(first posted 8/23/2015) We’ve spilled a lot of pixels on these pages reviewing retro styled cars such as the Thunderbird, Fiat 500 and Beetle, among others, but did you know the trend extended to the ag industry as well?
We previously covered the epic story of the development of the Ford N Series tractors here, and before we look at New Holland’s retro interpretation, it’s worth reviewing the circuitous path that connects the Ford 8N to the Boomer 8N.
New Holland (the company) takes its name from New Holland, Pennsylvania, where in 1895, a 26 year-old Mennonite handyman named Abram “Abe” Zimmerman opened shop under the name “New Holland Machine Works,” focusing on engine repair. By 1899, he was marketing a new feed mill design that was capable of crushing and grinding ear corn – earlier mills had been limited to small grains, so this quickly became popular with farmers raising cattle.
In addition, after a brief period repairing and selling German Otto Cycle engines, Zimmerman began offering the Columbus Gas Engine as a means to power his mills. Because these engines ran on illuminating gas delivered through city mains, Zimmerman designed a vaporizer allowing them to run on gasoline, which opened up the market to farmers who lived outside the city.
Zimmerman eventually thought about designing a new, more reliable engine that would not require draining the coolant (plain water) in the wintertime to prevent freeze-cracking of the cast-iron water jacket around the cylinder. Noticing that tapered animal watering troughs (which New Holland Machine Works also happened to manufacture) allowed ice to lift harmlessly without cracking the metal, he designed a trough-shaped water jacket and introduced his “freeze-proof” engine (rated at 1-½ HP) in 1901. Pictured is engine Serial No. 576 made in 1904, and you can see it run here.
As the feed mill and engine business grew, additional space was needed, and in May 1903, New Holland Machine Works was incorporated to become the New Holland Machine Company – coincidentally the same year Ford Motor Company incorporated. New Holland manufactured engine parts in small batches and assembled them as needed to meet sales. In 1914 Zimmerman sold out, resigning from the company he founded to join the Russellite religious movement that predicted the end of the world that year. When that failed to happen he returned, but only for a short time, after which he resigned for good. The original facility (pictured) would be expanded a number of times over the years and was finally closed down in 1992 after having earned a position on the National Register of Historic Places.
Five various ratings of the New Holland engine would eventually be offered, topping out at 16 HP. Sales of engines, feed mills and a number of other products were robust through the 1920s until a combination of the Great Depression (which hit New Holland’s customers hard) and rural electrification (which obviated the need for stationary gasoline engines) nearly put them out of business. Production of the New Holland engine ceased altogether in 1938 and by this time, New Holland was grasping at anything to stay in business, including the manufacture of waffle irons, nutcrackers and even cast metal doorstops.
Meanwhile over in Italy, Fiat had introduced its own tractor, the model 702, in 1919, and in Belgium, Claeys began selling harvesting equipment in 1910. Both brands will play into our story later. Ford of course introduced the Fordson tractor in 1917 with the 9N tractor with Harry Ferguson’s revolutionary three-point hitch coming along in 1939.
Back at New Holland, a farmer named Edwin Nolt had set up a small manufacturing line in part of the New Holland factory in 1940 to build a self-tying (twine) pickup baler of his own design. His prototype used components from other harvesting equipment and gears from a Fordson tractor and after much trial and error, he came up with a workable design. Earlier pickup balers required several people to operate, and tying the bales (with wire) was done manually by two persons (one on each side of the implement) who poked the wires through the hay and tied the knots themselves.
The New Holland Machine Company was down to about 40 employees at this point and was on the verge of bankruptcy when an investment group led by J. Henry Fisher purchased a majority interest and started working on turning the failing company around. New products were obviously needed, and the very one that saved the company was right under their noses in the Nolt baler. New Holland bought the rights to the design and manufactured 351 units by the end of 1940, with production increasing to over 2,000 units by 1944.
Production more than doubled to over 4,700 balers by 1946, with plans to triple those numbers for 1948, but things changed even more for the better when Sperry Corporation acquired New Holland in 1947 as part of a move to diversify their business. With plenty of capital on hand, the new Sperry New Holland subsidiary’s product offerings expanded rapidly, and by the late-mid-1950s, they had produced over 42,000 balers including the innovative self-propelled Haycruiser 178 that never really quite caught on (the late 1950s – 1960s were a heady time for ag as well as auto industry designers).
