Tractor use on farms in the US during WW2?

[p51]

I'm currently gathering stuff together for my model train layout that will take place in Eastern Tennessee in 1943 and I've decided I need either a tobacco or corn farm along a portion of the tracks as the area I'm modeling had a lot of farming (and still does).
The area was financially depressed after WW1 (and some would argue it never rebounded), so everything was real 'bare bones' in that area.
I was wondering how common farm tractors would have been in that place and time? How did gas rationing affect larger farms? Would horse-drawn plows have been more common or did farmers even have tractors much in use in that era? I've found a nice scale 1935 tractor model I'd like to use, but not if it wouldn't have been a common sight...

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Interesting. I was just made aware of audio tapes of my uncle(Navy WW2) and family discussing what he went through..plus the stateside families experiences. Indeed gas was rationed for normal families...but it was mentioned that farmers were exempt. My aunt talked about her parents taking their car to the Grandparent's farm to fill up on occasion. From their discussions(three fairly long interviews 1970s)... tractors were used during the war to farm with very few horsedrawn.
So I do think your 1935 tractor would be fairly common on a WW2 farm...IMO
HD

 

[LizzieMaine]

Depends on the farm. Sharecroppers and similar hardscrabble operators would have plowed their fields with mules, but a good sized commercial farm would likely have had mechanized equipment. Ford had been manufacturing inexpensive tractors since 1917, and there were a lot of them still in operation. It was also common to jury-rig a tractor out of an old car -- a lot of Model Ts were converted to farm use in this way.

As of November 1942, all non-highway vehicles and gasoline-powered stationary equipment were entitled to an "E" ration sticker, which alotted two gallons of gasoline per week per vehicle, or an "R" sticker, which alotted five gallons a week, with the determination based on how important the vehicle was to essential production.

 

[1930artdeco]

Don't forget that many cars were turned into tractors from kits. I could see horses still being used on some of the farms that would have been waaayyyy out away from a town, but I think that tractors would have been fairly common by the war.

Mike

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

When my grandfather quit farming in 1964 in Kentucky, he sold his two mules. He didn't own a tractor, just two cars and a lawn mower. He mainly had cattle, but did have some wheat and corn.

Later

 

[p51]

As of November 1942, all non-highway vehicles and gasoline-powered stationary equipment were entitled to an "E" ration sticker, which alotted two gallons of gasoline per week per vehicle, or an "R" sticker, which alotted five gallons a week, with the determination based on how important the vehicle was to essential production.

I was aware of the ration classes, but I didn't think that farm tractors had the same rating. Really large and commercial farms never would have survived the war if they'd had gas rations that low for their tractors and farm vehicles.
My problem is that I not only want to know how common a tractor was for a decent sized private farm (several dozen acres, anyway), then I'm limited to a very specific part of the country that was on hard times long before the stock market crash...
All my grandparents are gone now and I doubt my parents would recall anything that specific as they were both 9 years old on VJ day (even though they did grow up in that area).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Aside from the basic rations to which they were entitled, farmers could apply to their county ration boards for additional gasoline -- but they had to provide demonstrable proof of need, and their usage was closely monitored. Some farmers tried to play games with the ration boards, but it was risky -- if they got caught their entire ration was revoked.

 

[vitanola]

I assume you are familiar with the Ford 9-N tractor, the first truly modern light tractor with hydraulics front and rear, introduced by Ford in 1939:



After the start of the War, the WPB, which was well aware of the necessity for increased farm mechanization to keep farm output high in the face of increasing manpower shortages released priorities for a slightly simplified model, the 2N, which was introduced in July of 1942. This new "war model" minimized the use of scarce material, as it had no electric self-starter, generator, battery or wiring harness or distributor, using only a simple high-tension magneto for ignition. Some brass and Monel hydraulic fittings were replaced with malleable iron castings, and in the place of rubber tires old-fashion steel wheels were substituted. These machines were simple, reliable, and effective in helping to increase our national farm production to record levels. Overall, about a quarter of a million 9-N and 2-N machines were placed in service during the War. McCormack-Deering and International also sold similar War Model tractors. All in all about a million and a quarter of these machines were added to our farm fleet during the War.

Here is a little snap of a 2-N:



Note the crank and the steel wheels.

The mechanisation of the South really took place during the War, with sharecroppers leaving the fields for war work in the cities, and commodity prices increasing to the point that prosperity finally returned to the entire farming belt.

 

[Stanley Doble]

It would depend on the area, the size of the farms, and what they were growing. The typical family farm in the US or Canada at that time would be 50 to 150 acres and would be engaged in mixed farming.There would be about a 50/50 chance that they would have a tractor. Maybe less.

