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McCormick on the run!

John Morris

By John Morris
in Free for All

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John Morris Grand Master

John Morris

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Apparently it's an orchard tractor per this website at http://www.farmcollector.com/restoration/john-bean-mccormick-zb0z1303zbea

 

And it makes sense since our entire valley was orchards and parts of it still are. I am still at work, getting ready to head home, and I walked into the bosses office and asked him if he'd ever seen one of these, he grew up in these parts, and he confirmed it as an orchard tractor, the fenders are to prevent limbs and branches getting sucked up into the wheels.

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Cal Grand Master

Cal

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You are correct in that John.  What sort of orchards do you have there?  This setup would be good for smaller trees - peach, plum, nectarines; that sort.  Not so good for the taller tree nuts like pecans, walnuts and such.

That is a cool old tractor, but I could not make out the size.  Judging by the looks it was probably made in the 40's or early 50's, maybe something in the 25hp range.

Cal

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Grandpadave52 Grand Master

Grandpadave52

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2 hours ago, John Morris said:

Apparently it's an orchard tractor

COOL picture John!! Thanks for snapping, sharing and taking me back down memory lane.:)

Yes it is an "orchard tractor" or often called a "grove tractor" in the Southeast...GA/FL...his is pretty unique with the front wheel shields besides the operator station fenders and shields...not many of those have survived over the years.

The Model O-4 was manufactured from 1940-1953 and was ~26 hp...very similar overall to the Farmall "H" model and W-4 tractors (W designation for wheatland/prairie use)

The vast majority of these style tractors went either to California, Georgia, Florida, Michigan (apples/blueberries) when sold  and oddly enough a notable number to Canada...you just don't normally think of Canada as orchard country.

 

I never worked on any International/Farmall/McCormick tractors (EDIT add: Orchard), but one of my first jobs in a John Deere dealership was to get one of these going...engine was stuck...JD AO

image.png.2773d018a2bca4264e4f02b7cd5c6c14.png

 

There are some collectors who only collect Orchard models either one manufacturer specific or certain models from multiple manufacturers. I get RFD-TV as a part of my Dish Heartland Package...each Saturday, they run an episode of Classic Tractor Fever  There are some unbelievable collections featured on this show...several segements and full episodes on You-Tube if you're interested...

 

This short video shows an O-6 idling...identical tractor except a little larger, and more HP (~38 hp) with a close cousin of the Farmall W-6

 

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HARO50 Grand Master

HARO50

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13 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I knew a lot of them went to the Ontario region...what are the primary crops? Apples? Berries?  I assume it would be some kind of cooler weather produce similar to Michigan?

Apples, plums, peaches, cherries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes are what I see the most of. Smaller amounts of gooseberries. Probably a few that slip my mind right now. Lots of cranberries, but I don't think tractors do well in a foot of water. :unsure:

John

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Grandpadave52 Grand Master

Grandpadave52

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44 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

plums, peaches,

Would never have guess those, especially peaches due to the shorter growing season there and generally cooler climate. Peaches do moderately well here, but are typically smaller than those from Georgia, North/South Carolina. If the blueberries are anything like the ones from Michigan (which I suspect they are), they've got to be fantastic. Same with the raspberries....Interesting. Thanks for educating me.:)

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Cal Grand Master

Cal

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10 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Those are cool looking old tractors. Wonder what they use today?

 

Here's how pecans are harvested out here.

 

 

That is a pretty young orchard Gene - not sure how useful that piece of equipment would be on a full size tree where the canopy would extend beyond the "catch".  That said, for the past several years the practice of pruning young pecan trees has changed to a central leader as shown in that video.

 

You asked about the new "orchard" type tractors.  Around here, in peach orchards, they use a regular utility type tractor.  Cultural practices and economics would probably be the biggest factors in the change.  Tree spacing, pruning, use of herbicides and newer varieties of trees have pretty much made all that extra sheetmetal obsolete.  About the only time I see a tractor in the orchard is late winter running a bush hog through after pruning; early spring spraying chemicals before new growth might block the rows or at harvest, and they only go down selected rows then.  The economics come in to play as the orchard model would be a limited run, a bit more expensive - and a limited resell market, meaning less value.  Utility tractors are "cheap", popular and remain in constant demand - new or used.

Cal

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Gene Howe Grand Master

Gene Howe

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I'm told that the "mature" trees are replaced, as they begin to decline in productivity. I don't know when that happens year wise. Most of the producing groves I've seen in AZ have trees that are less than 12" diameter. And, they are pruned periodically. Possibly the production decline happens about the time they get too big to shake.

I deal with a guy that cuts an sells slabs of pecan, pistachio and mesquite. He gets his logs from acreage being cleared for development. He has some pecan slabs that are near 18" wide. Those, I'd imagine, were in an old grove that had been abandoned.

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