Meanwhile back over in Europe, Claeys had introduced the first European self-propelled combine harvester in 1952 and was one of the biggest combine manufacturers in Europe a decade later. Sperry New Holland acquired a major interest in Claeys in 1964, choosing to grow their ag offerings even faster through acquisition.
Fiat had also been busy in the ag market and formed a joint venture with Allis Chalmers in 1974 called Fiat-Allis. Fiat subsequently purchased Kansas-based Hesston (hay equipment) as well as Agrifull (small air-cooled diesel tractors and crawlers) and consolidated these companies under its new Fiatagri name. One popular Fiat tractor model was the 48 HP (35.8 kW) 480, which will also appear in retro form later in our story (hat tip to Johannes Dutch!).
By the 1980s, Ford’s Tractor Division had become a global ag powerhouse, with over 2,500 dealers in 100 countries. However, a number of issues in the USA during the late 1970s and 1980s, including failed governmental policies, high debt, extreme land and commodity price fluctuations and two droughts, combined to create an economic crisis for farmers far worse than the Great Depression – many multi-generation family farms were lost to foreclosures. From 1962 to 1983, farm debt rose from $60 billion to $216 billion. I personally remember going out with my family to see a protest “Tractorcade” that rolled through Athens, Georgia on its way to Washington, DC during this time period.
Sperry New Holland was losing customers fast; Ford saw opportunity and stepped in, paying $330 million in cash for the division, plus assumption of $110 million in liabilities – a price that analysts said was about 50% of the value of the division. Ford also acquired Versatile Farm and Equipment Co. shortly afterwards, extending its product offerings into the massive four-wheel drive tractor arena.
“The players in this game are getting so large that you have to be a full-line manufacturer to compete,” said Philip E. Benton Jr., Ford’s executive vice president for diversified products. “Our job is to strengthen this business and to broaden our product line, and New Holland complements our product line very well.” He added that there is almost no overlap between the product lines of the two firms. ~LA Times, October 11, 1985
Despite Ford’s acquisition activity, due to the poor ag economy, they had been shopping the tractor division around for nearly a decade, and in 1991, finally found a buyer and sold 80% interest to Fiat. The last Ford branded tractor, the 170 HP (126.8 kW) model 8830, was produced through 1993. By 1995, the 100th anniversary of the New Holland brand name, Fiat had acquired the remaining 20% of the business and Ford New Holland was rechristened New Holland North America. Many of Fiat’s tractor offerings were released under both brand names, New Holland in former Ford markets, and Fiat in its own traditional markets.
Finishing out our timeline, under the ownership of Fiat, New Holland N.V. and Case Corporation merged in 1999 to form Case New Holland (CNH). In 2013, CNH Global N.V. and Fiat Industrial S.p.A. were merged into the holding company CNH Industrial N.V., and New Holland is today a product brand of CNH Industrial.
Let’s look at some tractors now! The New Holland Boomer line of compact utility tractors was introduced in 1997, with four initial models ranging from the 25 HP (18.6 kW) model 1530 to the 34 HP (25.4 kW) model 1925. Assembly for the North American market was done in Dublin, Georgia, but the design/engineering, components and engines were provided by the Japanese firm Shibaura, which had been in a long term supply agreement with Ford since 1972 that subsequently carried over to New Holland.
Starting in the late 1990s with cars like the Plymouth Prowler and Volkswagen New Beetle, retro fever hit the automotive industry. By 2010, an additional ten retro-styled cars (that I can think of off the top of my head) would be brought to market, some only surviving a few years, and others still in production today.
Perhaps looking to jump on the retro bandwagon, and exactly 70 years after the introduction of the original Ford 9N tractor, New Holland introduced the Boomer 8N in 2009 at the National Farm Machinery Show.
