. If IH made it, that's the one we bought. Thank you.
So sad that the men at the "top" destroyed an entire company.
so sad its all gone. its important to remember that losing our manufacturing isn't just an economic issue, but as in WW2 it can be a matter of national security.
Sad to think that this is where our 1982 5288 was built by far the best tractor we have ever owned
part of America died the day that this plant closed it's doors :'(
i am the very proud owner of a 1948 farmall cub. i love that little tractor. who needs a modern sub compact when you can buy an awesome vintage compact farmall cub. while i only have a 2 acres of lawn, and even though the cub is a small AG tractor the cub scales itself well to mowing, snow removal and small chores. i am proud to own one of the best small tractors in history and the one of the best overall tractor brands in history. besides it does a wonderful job mowing with that large 60 inch deck. all for the price of a brand new peice of plastic lawn tractor. i will choose tired iron every time, i wouldn't have it anyway.
Still use a 1940 Farmall A to cut grass with a belly mount wood's mower and push snow with a belly mount grader blade. Bail hay with a 1957 Farmall 450 and a New Holland bailer the 1945 M pulls the wagons. Simple and reliable when things weren't throw away.
I was there. 78 Bill Lillis was my boss.
Worked there in the 70s
I know how this is our factory was hart-parr, oliver, and white now it is a slab of concrete. My wife work there for a short time and that made her third generation to work there. And now the kicker my dad has a very nice farmall M and I have a farmall 706 and a 560 with a McCormick manure spreader, not very popular around here when I say go BIG RED
Dad used to work in that building. Didn't find out about it till recently. Have a picture of it if it's the one I'm thinking circa 1990.
Very sad for me this was the greatest country at one time its being picked apart and dismantled and its truly a shame to see
I grew up 2 blocks from that plant on 40th st.
I have:
1952 Super M w/ 33 Loader
1951 Super A w/ Woods Belly Mower
1949 Cub w/ Woods Belly Mower
1965 IH 454 w/ Woods Loader
1970 Cub Cadet Mower
P.S. I cried like a baby when I watched this.
martinsuper73 I think Woods is still in business. They have a factory near Byron, Illinois.
Got 1948 M love my old FARMALL
In Rockford there used to be a Case Tractor plant that closed about 25 years ago .
Wow what a tear jerker. Hate to see it go. IH all the way
I drove one of the last international harvester truck made. It was better than the navastars.
I lived a few years in Moline, and saw the Farmall works in Rock Island many times and met a lot of the men who worked there. When the plant closed in 1985, it devastated the community. An area that had seen the Rock Island Railroad shut down and close it's Silvis shops in 1980, now faced another difficulty. And kudo's to Max, for bringing this to us.
Ken Schmidt aa
Thankyou guy international guy s international
My grampa Popp worked there and retired from Farmall
IH and Allis Chalmers Fell in the early 80's, yet when Chrysler and GM where in trouble Obamma stepped right in, kind of ticks me off in a way......
Wasn’’t a big enough industry to prop up. However the UAW probably had a hand in grinding them down like they did with the car industry. However they did get their comeuppance over at Caterpillar.
Some of these big Companies like Allis Chalmers, IHC, Minneapolis-Moline and Oliver had too any over paid and underworked executives....not to mention generational relatives that had to have their dividends at the expense of not put back in to develop new products. In the end John Deere ate their lunch by coming out with tractors that were more reliable
and durable.
@@observant98 check out the history of international..management fouled it up WAY more than the union..facts are facts..
@@observant98 I never got your argument of blaming Unions. It's in Nobody's best interest to bankrupt a company including the Union. I.H. failed because of poor business decisions pushing a product to market without proper testing resulting in massive recall and a loss of market share
GM and Chrysler failed because they built products that lost money Built car's of low quality materials.
None of those reasons for failing is the fault of the Unions all those reasons are the fault of Management who in the bailout still gave themselves bonuses.
That is a great video, kinda sad but we have to remember IH didnt die after the merger. IH brought alot to the merger, most of the magnum was already in development stages before tenneco bought IH. Combines, tillage, hay/forage equipment, material handeling ect..IH is what kept tenneco case alive! FOREVER RED!!!
IH1256 Does Tenneco still own IH?
my uncle worked there in 1952 he used to stock parts. he said he lied and said he was 18 when he was 17
I have a international cub cadet 122 and I like the history of the place
Sad I'm only 35 my tractor is a Ford NAA full metal body unlike today's tractors we need to go back to the way they used to be built on all models
The deltoid sounds of Max Armstrong !
That was a great video and a damn shame that the compnay and factory are gone. CNH builds blue and red tractors on the same line here in Racine. Oh the blasphemy.
Thanks Max !
god bless ih :)
and then 20 years later they demolished IH case plant in east Moline Illinois
Very Cool, My Late Father worked for IH for 41 years at a dealer ship in Kimberton, Pa.
I own a 1948 Farmall Cub and a 1950 Farmall C.
Len.
