Most iconic model

[DT Fan]

Iconic? 1206 is the first thing comes to my mind! A case could be made for the Regular, F-20, M, 1066, maybe even the 5488.

[iowaboy1965]

I think it depends on when  and where you are located.  Here in central Iowa to me personally I would say an m or 806/1206 would be the top icons. 

Dad's dad started with horses and then a new regular. When he retired he had an M , C and a jd A. So to him the icon or icons probably would have been a regular or an M

Mom's dad started with a Fordson, then had several f 20s, followed by several M's and retired owning a 400. So to him it would have been an F20 or a M.

I took the original post to mean name an icon from each time period? 

Going with that line of thinking  I would say 20s= 10-20 (regular really wasn't widely available till pretty late in the 20s is my thinking there) 30s regular/ F20, 40s I would think first half it would still be the F20 (because of the war and scarcity of new machinery) ,late 40s and 50s M/H, 60s 806/1206, 70s 1066 without a doubt, 80s probably still the 1066 or maybe 1086 as when they came out times were tough and 88s were Luke warm reception because of that and other factors, imo.

Now out west and other areas that used crawlers they would have different icons.

South east and areas that used the A , 140 ect a lot would have different icons as well.  Jmho. No wrong answers really.

[hillman]

I think an H and M get the same love. at a distance the easiest way to tell them apart if theres no decal is the clutch and brake pedals. 

[560Dennis]

Cockshutt golden eagle black hawk 

[766 Man]

1 hour ago, hillman said:

I think an H and M get the same love. at a distance the easiest way to tell them apart if theres no decal is the clutch and brake pedals. 

  Easiest way is to note the pitch of the steering shaft.  The H steering shaft is fairly steep compared to the one on a M.  

[hillman]

16 minutes ago, 766 Man said:

  Easiest way is to note the pitch of the steering shaft.  The H steering shaft is fairly steep compared to the one on a M.  

. I will stick to the pedals😏

[Wi Ih]

F20 H 450 560 7,8,1206 856 1066 1086 5288 and 72/7488  

 

[Big Bud guy]

 

I know more Hs were sold then Ms but to me the H was the weak sister to the M and that’s an opinion shared by a lot of guys I know. Ms handled loaders, especially Farmhands much better than an H.  Big enough to do some serious work but still easy and nimble to operate.  That’s why the M gets my vote 

[sandhiller]

I would say M also.

I think I have owned 4 of em over the years and still have one

Also a SH and still have a SM.

Those tractors helped get me through some lean years and even though not used that much anymore still ready to go when called upon. 

All three of my boys learned to work in the hayfields on H/M's

This is the SM I still own pic taken maybe 25 years ago. 

[MacAR]

As far as the entire country goes, I'd agree with the H/M being "Iconic". But in my little neck of the woods, if you say "Farmall" to someone, 9 out of 10 will think of a Cub. Believe it or not, there we a whole bunch of the little buggers sold around here, mainly because they were cheaper than just about anything else at the time. My own great-grandfather bought one new in 1948-9 and raised corn, cotton, and six kids with it and a team of mules. That was the only tractor he had until he bought a used Jubilee Ford in the late 60's; tractors the size of an H or M weren't common up in our hills, due to the size of the fields. A big field back in the day might have been 10 acres; five to seven was more the norm. A Cub could take care of that easily enough, even though it was slow it still beat following a team. If you had a C Farmall or B John Deere you were "big time". Now that the land has been cleared and row-crops have given way to cattle and hay, it's not uncommon to see 150HP 4x4 tractors at work. Times have certainly changed. 

Mac

[mike newman]

5 hours ago, MacAR said:

As far as the entire country goes, I'd agree with the H/M being "Iconic". But in my little neck of the woods, if you say "Farmall" to someone, 9 out of 10 will think of a Cub. Believe it or not, there we a whole bunch of the little buggers sold around here, mainly because they were cheaper than just about anything else at the time. My own great-grandfather bought one new in 1948-9 and raised corn, cotton, and six kids with it and a team of mules. That was the only tractor he had until he bought a used Jubilee Ford in the late 60's; tractors the size of an H or M weren't common up in our hills, due to the size of the fields. A big field back in the day might have been 10 acres; five to seven was more the norm. A Cub could take care of that easily enough, even though it was slow it still beat following a team. If you had a C Farmall or B John Deere you were "big time". Now that the land has been cleared and row-crops have given way to cattle and hay, it's not uncommon to see 150HP 4x4 tractors at work. Times have certainly changed. 

Mac

Hence  my comment,  Mac, re the Farmall   A...Was actually going to mention the Cub, because there was a slew of them around these parts , whilst tobacco was produced....

...never   ever had the ''glamour'' of the bigger letter series..but sure turned out some work on the small farms...

Mike

[cm228]

Most memorable for me are the Super H and the BN. Dads SH has a Swartz wide front and I believe a Swartz 3pt hitch. Dad always says his best memories of me when I was a few years old were when I’d ride on the axle of the BN. I’d start to fall asleep and he’d have to grasp me by the shoulder straps of my bibs and pick me up into his lap.  The SH is still on the farm but the BN has been gone for many years, though we sometimes wish we still had it.