The Boomer 8N is a updated remake of the classic Ford 8N tractor, part of New Holland’s heritage. “The history of this project was basically a fusion between the old styling of the Ford 8N with new technology of today,” New Holland’s John Hundley said. Many of this first year’s sales have been to collectors or people who have fond memories of the legendary Ford 8N growing up on a farm in the 40s and 50s. “We have some people who are buying this tractor and parking it because they don’t want to use it, but this is a workhorse and we do have people buying it and running it in the field everyday.” ~AgWired, February 25, 2010
Essentially the same base tractor as the New Holland Boomer 3050 powered by a Shibaura 2.2L four-cylinder diesel making 50 HP (37.3 kW), the Boomer 8N sought to capitalize on warm feelings and memories of the Ford 8N. Styling cues do fairly accurately suggest the original 9N’s art deco lines penned by Eugene Gregorie, but that’s about where the similarities end, aside from the “redbelly” color scheme. The modern 8N has twice the horsepower, live PTO, power steering, four-wheel assist, over three times the lift capacity on the three-point hitch (2,800lb vs ~900lb), and can be roaded nearly twice as fast as the tractor from which it takes its name. Ergonomics are vastly improved, too with a flat operator platform. A number of “dress-up” options (that few “real” farmers would ever pay extra for but collectors seemed to gobble up) were offered, including a chrome roll-over bar (ROPS) and baby moon hubcaps.
The easy-to-use transmission is operated by a shuttle lever and a single speed control foot pedal. The pedal determines engine speed and the transmission controller maximizes forward speed for the applied load. Once the pedal is released, the tractor will decelerate to a stop in a smooth and controlled manner.
The EasyDrive transmission has a speed range of up to 18.6 mph and moves seamlessly and continuously while accelerating or decelerating. Sensors are used to measure torque, engine speed and variator speed to control the transmission electronically.
~New Holland – March 20, 2009
One interesting difference between the 3050 and Boomer 8N was that the 8N utilized a standard CVT as opposed to the shuttle shift transmission that came standard on the 3050 – although CVTs had been in use on high-horsepower tractors for a while, this was the first use of one on a compact utility-sized tractor. Other premium features that came standard on the Boomer 8N included cruise control, adjustable reactivity (how fast the tractor accelerates/decelerates) and an anti-stall feature that disengages the CVT if the engine is about to stall such as when crowding material with a loader.
Pricing was aimed squarely at the collector market, at a good $8-10K over the price of a Boomer 3050. Jay Leno bought one to move cars around in his garage, and I suspect he fit the target demographic perfectly. Options could easily add another $5-10,000 to the total. A line of Boomer 8N branded implements was also offered, including a front loader, 3pt. backhoe and both finish and rotary mowers.
The Boomer 8N was met with rave reviews, as well as a GOOD DESIGN™ award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art, Design and Urban Studies. It picked up an additional AE50 award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) for 2009’s most innovative products. Unfortunately, the economy decided to take a dump that same year, and when combined with the high pricing, sales never came close to meeting the 1,000 units/year New Holland had forecast. A total of around 1,200 were built before NH pulled the plug in 2012, and many of those sat on dealer lots for several years before being discounted enough to finally move them.
In addition to the Boomer 8N, New Holland also introduced in 2010 an “anniversary edition” of the Fiat 480 in Europe, called the F480, and rated at 48HP, just like the original. A little more affordably priced than the Boomer 8N, it came in at 17.600 Euro for the base tractor.
Here’s where the story turns personal. I own a 1950 Ford 8N that I restored in 2008 and use year-round on our small hobby farm. My “big” tractor is a 1977 Allis Chalmers 190 making 75HP which has been an “oil burner” since I bought it a few years ago (despite it having a gasoline engine). When it started making ominous knocking sounds while baling this Spring (rod bearings going, alas), I quickly parked it before it started leaking parts. After finding out an overhaul would cost as much as the tractor was worth (after the overhaul), I elected to punt and find a replacement. I didn’t start out looking for a Boomer 8N, but a casual “I wonder what they cost now” search showed they had depreciated significantly. I ended up finding one for about half what it cost new, with only 145 hours on the proofmeter (just broken in, in other words). It was being offered by the same dealer who sold it new, so they knew the history of the one-owner unit.