The best Tractors in the world come from the Quad Cities.
Would have liked to have seen em save some of it for a museum.
Hiei2k7 And areas near the QC!
Glenn Lego nnnn
Best tractors were made in West Allis
At 5:14 What beautiful Farmall 806. One of the best tractor models (of many!) IH made.
My grandfather had a red one. Wouldn't let me drive it. I had to drive the J D A & G. Regards Max...
@emanboychild for sure. still have two of them running strong on our farm. I would have loved to be they guy that got to test them beasts out.
Spent many hours driving Farmall tractors back in the late 1950s and early 60s. Farmall C, M, and 400.
flic.kr/p/d3e5e
We need to get back in doing that Building Tractors and Building Farm's again People Wake up before it's to Late We can and We will Build this Great Land Back. If I was Running for the White House We would be Building The Great USA Back but keep Voting the way we are and we all Be on FOOD STAMP's Thank you.
Strike, interest rates, & mismanagement(bonuses) I traded my last 4 Red Devils in on a 4960MFWD in '92...barely made the down payment!!! But, I started staying on the turn row, instead of the shop, after that
God I hated to see that happen, I worked on these fine tractors. Also a John Deere dealer service manger in 1984 tell me the same thing, He also did not want that to happen. God bless IH.
Ah Yes!
I got 46 case vac Now has a brand new 12 volt system. In it runs like a top now. Noting beats. It
@snowman9980 Don't forget that the federal government bailed out Chrysler the first time at the same time IH and Allis were in big trouble.
This guy is the second coming of Phil Hartman
sad
it seemed the guys would go on strike at a whim - now it is all gone, too bad.
granskare ok poopers it What it is
Awful to see. Hopefully some real tractor production will come back to America now.
iam a john deere man. but yes another piece of Americas gone.
Needs it's audio synced right with the video though.
Its said
I colect old tractors and i hate to admit but farmall are my least favorit tractors on are farm good looking old girls but as for farming never liked them. Like the big newer ones for pulling always thought they lack in mecanised farming vary good looking tractor and they have lots of power for your$ and i use to want to love them so bad to just never lived up to my expectations. Ford had it all over farmall if you ask me i tryed farmall and wanted to love them and finaly i just admit im a blue tractor guy form made the best old tractors
Why is my 756 international harvester sliping
Is that tractor boy?
thanks for posting another piece of Amercia gone
@Jon13bur
I love farmall equipment i want to run my grandfathers farm one day with only farmall machinery . But i think if ih was still around thed be crap just like john deere and case ih. Both have slant eyed people building every thing id never want to see ih got to that so maybe it was for the best
WDhatcherfarms might as well have a Mahindra tractor from India.
@shorehamsoo Hell Yes
The day John Deere won the race
I would take THIS more seriously if Mr Armstrong did nt own all red out of business tractors.TALKING ABOUT CONFLICT OF INTEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
generationll get a life lol
Make sure your spelling is correct before you rip on people too. It makes you look like a dipshit if you don't.
They were never much of a tractor anyway not when you compare them to a real tractor John Deere
Although I am 1st generation non-farmer, I will always have an appreciation for IH. My Dad stopped farming / trucking and started electrical contracting. When I was 3 years old he started taking me with him daily and teaching me the trade. I loved it. At 1st, I mostly started learning about *people*, and that I couldn't wait to learn to drive. About age 7 maybe, he bought a Wards riding lawnmower for our 1+ acre homestead. He used it once and returned it. About that time he was ordering a new '63 International pickup cab/chassis to put a utility body on - with his own design & built headache rack, high power wench and adjustable removable boom for pulling wells. He also bought (when it 1st came out) one of the 1st International Cub Cadets, 7hp. That is what I learned to drive on. He started me in 1st gear, soon moved me to 2nd, and shortly graduated me to 3rd gear. He didn't stop there - soon he put a boat trailer on the hitch and later a utility pole trailer, with pole, later increasing the length of the poles. He also ordered a '66 International chassis/cab, both we picked up at the factory in Springfield Ohio. We traded cadets as they offered the 10hp, then the 12hp hydrostatic, and a couple used ones later. When I started contracting my 1st truck was a 72 International pickup, and I later had a '75 4wd stake bed. Alas, that was the last year for the pickups. As a teen I worked several summers for a couple of farmers. I don't remember the models, but one farmer asked if I'd ever driven a farm tractor. I was honest and told him "No, Sir." He just said "Well, that changes today." After a minute or two of static training, I was pulling hay wagons to-and-fro. I spent a lot of time looking at other brands, but nothing could compete in my heart nor in my head with IH. I'm sorry for rambling when this is such a wonderful piece about the Rock Island factory. I would just like to thank ALL the wonderful, hard working people of IH, many themselves now gone, for making some of the best equipment in the world and the parts they played in my family's lives. If IH made it, that's the one we bought. Thank you.
sad
Why is my 756 international harvester sliping
iam a john deere man. but yes another piece of Americas gone.