Companies and organisations are always keen to celebrate a golden jubilee, whether it be of the company itself or a product it launched a half century ago in 1974.
But not all developments get a mention, the machinery industry evolves incrementally and small changes take place which may not grab the headlines, but they do provide an insight into where we were and what was happening all that time ago.
1974 appears to be a relatively quiet year in the history of tractor evolution, here in Europe at least.
Neither, Ford, Volvo BM/Valmet (now collectively Valtra) released a new model in Europe, while Fendt launched just two, Massy Ferguson three and John Deere four smaller machines, based on its 2.7L engine.
International Harvester, on the other hand, was a little busier, releasing three smaller models, two of which had the same power, plus two larger machines, while Massey Ferguson revamped the MF1080 and called it the MF595, but it kept the troublesome Perkins engine.
Intercompany rivalry
During the early 1970s, International Harvester had two factories in Europe, the UK facility at Doncaster and the Neuss plant in Germany.
The company kept both going as independent units until the contraction in tractor sales led them to close first Doncaster and then Neuss.
From 1965, Neuss had been building its Direkteinspritzer range of direct injection engines, a design which was to become highly regarded within the tractor world, famed for its reliability and longevity.
It was this engine that the company installed into its B series of models of 1974, including the 60hp International 644. The styling was distinctive and purposeful, with a radiator grill angled slightly forward.
At the same time, Doncaster had been building its own series of mid-range tractors, starting with the 454 and 574 in 1970.
These used the same Neuss built engines except for the 1974 60hp 475, which was given the Perkins A4.212 unit instead – the only one to receive a non German engine. The styling was more laid back with the radiator grill sloping in at the top.
Therefore, it was that International had two 60hp tractors with two different engines being introduced in the same year, which might seem confusing, but we are little better nowadays with a power overlap between four and six-cylinder engines in ranges of several major players.
Ford keeps the 6Y flag flying
Over at Basildon, Ford was still enjoying healthy sales of its 6Y series which, along with shortage on funds, delayed the introduction of the its replacement, so rather than being discontinued a number of improvements were announced in late 1974.
However, a year previously Ford had announced its Dual Power option on the 5000 and 7000 models for the 1974 model year, which gave it a high and low split on each gear thanks to an epicyclic unit mounted on the transmission input shaft and squeezed into the bell housing.
The company also addressed the issue of its Select-O-Speed transmissions, offering an eight speed manual exchange unit for £150.
Massey Ferguson was also quite here in Europe with the major news being that of the start of the replacement of the 100 series, with the first tractor to appear being the MF595.
This was a far more integral tractor, with a cab being part of the overall design rather than an afterthought, and to suit this new philosophy the styling carried the now familiar lozenge shaped radiator grill for the first time.
However, it had issues, and just how numerous and diverse they were depends on who you ask.
Head gaskets and clutches are often cited as the main problem but others were said to exist, and it was from this period onwards that Massey Ferguson lost the lead to Ford, while other brands found an opening in the market.
John Deere adds some smallies
John Deere’s contribution to the year was in the form of updating its smaller utility range, the 30 series, which started at the 830 of 35hp and went up to the 1130 at 54hp. However, certain sources list 1975 as the year of introduction.
This range was the last of the Mannheim models to adopt the new square cab styling and so it unified the German factory’s product line across the board, although it wasn’t one single cab that was used and the bonnet line was later revised, which might have led to the confusion.
Yet it was in the 1970s that John Deere at last, found general success in the European market, although farmers were divided by what some saw as the brashness of the American philosophy, while others delighted in it.
Other moves in 1974
Also in 1974, David Brown bolted a turbo onto its 1212 model, boosting it to 91hp, and called it the 1410 or 1412, depending on whether it had a synchromesh or Hydrashift transmission.
The company had been purchased by Case the year before and the brand had disappeared by 1983.
Over in Germany Fendt brought out the Farmer 200S series as its smallest family of tractors within the Fendt portfolio.
These started at 35hp and were produced in many variants for field, fruit and vineyard use and were still available with a factory fitted mid mounted mower.
If 1974 was quiet for tractor launches, then the world of combines virtually stood still as New Holland slipped out the 1400 and 1500 models which were produced in that year alone.
Claas added to the dominator range with the Dominator 85 and John Deere the 935, which retained the traditional arrangement of the engine behind the tank as opposed to its ‘new Generation series launched in 1969.