There are two “weird” things that happened in the course of selecting and purchasing this particular tractor. First, on my way home from a 2-hour drive to look at a 1960s John Deere 3020 (which was half the price of this one but had over 2,000 hours on it), a car passed me, and the license plate read: BOOMER . Hmmmm, a sign? Second, the 1952 Ford 8N my Dad had when we were kids was named “Franklin.” I had not paid much attention to the name of the selling dealer up to this point (I was looking at over a dozen tractors to start with), but when I decided to pursue it further, I realized the New Holland dealer’s name was…
So how could I not buy it!
Given how poorly the Boomer 8N sold, it’s unlikely we’ll ever ever see another retro-styled tractor on the market (at least not in my lifetime), and it’s rare that ag equipment depreciates as rapidly as did the Boomer 8N.
But I’m happy I hit the timing right, and will enjoy taking both tractors to as many parades and tractor drives as I can (just as soon as I talk my wife into driving one of them!).
And that’s the story of how a classic became a future classic!
I like it, but with that sort of price premium can see why it was very much a niche market item.
Also trying to decide if “Haycruiser” is a great or terrible name. 🙂
The name probably didn’t hurt (how Fifties can you get?), but I can see where trying to convince a farmer to spend major bucks on a piece of equipment that can only do one job, and that only a couple of time a years at most, would be a losing proposition. There’s a reason for all those attachments that hook up to a tractor. Its called versatility.
As demonstrated by your last picture (if maybe not in your neck of the woods).
At least in New England, one-ton pickups pulling a couple different kinds of trailer have completely replaced the traditional Class 5-6 stakebed farm truck.
For certain jobs a dedicated self-propelled machine is by far the more practical solution even if they are only used for a short time each year. Towed combines and tractor-mounted corn pickers were once quite common, but it’s far more cost effective to have one machine with interchangeable heads for different crops.
The Haycruiser may not have gone over all that well, but most large scale hay growers use a self-propelled windrower (looks like a baby combine) to cut their hay.
Yep, I have a Hesston 6400 I use to cut. Much more efficient than my old three point sickle bar.
NH had been using the name Hayliner for some time (I have both a NH Hayliner 68 and a Hayliner 273 baler), so it made sense from a brand extension standpoint. But yes, *very* 1950s!
Plus, they have the Stackliner for pull type bale wagons, and the Stackcruiser name for self propelled bale wagons.
The name is kind of corny, but it does fit into their naming scheme
What an excellent and comprehensive overview, I really like this kind of articles.
Steyr, the renowned brand from Austria, is also a member of the CNH family. As far as I know the Steyr tractor brand is only available in Europe.
Correct – there were a number of other ag brands that I could have chased in the telling of New Holland’s story. The industry has seen a *lot* of consolidation over the years.
Quite right, the farming industry has become global and “dynamic”, with a lot of mergers and take-overs in the past decades. The same happened to the car and truck manufacturers.
Iveco (vans, trucks, buses) and FPT Industrial (the powertrains) are also part of CNH Industrial N.V.
In addition to the automotive and agricultural industries, the construction equipment industry is also in the same tent of many mergers and being highly global.
A trip this past week to Knoxville, Iowa, to a rather new manufacturer shows them building equipment with the Caterpillar label as well as an update of an Allis-Fiat motor grader under a different label – in addition to their own unique product, five of which were lined up awaiting shipment to Saudi Arabia.
Claas (picture further down) also uses Caterpillar engines. This afternoon I had a look at their website. Besides Cat they also equip their farm machinery with diesel engines from FPT, Farmotion (Same Deutz-Fahr) , Mercedes-Benz, Deutz and MAN.
I also just learned that Caterpillar bought MWM from Germany, MWM stands for Motoren-Werke Mannheim, a renowned engine manufacturer. Deutz AG owned MWM since 1985 and sold it to a financial investor in 2007. Caterpillar bought it a few years later, and the company’s new name is Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MWM_GmbH
I’ve been to MWM headquarters on business. Their older shop areas still show damage in the walls (pockmarks and the like) from WWII. They manufacture huge electric power generators that run on natural gas.
Here’s a 1956 Lanz tractor with a 16 hp 2-cylinder MWM diesel engine. John Deere bought Lanz in 1958.