My family had a lot of farmers in it, here in a part of Ontario Canada very similar to upstate New York. The most modern, up to date farms were mechanized. On the other hand, I had a great uncle who farmed with horses from 1920 until he died in the early 1970s. He had a 1956 Dodge sedan but never owned a tractor or a truck. His Belgian draft horses won prizes at the county fairs.

In east Tennessee I don't think you saw too many huge, monoculture farms like you did in the west. Most likely the majority of farms used mules or horses until after WW2. You are correct that the depression slowed the sales of new tractors and equipment and of course, from 1942 to 45 new tractors were not available except in unusual cases.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I recall that my grandfather's farm never had a tractor on it until his oldest son took over in 1952. They were a prosperous farming family with 150 acres of the best land in the county, a 2 story brick house, electric lights, car, telephone, milking machine and cream separator, but farmed with horses until after WW2.

Even then, he was so saving he cut the tongues off his horse drawn wagons and implements and used them with the tractor rather than buy new ones.

I think the older generation was used to horses and saw no reason to change. Farms got mechanized as the old timers died off and the young generation took over.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A good indicator of what was happening on the farms was the Sears catalog -- which continued to list a full selection of parts for animal-powered farm equipment all thru the war era -- yokes, harnesses, plow handles, wagon parts, all that sort of stuff.

 

[Stanley Doble]

During WW2 when butter was rationed my mother used to separate the cream and make her own butter for the family. She also canned a lot of fruit for the winter. When she could not get sugar she used honey from a neighbor's bee hives. A good farm family could always make out ok even in depressions and wars as long as they were not in debt. It was mortgages and debts that did in a lot of farmers in the depression. This lesson lasted a long time. Those who lived through it were leery of borrowing money (or wasting money) for the rest of their lives. This was another reason many refused to buy a tractor or other improvements unless they could pay cash.

 

[Stanley Doble]

A 1935 tractor would fit right into a 1943 farming scene. Farmers took care of their equipment, you did not see valuable tractors and machinery sitting out in the weather like today, they kept them in a driving shed. A good tractor or machine would last 20 years or more and would not be replaced until it wore out.

 

[Auld Edwardian]

It would be well to remember that some of the old timers were still using their steam tractors, which might well be old, but were hardly not serviceable. No "E" or "R" sticker required!
[video=youtube;GhiFelAqbIU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhiFelAqbIU[/video]

 

[p51]

Well, this question got answered fast.
My Mom just e-mailed me and said in WW2, nobody had tractors in their part of the state, they had horses sometimes but mostly mules.
Mystery solved. I'm not shocked, the depression hit that part of the state right after WW1 and the economy has never been all that good ever since....
Darn, I was hoping to include a tractor, but I want to stay as true to the reality as I can...

 

[MPicciotto]

Check out Langley Models out of the UK. Nice white metal kits of horses and horse drawn equipment. Albeit it's OO scale so slightly larger then HO. Might find something to suit your needs.

http://www.langleymodels.co.uk/acat...hicles___Motorcycles__Incl_NEW_Items__21.html

Matt

 

[p51]

Check out Langley Models out of the UK. Nice white metal kits of horses and horse drawn equipment. Albeit it's OO scale so slightly larger then HO. Might find something to suit your needs.

Thanks for the link. I'm modeling in O scale (narrow gauge), but their stuff does look good.
More info if anyone cares about my layout plans can be seen here: http://www.freewebs.com/willysmb44/modeltrains.htm

 

[Story]

Thanks for the link. I'm modeling in O scale (narrow gauge), but their stuff does look good.
More info if anyone cares about my layout plans can be seen here: http://www.freewebs.com/willysmb44/modeltrains.htm

Why not use forced perspective, with the smaller farming teams set back on slight slopes? I stuffed a 1:72nd Japanese Zero (painted silver, no markings, to look like one of Hughes' H-1s) inside of an O Gauge hanger that a buddy wanted built for his layout, works just fine.

 

[p51]

Why not use forced perspective, with the smaller farming teams set back on slight slopes?

The layout will be U-shaped and no more than 3 feet away from the wall, so there's no room in O scale for forced perspective other than the backgrounds (flat representations of hills in the distance, roughly an inch or two thick).
I have some figures and vehicles in 1/43, 1/48 and 1/50 scale, which is all the forced perspetive I'll have room for...

 

[rjb1]

My parents grew up not all that far from where you are modeling and my recollections of their farming experiences in Eastern Middle Tennessee mentioned mules but not tractors. As you say, it was poor country to begin with and it got poorer during the Depression.
One of my uncles used mules on a part-time basis up until the 1960's. (I can still remember him cussing them and throwing dirt clods if they really started acting up.)
I think having a farmer plowing with mules would look great in a model railroad layout.