Matt

[lotsaIHCs]

I agree location was a big factor. On the ND prairie, a common field was 80 acres. My grandpa started with a Waterloo Boy and horses and 80 acres over the years he accumulated more land and went through the Waterloo Boy, then an N Ford  and a Farmall H. By that time he was farming 480 acres between crop, home place, hay land and pasture. The fields were mostly either 80 or 160 acres. He dropped the front wheels of his narrow front H into a badger hole while cutting hay one day. The steering wheel whipped around and the necker knob caught him in the ribs and broke a couple. That, and the fact he had acquired another 160 acres pushed him to trade off the H on a new 52 M with a wide front. That is the tractor he had the longest and we still have. It was sold to a neighbor at one time and we bought it back from the neighbor's auction sale. His chore tractor after the Ford N was a 300 utility. I think almost every neighbor had an M at one time and there was the occasional H every now and then.

[MacAR]

1 hour ago, mike newman said:

whilst tobacco was produced....

Never knew tobacco was grown in your neck of the woods, Mike. I'd like to hear more about that sometime. Here the main crop was cotton, believe it or not. The Cub and the A were darn good for the little patches that were so common back in the 40s and 50s. Cotton, and row crops in general, left the hills in the 60s and the land was converted to pasture and hay ground. It wasn't long until the Cubs were retired to sheds and occasionally used in the garden. My 51 Cub was bought new by the family I bought it from, but has been "restored" at some time in its life. When I bought it, it had sat under a cow shed for years, only being used occasionally in the owner's garden. While not glamorous by any means, they did a lot of work on these old hill farms.

Mac

[Farming Enthusiast]

On 8/3/2023 at 11:37 AM, EquipmentJunkie said:

From my perspective:

'20s - Farmall Regular

'30s - Farmall F-20

'40s - Farmall M

'50s - Farmall 560

'60s - Farmall 1206

'70s - IH 1066

'80s - IH 5488

X2

[hillman]

looks like an H or M wins which the man on the tractor represents

[stronger800]

A “friend” got this shirt today. Hmmmm. He didn’t get me one. 

[nomorejohndeere]

to the general public,  I would say the Scout.....

 

[mike newman]

On 8/5/2023 at 2:15 PM, MacAR said:

Never knew tobacco was grown in your neck of the woods, Mike. I'd like to hear more about that sometime. Here the main crop was cotton, believe it or not. The Cub and the A were darn good for the little patches that were so common back in the 40s and 50s. Cotton, and row crops in general, left the hills in the 60s and the land was converted to pasture and hay ground. It wasn't long until the Cubs were retired to sheds and occasionally used in the garden. My 51 Cub was bought new by the family I bought it from, but has been "restored" at some time in its life. When I bought it, it had sat under a cow shed for years, only being used occasionally in the owner's garden. While not glamorous by any means, they did a lot of work on these old hill farms.

Mac

...yes, Mac...we grew    80 acres between Dad  and myself, plus two excellent neighbours , whom used to work for Dad...and he was able to help them into their own tobacco farms

There was a lot of tobacco grown in our area...the only place in NZ where it was suitable......Three major tobacco companies , including Rothmans   were domiciled in the area......However...some brilliant luminary   in the then  Socialist Govt decided that it was cheaper to import tobacco from some third world excrement hole...thus in a very short time....dozens of small farms who employed  hundreds of folk through the season...and a fair few , full time...were history..

My travels in the very   photogenic  State of Tennessee      reminded me so much of 'home'...little farms tucked away in the hills and valleys etc

I have lots of pictures...but will leave them....in fact the Farmall  A  picture posted on this very topic , was taken on my little tobacco farm.....

All 'flue '' cured''  ...we had a 15 hp boiler  running steam through massive down draft heat exchangers...

Mike

[Diesel Doctor]

"Smoking is hazardous to your health"

So they have almost ran all the tobacco companies out of business.

Now they OK Marijuana.

What am I missing here?

[acem]

But pot is good for you. Medicinal...

When dad was in college just after WWII there was much discussion and research on whether smoking tobacco was bad or good for you. Dad was an animal husbandry major. In a biology class the students were discussing the health benefits and problems of smoking.

After a bit, the professor ended the discussion by stating

"if you think burning something and breathing smoke is good for you, you need to reevaluate your thoughts process"

These pot smokers need to hear this.

Smoke what you want. Just don't tell me it's for your health!

 

[jass1660]

According to studies pot smokers have better lung capacity than tobacco smokers and pot smoke is less irritating as it doesn’t have all the chemicals in it.

[766 Man]

36 minutes ago, jass1660 said:

According to studies pot smokers have better lung capacity than tobacco smokers and pot smoke is less irritating as it doesn’t have all the chemicals in it.

  The FDA for years maintained that pot had considerably more tar in it than tobacco.  The problem with any study regardless of the position it takes is the statistical bias often contained.  In the studies that you refer to what was the average age of the pot smoker versus that of the tobacco smoker?  Family health history?  

[766 Man]

2 hours ago, acem said:

But pot is good for you. Medicinal...

When dad was in college just after WWII there was much discussion and research on whether smoking tobacco was bad or good for you. Dad was an animal husbandry major. In a biology class the students were discussing the health benefits and problems of smoking.

After a bit, the professor ended the discussion by stating

"if you think burning something and breathing smoke is good for you, you need to reevaluate your thoughts process"

These pot smokers need to hear this.

Smoke what you want. Just don't tell me it's for your health!

 

  Funny since it is fully legal in most states you don't hear anything about medicinal pot anymore.  There is a state politician here in NY that wants to ban use of pot in public assemblies such as festivals.  I am expecting him to be shouted down by pro pot factions even though tobacco users are already required not to smoke at similar events.  I don't use either by the way.

[Red_Man]

For the 50's it's the Super MTA, I have owned 2over the years and still have one. The 450 would be my 2nd choose for the decade.