MWM supplied diesel engines to several tractor manufacturers, like Fendt, Claas and Renault.
Ed, I really enjoyed your article and, as they say, learned something new or two. I did want to make note of one step in the timeline that was not noticeable publicly, but at the dealer level was glaring. On the timeline in 1991, Fiat Geotech purchased Ford New Holland. At this time, Fiat phased in the new company as N.H. Geotech (N.H. stood for New Holland, but was not spelled out) as New Holland was not a worldwide recognizable name. There was no integration with the Ford New Holland name and it soon fell flat on its nose until Fiat decided to use the name New Holland instead. Fiat tractors painted blue with Ford’s name still on them carried the N.H. Geotech nameplate, but no other identification as such.
Absolutely fascinating narrative. The times I appreciate CC the most are those moments when it touches on subjects that I’ve always found mildly fascinating, but know absolutely nothing about.
CNH’s agricultural machinery is equipped with FPT powertrains. F for Fiat, P for Powertrain and T for Technologies.
I went to FPT’s website to have a look at their engine range for farm tractors etc. It turned out to be a long list. From a 2.2 liter 3-cylinder to a 20 liter V8.
http://www.fptindustrial.com/products/en-UK/offroad/agricultural/Pages/homepage.aspx
I had a co-worker who also farmed and had a thing for oddball equipment – I think even he’d have passed on a Haycruiser! Looks like an answer to question nobody asked…
Claas from Germany. No Claeys (the yellow combine in the article) from Belgium connection.
Wow, something this midwesterner has never even heard of. I will second Syke – this ag stuff is interesting, and you tell the story well.
I especially loved the surprise ending where you ended up with one in your very own barnyard. Will we soon see a comparison test of retro vs. Original? 🙂
LOL! The use cases can overlap a bit, but the Boomer 8N is really in a different class as far as what you can do/run with it. I used to cut, rake and bale hay exclusively with the ’50 8N, which meant a *lot* of implement changes. Things go a lot smoother now that I have a machine dedicated to each function: the Hesston 6400 cuts, the Ford 8N rakes and pulls hay racks around, and the Boomer 8N bales.
The Ford 8N is such a handy size – it can squeeze in really tight places. My AC 190 was plenty powerful, but quite unwieldy in tight spots. The Boomer is much closer to the Ford from that perspective.
It’s beautiful, Ed, and thank you for the comprehensiveness of it all. I suppose this is what we could almost call a “TOAL”. I did not anticipate the ending (you actually having your own) at all, and have never seen one myself but will be on the lookout for one. We had our county fair again a few weeks ago and I was admiring all the tractors in display once again, one day a Boomer will turn up, I’m sure.
Great piece, and a cool retro-styled tractor. I had a neighbor who used a restored 8N with a belly mower to mow a half acre subdivision lot…I think it would have been quicker to just push a 21 inch walk behind, but it was his toy.
Terrific article with a great twist. I knew the New Holland name had bounced around a lot over the years, but did not know to what extent. You will undoubtedly get many years out of this most recent addition and I think you could convince Mrs. Stembridge to operate the newer tractor in parades.
That was an awesome informative article Ed. That teaser clue yesterday had me racking my brain thinking well the grill shape and colors suggest 8n,probably ag it’s from Ed, but the headlamp was a real curve ball. Then this and I thought well whadda ya know! As a compact tractor owner myself I look at tractor porn all the time, yet I’ve never heard of or seen one of these. I guess that’s why I’m addicted to CC ya learn something new everyday.
Just curious about the nice pic of boys and dad on tractor. Do you recall about what year it was taken or how your fathers tractor got it’s name? Thanks.
Dad sold the tractor a couple weeks after I got my drivers license, so this pic would have had to be from around the mid-1970s. I think Benjamin Franklin was the influence for the name – it’s not a family or pet name, or anything like that. Given this was during the bicentennial, that’s the most likely explanation I can think of given the number years that have passed.
Loved his article. I know nothing about tractors and of course never knew there were retro models. A really cool idea. You have a beautiful old tractor there too, a having a matching pair only makes it better, I’m glad you bought it.
Having spent the past week working in Mason County. Illinois (“The Imperial Valley of the Midwest” due to its sandy soil, heavy reliance on irrigation and significant production of vegetable crops) I saw my share of great old farm equipment, including more than a few classic Fords.
That Haycruiser is a new one for me. As it turns out New Holland built different versions of it until the 1980s. The thing might of actually made sense for a large commercial hay grower, but by the 1980s large round bales had pretty much taken over that market.
Found this Youtube vid of a late model Haycruiser complete with air conditioned cab……
Thanks for the added detail on the haycruiser. I didn’t chase its history beyond the ad I included and a couple comments on a tractor forum. The poster there said they never really caught on, but apparently they did enough to make them for 30 some-odd years.
New Holland also uses the name Haybine for its mower-conditioners; at the time of their introduction, they were probably–no, they were the best thing in hay cutting. And they still are, in my book.
The 1980s farm crisis is one of the most neglected periods of recent history, especially in rural areas. Those who lived through it never forgot, but anyone younger than that (i.e., me) have almost no knowledge of it.
I think the severity of the recession really hit home in 1984, when International Harvester–maker of the quintessential Farmall, and less than 20 years ago the largest agricultural manufacturer in the world–put up the white flag, closed its Rock Island plant (this would be the equivalent to Ford shutting down its Dearborn Truck Plant), and sold out the ag division to Tenneco, who merged it with their J.I. Case holdings to make Case IH.
Great article.
Plus, Allis-Chalmers sold it’s ag division to Deutz (Creating Deutz-Allis), White Farm Equipment declared bankruptcy in 1980, Massey Ferguson quit producing combines (They bought them from WFE instead), and of course, the New Holland/Ford/Fiat thing.
There were rumors that John Deere wanted to purchase Allis-Chalmers for Gleaner, but they didn’t have the money.
Not a good time at all.
Those were all jarring, sure, but in most of rural America, IH was neck-and-neck with John Deere, and in some places, came out ahead. When the (second-) biggest name in tractors closed up shop was when people really started getting antsy. If IH couldn’t survive, who could?
Also in the 80’s, Deere tried buying Versatile but was shot down under the anti-trust laws as Deere was already a major big 4WD player. They did have enough time with Versatile, however, to influence the design of their own 4WD’s. ie: 8840 to 8850 difference.
There was no 8840. Most of the aesthetic difference between the 8850 and the smaller 50 Series 4WDs was due to the larger frame to accomodate a V8. It was something every manufacturer tried once, and it never worked out for anyone.
You are right, I was a whole series off and trying to remember models off of the top of my head. Never can keep all of the model numbers straight. The change was between Deere 50 series to 60 series 4WD. Powertrain, chassis and styling changes took a very Versatile appearance/function after the time trying to buy Versatile.
There’s a certain logic to how models are numbered, but to fully explain it would probably lead to more confusion. The simplest thing to remember is that from 1973-1992, small tractors were 2xxx, medium/large tractors were 4xxx, and 4WDs were 8xxx.
But now that I’ve realized you were talking about the 60 Series, I see that there is a definite Versatile influence in the styling. Thanks for pointing that out.
Really enjoyed reading this article- it makes the history of New Holland more clear. And what a great story with all the signs pointing you to get that tractor! Despite being more stylish than may be necessary, that Boomer is really cool from an artistic standpoint. I’ve never heard of it before. Don’t believe anyone around here has one, although there are a surprising number of old postwar tractors, original 8 and 9 Ns still doing their share of work around the family farm in this community. We stock the tune up parts on the shelf – they are popular enough to have on hand, fifty to sixty years down the road. Likewise with old medium duty farm trucks of the same vintage. Technology may have been more primitive, but still I wish that straightforward, easy to work on, bullet proof design mentality could make its way back to modern times. Built to last!
In ’99 I visited visited my sister and brother in law’s wheat ranch in Saskatchewan for the first time. The level of technology was pretty basic, everything was driven by sight and the business kept in written ledgers. And my brother in law was not computer literate at the time. By the last time I was there in ’09 the JD combine was computer driven and GPS guided, no more guesswork. Today most everything is computer driven and GPS guided. He sells his crops using his smart phone rather than hauling them down to the grain co-op besides the railroad tracks which now gone. Went from basically the 1950’s mechanized to today’s computer driven and GPS guided mechanized farming in less than 6 years due to new farm technology.
Oops, I meant 16 years.
Hey, Ed, you’re not a little over gross on that trailer, are you?
I’m not sure of the trailer rating – I bought it used and the data label is unreadable now. The 8N probably weighs around 3,500lb (loaded rear tires), and the Boomer weighs 3,800lb. I’ve hauled an 8,500lb skid steer on it before, and have class D tires… The guys at the rental yard seemed to think it is probably a 10,000lb trailer (was originally set up as a race car hauler).
Great write up!
Nice history lesson Ed, I didnt know the back story on that retro New Holland all the NHs I see are blue and they seem quite popular in this area.
Yes, a very neat and distinctive shade of blue. Their harvesters are yellow. Ford and New Holland have always been very popular here too. I didn’t see the original (orange) Fiat tractors very often.
Our 2014 top 5:
1. Fendt (the undisputed number 1 since many years)
2. John Deere
3. New Holland
4. Deutz-Fahr
5. Massey Ferguson
I remember seeing ads for these tractors when they were new! I’ve never seen one since, though, so I kind of wondered what ever happened to them. Now I know!
Thanks,
Jake S.
Nice article, Ed, and definitely a good read. Thanks for posting it.
Let me add my kudos as well for your well-written piece with lots of info that was new to me, right down to the existence of this retro Boomer tractor.
I don’t think I’ll be buying a Boomer 8N anytime soon. But the first tractor we had when Ii was a kid was an 8N. It was bought in used1957 and I have it on my place today.I’m in the process of restoring it.
It’s the only Ford though. Everything else is John Deere.
Thanks Ed for a great read. Here in Innsbruck, which still has some farm houses within the city, and fields too, seeing tractors (Fendts, most commonly) pulling wagons is a fairly common sight. We’re staying in one of the oldest parts of town, and just this morning two big tractors with wagons came roaring down the busy arterial street as I ran out to get some breakfast things. And the smell of cow is in the air.
I only recently discovered these “retro” tractors. They are pretty neat and I’ll guess that in the next decade or so we’ll see the ones that someone tried to “collect” appearing on the scene as their heirs figure out that they weren’t all that collectible after-all.
i remember being somewhat startled when i saw these at a county fair when they came out. I can’t think of another tractor that could have pulled off the retro look better than the utility Ford’s. Everything else was tricycle row-crop at that time. i think maybe John Deere could pull in some 1960’s styling details into the present day however.
I think the Hayliner’s were sold out west, i remember seeing an article in Successful Farming in the 60’s showing them baling at night in order to get a little more moisture! Unheard of.
Yep–here in MN, you can’t bale past sundown because the hay gets too tough (and the bugs get too thick), but in West River (SD west of the Missouri) and farther west you have to bale at night because it’s just too hot and dry during the day (and bugs aren’t really a problem).
If they had only done a retro Minneapolis-Moline I think it would have been a big hit.
That kinda actually happened.
White Farm Equipment painted up a MFWD 185 in Oliver colors, called it “The Spirit of Oliver,” and paraded it around farm shows and state fairs to promote its new Field Boss line in 1988. Then they did it again a few years later to promote the Work Horse line with three 2WD 140s: one painted Prairie Gold (“The Spirit of Minneapolis-Moline”) one painted Cockshutt Red (“Spirit of Cockshutt”), and one painted Meadow Green (the new “Spirit of Oliver”).
I’ve never been able to find a picture of the “Oliver” 140, but here are the three others. All three (four?) tractors are still around.
Despite being a city boy with zero farm experience (even in my extended family) I’ve always found tractors fascinating. So this was quite an interesting article, both in terms of the Boomer 8N (which definitely falls into the “retro done right” category, even if too expensive) and since it tells the story of how Ford exited the tractor market. I’d always wondered about that, since there still seem to be so many older ones knocking about.
I think your history is off on one point. When Allis Chalmers was broken up Duetz got the Ag equipment and Fiat got the construction equipment. Fiat-Allis was construction equipment, not ag.
Thanks for the clarification.
Has anyone had issues with the Boomer 8N, CVT transmission clutch pack going out?
Mine is a 2010 with only 110 hours of pretty easy use, yet the front clutch pack won’t allow the tractor go up any type of incline and sometime not forward at all. I don’t know how the clutch could go bad in such a short time under very light use.
Oof. That’s gonna leave a mark.
yup! I just bought mine in October with 35 hrs low serial number and used it for only about 5 hrs before the tractor would not move in for or rev. It has been at the dealer now longer than I`ve owned it and the for/rev clutch pack`s are bad and need to be replaced. complete clutch kit to overhaul 3,000.00 + seals/bearings/oil/filters + labor = BS
I may not be able to sell it fast enough without giving it away.
Replying two years after your comment was posted, to say that I have 250 hours on my Boomer 8N now, with no failures to date. I have, however, learned that the CVT wants to keep pushing for a second or two when crowding a load, which takes some compensation. I’ve also had the CVT refuse to go into gear on one or two occasions when I was working it hard (loading mulch). I’d have to shut it down and wait a few minutes, then it would be okay again. I’m still happy with it, and it suits my use cases well.
We have a couple 8n boomers. We love them but wish New Holland kept their part in making the accessories for them. We never were able to get a few of the accessories. I I would be interested in talking to any other owners that bought these tractors. The baby moon hubcaps weren’t available when we bought ours (not saying I wanted them anyway but… or the stripe package… what was that supposed to be? I’m still looking for some chrome steps and things if anyone knows of any kicking around.
Funny this should run again today, as my ownership of the Boomer 8N is about to end. We moved out-of-State when I retired and downsized to one acre. After using the Boomer to excavate and build a 30×48 post-frame shop, it’s now supernumerary.
I took it to a couple tractor shows last year, and won the “Slow Race” with it (CVT FTW!). A lot of folks had no idea what it was and thought it was a custom puller. At any rate, it’s on CL and a few other tractor sites. I’ll keep the 1950 8N to pull the Amish-style wagon I built.
My initial observation when I first saw a Boomer was (as I recall) that it did not have individual rear (“turning”) brakes, a real deficiency for many kinds of work. Sometimes doing heavy snow removal, I have pushed hard enough to lighten the front (driving) axle enough to necessitate steering with the brakes for long distances.. Stopping a spinning wheel as another instance. I rely on turning brakes a lot, especially in winter or in mud! A deal breaker for me. The quirks and apparent fragility of the CVT would be pretty intolerable for a true “working” tractor. Give me an old Ford or NH 3910 or 3930 for simplicity and durability in the same horsepower class.
Individual brakes for turning was offered as an accessory. I assume most people thought with front wheel assist they weren’t needed. I still wish I had them. Might still install if I found a set.
The AC190 gas I had before the Boomer had differential brakes, as does my ‘50 8N, of course. I moved a lot of snow with the Boomer and honestly never felt like I needed diff brakes, but that was just me.
As noted in a comment below, diff brakes were an option for the Boomer 8N.
The CVT took some getting used to, and there are reports of horror stories with them breaking (true for other NH models with the CVT, too). Once I got the knack of the CVT, it has had no real issues in the 250 hours I put on it. YMMV, of course.
Fascinating reread the depreciation just hit home years ago as a teen my dad put me to work in the garage he was company sec for in mower bicycle and tractor spares in the former Hillman dealeship they bought, Massey Fergusson was the tractor brand they sold and many old TEAs were traded for then new MF 135/&165s my dad commented one night a lot of those old TEAs were reselling for more than double what their new value had been, Most were repainted Fergy grey and red some were overhauled some just painted but none hung around long, Some even arrived burned to a crisp apparently the Ford influence meant hillsides werent meant to be farmed mechanically so no thought was given to petrol slopping out of a full tank all over the exhaust, a simple modification had been about since the first ones but of course untill there was a problem never installed, So that was put on new wiring and paint and the tractors resold,
My mate in Hawkes bay had several Fergys and had never seen the angle plates on tank sides Hawkes bay is flat so they were never needed, he had a burnt down Fergy 35 he restored I painted it for him still no tank mods.